“Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” (John 4:48 KJV)
Did this nobleman see a sign or wonder? Yes! Was it before or after he believed? After. Was the wonder seeing the sick son well? Later, perhaps. What was the wonder that he was contemplating? That it was Jesus who had the authority to make him well. We don’t see much excitement at the news that the boy was healed. The first question that the nobleman asks is, when did this take place? What was the nobleman healed of in that moment? Doubt! In fact, this caused his whole family to believe.
So, the statement that Jesus makes (above) is true. It’s not necessarily a slam designed to get us to artificially increase our faith that we might see better. It does highlight the importance of really seeing what God has done that it may be a new source of a stronger belief. There are no shortages of signs and wonders. We do need to come to him to be able to see them. It’s almost funny as this may actually be an example of a richman coming through the eye of the needle.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 KJV)