John 5:1-9
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
Reflection
There were five porticoes after all. Five porticoes could hold a lot of people! It seems that many people could be ready to go into the healing waters. The man had been laying there a long time. How many times in the past thirty-eight years had this man come to this place only to be trampled on and by others greedy for healing?
Then Jesus asks the man, "Do you want to be made well?" Was Jesus the first to ask in thirty-eight years? Did Jesus ask the man in order to wake the man out of a daze? The man must have been fed up with human selfishness. For me, after thirty-eight years, I would be depressed about the situation.
But, Jesus tells the man to get up with his mat and walk. And the man does. And he does this on a sabbath. A new beginning for a desperate man after thirty-eight years of waiting. Who is this Jesus? He comes on a sabbath and heals. He grants a new life to a man who waited. Jesus, demonstrates a love that has not been seen.
There were five porticoes after all.
Prayer
Lord, open my eyes at whatever time and whatever day to those in need. Help me to recognize and to show the love of Jesus... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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