THE WORD
Ez 47,1-9.12 / Jn 5,1-3.5-16
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep (Gate) a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk?’” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.
IN OTHER WORDS
Not being able to move by yourself for thirty-eight years is not a joke. Worse is having no one to help you in times of need. But what should be highlighted are the man’s patience, persistence, hope and faith. Despite the fact that someone would always get into the pool before him, which must have really been frustrating, he continued to hope that someday God would make a way for him and help him out of his misery.
Perhaps, this faith was what moved Jesus’ heart when he saw the man. This man probably realized that God had looked upon his sufferings with mercy, and was expecting Jesus to help him get into the pool, but God answered his prayers in a way that was more than he could ever expect.
Instead of just helping him, Jesus cured him, “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” He was instantly healed; no more need to go into the pool. He found help through a much better way than he possibly dreamed of. Sometimes, it seems to take a long time for God to answer our prayers, but in His perfect time, God answers our prayers in a much better way, just as what Jesus did to the sick man. We only need to be patient and persevering.
We wonder why the man had no one to help him go into the pool—no friends, no relatives, no neighbors? That is really odd! And then we get the sense of the man being alienated from his community - an ailment much worse than a physical one. When he met the man later at the temple, Jesus addressed this issue by calling him to a conversion from sin—to sin no more and to use God’s grace of healing towards him to make him a better person. This is Jesus’ way of reintegrating the man with his community.
This is the healing that Jesus gives to those of us who hope to be cured. It is total and integral. The man was healed not only physically but spiritually and socially as well. With God’s compassion and mercy, may we gain confidence in ourselves. May this confidence liberate us from individualism and help us discover the healing mercy and compassion of God.
- Fr. Fermin “Joks” Galolo, SVD | CT, Manila
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
