See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"   The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

- John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that, after remaining two days with the Samaritans, Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  So Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  

 

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  The feast that marks the setting of today's reading is considered to be the Old Testament Pentecost, which is also called the "Feast of Weeks."  It celebrates the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.  My study Bible says that this understanding is confirmed by the references to the Law of Moses later in this chapter.  

 

  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This was a double-basin pool, and believed to have curative powers, as the text indicates.  My study Bible reports that this pool has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.   It is a high-ground pool, and its water came from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs prior to them being slain.  My study Bible remarks that the pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, there was a great multitude waiting to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters are special, it notes, because they were a way of indirect participation in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But this grace is limited to the first person to enter.  In the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations and as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6).  This happens also without the mediation of angels.  So, my study Bible concludes, baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and its grace is inexhaustible. 

 

 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary.  St. Chrysostom says that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles which last a far shorter time.  

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"   The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  My study Bible notes that Christ's question is relevant for many reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless, for how could a paralytic ever be the first person into the water?  Next, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This need is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became a Man to heal all.  Finally, not all people who are ill actually desire healing.  It is a sad statement, but true, that some might prefer to remain infirm for certain things experienced as "benefits."  It gives one license to complain, to avoid responsibility for one's life, or to continue drawing the sympathy of others. 

 

 Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  My study Bible comments that although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and it is explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  It notes also that it's made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by Christ's command ("Take up your bed and walk") and also by the man's obedience.  (See also Matthew 12:1-8.)  As we will see frequently in John's Gospel, the use of the term the Jews here refers to the religious leaders and not to the people in general; all the characters in our reading are Jews, as is the author of the Gospel.  My study Bible asks us to note the malice of these leaders, who focus only on the Sabbath violation, asking the man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but they ignore completely his miraculous healing.  

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible remarks on the fact that this man was found in the temple; it notes that this shows his great faith, as he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than leaving for someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus admonishes him to sin no more:  my study Bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, as the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are frequently spared earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But, nonetheless, there are times when our own sins lead to our own suffering in a worldly sense.  According to St. Chrysostom, this was the case with this man and his paralysis.  Jesus' warning, however, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body; our hope is to flee from sin altogether.  Additionally, this man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a way that is malicious, but rather as a witness to His work.  Although these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  Here my study  Bible comments that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, the Jews (that is, the religious leaders) quite clearly know that this implies absolute equality.  The discourse by Jesus begun here will continue in our following reading.

In today's reading we are given the third of seven signs in John's Gospel; they are signs of the kingdom of God being extraordinarily present in the Person of Jesus Christ.  My study Bible comments that this healing exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  It seems important to note that, once the man is healed of his paralysis, Jesus also teaches him, ""See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  This is a distinct warning.  To avoid sinning is to avoid a "worse thing" to come upon him.  One must pause to wonder why this is so.  We might think, in effect, that the grace of God is something that is given but that also can be taken away.  But Christ's words regarding sin indicate that such a "worse thing" would be due to a kind of spurning of grace.  After all, it is God and God's grace that has made this man well.  To therefore go forward not seeking to avoid sin would be in some sense to spurn and reject God -- even after this great grace of healing has been given to the man.  Therefore, to go forward without the effort to avoid sin would be not to set out on a path of righteousness, or a deeper relationship with God.  God has come to the man, but to go forward and resume a healthy life without seeking to avoid sin would be in a sense throwing away that relationship offered by God.  In this way, a "worse thing" could come upon him, for a deliberate rejection of what we know is good, of grace that has been given to us, will have consequences.  In this sense, we have to see Christ's healing as wholeness, and as making the man whole, for we are not only a material body divorced from soul and spirit, but to be understood as a whole person.  We need to see ourselves as whole in this sense of completeness.  If we divorce the notion of our body from all that we are, we remain a kind of abstract being, not whole and not real.  We ignore the true importance of our bodies as temples of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17), and thus we lack an understanding of what constitutes our own "wholeness."  So when we think about what it means to be truly "whole" as a person, and to be truly healthy, we cannot exempt our journey toward God, our walk with faith.  For life goes on, even after a healing, and to forget about how we need to live our lives is to forget about what we truly need in life, and what it is that makes us whole -- even what it is to be a whole person.  We go forward and life moves on, and as Jesus indicates here, we always need to consider in what direction we are going.  For this is what gives us real health, and the wholeness of who we are.

 

See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  

 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  

 

For this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

- John 5:1–18 

 

Yesterday we read that after spending two days among the Samaritans (see readings from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday),  He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he hard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   

 

  After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This pool was a double-basin pool which was believed to have curative powers.  My study Bible says that this pool has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  It notes that the water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs, and it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  Moreover, my study Bible comments, this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism, reflecting meanings which transition from the old to the new covenant.  Under the old, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters, it explains, were special because they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But the grace was limited in this case to only the first person to enter.  But under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations, and it is a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (Romans 6:3-6), without the mediation of angels.  Baptism, my study Bible comments, therefore grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and moreover, its grace is inexhaustible.  We recall Christ's words to the Samaritan woman, from Thursday's reading, "But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

 

 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments here that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance.  Additionally it is a type of judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time. 

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  My study Bible says that Christ's question is relevant for several reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith although in a situation that was seemingly hopeless. How could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water, and toward the concept that we need a man to help us.  Of course, it is Christ who fulfills this need, as He became a Man in order to heal all people.  Finally, not all those who are ill actually desire healing.  This is linked to a psychological preference to remain infirm in order to be free to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue to stimulate pity in others.

And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  We remember that in John's Gospel, the majority of the use of the term the Jews is used like a political term, to designate the leadership (Jesus and all the others in this story are also Jews, as well as John the author of the Gospel).  My study Bible comments here that although the Law itself doesn't specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  It notes that the understanding that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath becomes clear in His command to the man ("Rise, take up your bed and walk"), and then by the man's obedience to Him.  We may also observe the malice in these leaders, who focus only on the violation of the Sabbath, by asking, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" and ignoring completely the healing of this man who'd suffered for such a long time.  

 

 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   My study Bible notes that this healed man is found in the temple, emphasizing that it shows his great faith.  He had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than leaving for someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, "Sin no more."  My study Bible comments on this that as there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is, however, not always one-to-one.  Clearly, the innocent often suffer, and the guilty are often spared from earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But nonetheless, sometimes our sins do lead directly to our own worldly suffering.  According to St. Chrysostom, such was the case with the paralytic.  Jesus' warning, however, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body, my study Bible notes.  Our only hope is fleeing from sin.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible explains that the man doesn't report Jesus to the religious leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather he is witness to Christ's goodness.  Although these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and said nothing about carrying his bed.  

For this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  My study Bible says that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, these religious leaders clearly understand that it implies absolute equality.  In the following reading, Jesus will continue to express this unity.

 

Jesus says to the healed former paralytic, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  At first glance, it might appear that Jesus is Himself issuing a threat to this man, as some kind of punishment or retribution.  But with God, this is not the case.  It is similar to John's teaching to Nicodemus:  "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  The explanation here is not that one is offered a punishment for refusal of Christ.  But it is communion with Christ that confers the healing and the grace and the redemption.  Therefore to run from this communion, to refuse it, or to participate in that which runs counter to it and is against it, is to reject the grace, healing, and redemption offered by Christ.  When we're talking about our faith, it is important to understand the impact and power of communion, of participation in the life of Christ.  Whatever it is that cuts us off from that communion works against the dividends of faith.  We have a great grace working for us, and we are given much mercy so long as we are capable of repentance, redemption, of seeking out God.  But our own refusal jeopardizes that capacity, and works to blind us to the ways God would have us go toward God and receive that light.  If we observe the effects of Christ's presence in the Gospels -- and particularly in the progression of events in John's Gospel -- we will notice that while those who are in some way healed or redeemed by Christ continue moving more deeply into faith and communion with Him, as the same story progresses the religious leaders who refuse Him and wish to condemn Him only draw further away, even as they draw themselves into more deeply blindly sinful and corrupt behavior in condemning One whom they know to be innocent.  When we are warned about the effects of sin, it's not for punishment but for our protection and good, like a parent warning a child about touching a hot stove.  The healing in today's reading constitutes the third sign of seven given in John's Gospel.  My study Bible claims that this sign exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  According to patristic sources, this feast which Jesus is attending is the Old Testament Pentecost (also called the "Feast of Weeks") which celebrated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later references in this chapter to the Law of Moses affirm this interpretation.  So let us think about the "law" of participation and communion.  We are to understand that whatever breaks or harms this relationship also does harm to our capacity to receive God's grace and healing power.  In the thoughts of the Church, our very lives are dependent upon God; therefore to jeopardize our deeper or closer faith is to jeopardize the life in abundance we're promised, and all the things that might mean.  Let us pay attention to the law of God's love.

 

 

Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 

 - John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the two days He spent with the Samaritans, Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  The healing that takes place in today's reading is the third sign (of seven) in John's Gospel.  My study Bible says that it exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.   Patristic tradition teaches that this feast is the Old Testament Pentecost (which is also called the "Feast of Weeks").  It celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses later in chapter five confirm this interpretation.  We note Jesus behavior that fulfills all righteousness; He faithfully attends east feast in John's report of His three year ministry.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.   My study Bible tells us that this double-basin pool, believed to have curative powers, has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study Bible further explains that this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But the grace was limited to the first person to enter.  Under the new covenant, however, baptism is given to all peoples as a direct participation in Christ own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Baptism, my study Bible concludes, thus grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is inexhaustible.  

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.   My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.  

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  My study Bible says that the Lord's question (Do you want to be made well?) is relevant for several reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless, for how could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This is Christ Himself, who became a Man in order to heal all.  Finally, not everyone who is ill actually desires healing.  There are those who may prefer to remain infirm for various reasons:  to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue to excite the pity of others.

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."   He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"   The Law itself, my study Bible explains, did not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath.  But this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22 and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   It is made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by His command and also by the man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  As is frequently the case in John's Gospel, we must clarify, the term Jews here refers to the hostile leaders and not to the people in general.   And the malice of these particular religious authorities is made clear in the Gospel, as their sole focus is on the Sabbath violation, asking the man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" while they ignore altogether his miraculous healing.

But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  My study Bible comments that the fact that the man was found in the temple shows his great faith, as he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than departing to someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells the man to sin no more:  My study Bible comments that there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), but that connection is not always one-to-one, for the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are often spared earthly suffering (see also John 9:1-3).  Nonetheless, it is true that at times our sins do lead directly to our own suffering in this world.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that this was the case with the paralytic.  Christ's warning here, according to my study Bible, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  Thus, the only hope is to flee from sin altogether.

 

 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible comments that the man does not report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but as a witness to Christ's goodness.  Even though these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and does not speak about carrying his bed.

 

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  My study Bible comments that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, the Jews clearly understand this implies absolute equality. 

Jesus teaches this healed man, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  My study Bible comments that while there is a general correlation between sin and suffering, there is by no means a sense that this is always the case, as often the innocent suffer and the guilty do not.  While St. Chrysostom comments that this connection existed for the paralytic, my study Bible nevertheless says that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than his bodily affliction.  But I feel that there is yet another aspect to Jesus' teaching here we must also add, and that is the importance of gratitude.  It seems that if this man were to go out now and lead a profligate or evil life in which God and his faith did not play a key role to guide him forward, then this would be a kind of spiritual spurning of the great gift of healing he's been given.  At this time, he is in a high good state:  he is not only healed of his affliction, but his faith has set him on a good road.  He was found in the temple giving thanks, and moreover he has found Christ.  But to turn away from this and begin to lead a dissolute life would lead him to a state worse than the first, as the life of willful sin would now be a spurning of the great gift Christ has given, and the enlightened state possible for a person in his position.  Therefore to ignore God and the commands of God would be to turn his back on a much deeper awareness of the goodness of God than he had before.  He has kept his faith all this time through his illness; now that he is well he is in a new state of life, and it is therefore all the more important to be aware and persistent in his faith.  As we commented in yesterday's reading, it is often the case that when things go poorly for us, we seek out faith to help us.  But when things are going well, that is when we are tempted to forget about God and rely upon ourselves and our good fortune instead.   It seems to me that this is the great lesson in Jesus' teaching to this man to "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   We often have a tendency to attribute good fortune to ourselves, and to rely on that good fortune as if it is something we personally own, a part of us.  In this case, the healed man clearly knows who healed him; nevertheless Christ finds it prudent to give him a warning about his future conduct.  Let us consider the power of gratitude, for whatever good thing we have, and how this very consciousness of gratitude keeps us in a good place, and stands us in good stead for our future.

Rise, take up your bed and walk

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude a sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

- John 5:1–18 

 

Yesterday we that after the two days with the Samaritans, Christ departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"   Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.   The feast to which Jesus goes in this chapter is traditionally understood to be the Old Testament Pentecost (which is also called the "Feast of Weeks).  It is a celebration of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses later in this fifth chapter of John confirm this interpretation.  

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude a sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.   This was a double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers.   My study bible reports that it has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.   The water for this high-ground pool was from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study bible adds that the pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the Old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in that they offered a way to indirectly participate in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But that is a limited grace, only for the first person to enter.    Under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6), without the mediation of angels.  Baptism, therefore, grants healing of the soul and the promise of the eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is inexhaustible.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible says that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus singles out this particular man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and also as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  My study bible comments that Christ's question is relevant for several reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless, for how could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  Second, the Lord draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This was fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became human in order to heal all.  Third, it says, not everybody who is ill actually desires to be healed.  Some sadly might prefer to remain infirm for various reasons, such as in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue to attract the pity of others.

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  The Law itself doesn't specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, but it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also in rabbinical teachings.  My study bible explains that it is made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by His command to "Rise, take up your bed and walk," and also by the man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  As we have noted before in John's Gospel, we must keep in mind that the term Jews often is used as a political label, and refers to the leaders (as in these verses) and not to the people in general.  My study bible suggests that we notice the malice of these leaders, for their focus is solely on the violation of the Sabbath, asking the man specifically "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but altogether ignoring his miraculous healing, and after so many long years of infirmity. 

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   My study bible comments on the fact that this healed man was found in the temple, and that it shows his great faith -- for he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than leaving for someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells him to sin no more:  although there is a connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), my study bible says that this connection isn't always one-to-one, for the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are also often spared earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But nevertheless, there are times when our own sins lead to our own suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom indicates that this was the case with this paralytic.  But Christ's warning is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether.  

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   My study bible indicates that this man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of God.  Even though these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and saying nothing about carrying his bed.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.   That Jesus declares God to be His Father is a clear implication of absolute equality, which the religious leaders recognize.  

Let us think about this man who was healed by the side of the pool at the Sheep Gate.  Can we imagine waiting someplace for thirty-eight years in the small hope of being healed by the water?  That is, in the small hope of being healed at that sometime point when the waters are stirred, and also needing someone to help us get to the pool when we are unable to walk, and so there are always people in front of us?  Imagine needing to be first into that pool, at that specific time, and with an infirmity that makes us unable to walk on our own.  You have then a picture of what my study bible calls the faint hope of healing under the Old Covenant, as compared to the New, which is offered for all.  What does it mean to us, as modern people in our own time and place, that Christ becomes that Person who is there to help this man to become whole?  He doesn't help him into the water, but He heals with a word, with a command for this man to "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  One might wonder that possibly at the mere command of Christ the impossible becomes possible:  at the call or command of the Creator all creation responds.  But this healing is permanent, not temporary.  But we must note what happens later on in the temple, when Jesus tells this believing man, who is grateful to God, that he must not sin:  "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   To my mind, this tells us a great deal not simply about faith, but also about the very "way we walk" in our own lives.  In order to retain the healing Christ gives to us, the forward movements in our lives, we need to be in a certain place, spiritually speaking.  We need to occupy a place in which we earnestly seek to remain aware of that love of God always pulling us into a particular place of faith, a prayerful connection to God.  What Jesus is essentially telling this man is that he must remain mindful of who he is, how God healed him, and also of the place into which Jesus has pulled him, in a communion of faith with Christ.  Jesus is saying to him that he must remain aware of his connection to God in order to continue to walk in a healed way.  To allow sin to come back into his life will be somehow dangerous; it will be to open back up to the forces that made him infirm and which debilitate our lives and distract us from God.  It will be sliding backward from the road upon which Christ has put him by having compassion on him and healing him.  It is to take God for granted, and to forget that although we are healed by grace, there is also our own part to play in our healing.  It seems to be a great metaphor in the story for our own lives, that no matter where we have come on our journey of faith, there is no such thing as backsliding for us as believers, that God will always call us forward.  Christ does not just give us one command, but asks to walk with us continually.  Our attention and our prayer is necessary.  Our communion with God might be the most important thing that keeps us on a road to physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual health.  Our communion with God always calls us deeply into participation in something that demands our attention, asks us to make room for God, and to try to keep out whatever it is that would pull us off course.  Grace is not a cheap gift:  it is a living and true reality in which we participate.  Lent is simply the time for us to pay attention to that gift and to delve more deeply into it.  It's for this reason that we practice fasting at this time, and we increase our prayer.  We set aside time to dive into our faith, to plunge within more deeply into relationship to renew our communion with God, and to live again with Christ the story of His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  What ails you?  What are you going through?  Or what are you healed from that you don't want to come back?  How is God calling you?  Set aside time for God, and let whatever needs to be played out in your own life take shape by participation in His life, as we look toward the Resurrection.  

Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me

Angel of the Lord, Theophanes the Cretan, 1545.  Fresco, Chapel of St. Nicholas, Stavronikita Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."   Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' "  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

- John 5:1-18

 Yesterday we read that after two days with the Samaritans near Jacob's well, Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans, received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they had also gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  As we can see, John's Gospel is organized through the various Jewish feasts that occur during Jesus' ministry.  Frequently, Jesus' sermons and teachings during these festivals touches on themes of the events commemorated through them in Jewish spiritual history.  Through this understanding, the Fathers of the Church have taught that this particular festival is the feast of the Old Testament Pentecost (which is also called the "Feast of Weeks").  This was a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  We will see Christ's references to the Law of Moses later in this fifth chapter of John's Gospel.

 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.   My study bible remarks that this double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers, was discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool originated from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It adds that this pool functions as a "type" of Christian baptism.  That is, as the text tells us, under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing, after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in the sense that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But that grace was limited to the first person who entered.   By contrast, under the new covenants, my study bible explains, baptism is given to all peoples as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Therefore, baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is not limited, but rather inexhaustible.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who remarks that Jesus singled out the man who had already waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."   Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.   Jesus' question, "Do you want to be made well?" is relevant for several reasons, which my study bible gives:  1.  This made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in circumstances which were seemingly hopeless.  One must ask, how could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  2.  Christ draws our attention away from the water and toward the need for a man to help us, which is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became a human being to heal all.  3.  Not everyone who is ill actually wishes to be truly healed.  Unfortunately, it is simply true that some may prefer to remain unwell in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue drawing upon the pity of others.

 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' "  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  My study bible points out that although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22.  It is also specifically forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  But we are to understand that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath through His command ("Rise, take up your bed and walk") and also by the man's obedience.  (See also Matthew 12:1-8.)  My study bible also reminds us that, as is often the case in John's Gospel, the term Jews here is used similarly to a political term, in that it refers to the leaders (that is, those who make up the ruling parties), and not to the people in general.  Every person in this story, including Jesus and the paralytic man, is a Jew.  Moreover, we must bear in mind that the attributed author of the Gospel was also a Jew.  My study bible remarks upon the malice of the leaders, whose focus is only on the Sabbath violation.  They ask this healed man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?"  But they lack altogether any concern or interest whatsoever in his miraculous healing.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  My study bible says that the fact that this man was found in the temple shows he had great faith.  He had gone there directly to thank God for his cure, as opposed to departing to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells the man to sin no more:  my study bible says that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), that connection is not always one-to-one, as we all know the innocent often suffer, and the guilty are frequently spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).  But nonetheless, there are most definitely times when our own sins lead directly to our personal suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom comments here that this was the case with the paralytic man.  Christ's warning, however, according to my study bible, is that sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  And we must also consider that for this healed man to knowingly sin against God would be, in a certain sense, to repudiate the giver of the grace he has received, and so result in a deeper condemnation.  Our great hope is to flee from sin altogether.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study bible says that this man does not report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Although the leadership is only interested in the Sabbath violation, the healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed (the subject of the violation).

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  Jesus declares God to be My Father.  This is clearly understood by the leaders as a declaration of absolutely equality.

In Christianity, we embrace the equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  These are the three Persons of the Trinity.  But for the religious leaders of Christ's time, for a man to declare himself to be equal with God is simply blasphemy, and therefore punishable by death.  Jesus emphasizes the quite personal and intimate role of this relatedness simply by using the term "Father" -- and therefore giving us a sense not merely of equality or relationship in and of itself, but rather characterizing this relationship as personal and intimate, and also one of love and likeness.  It is in John's Gospel that Jesus will say, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).  It is in Jesus' care, His compassion, His healing, and also His intimate understanding and relationship to those whom He guides, counsels, and helps that we also come to understand God the Father, and the Spirit as well.  It is the same John to whom the authorship of this Gospel is attributed who also writes in his first Epistle that "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  And this is the unfolding in this Gospel of how we are to understand Jesus, and to know that Jesus is sent in order to reveal to us more deeply the true nature and identity of the Father:  today's reading gives us the third sign or miracle of John's Gospel.  It is an unfolding in which Christ's compassion for those downtrodden and struggling is most clear and evident, for this man has waited thirty-eight years for help, and yet his hope was not exhausted.  He is afflicted and handicapped.   He needs someone to help him.  He has been struggling to take what is a desperate and narrow chance for healing for a significant portion of his life.  It is he whom Christ asks, "Do you want to be made well?"  It is of him that Jesus engages first in intimate conversation, inquiring about his state of mind, his frame of being, beginning a healing with a depth of understanding and dialogue.  And this, for us, further reveals the mind and persona of God -- who seeks to engage on intimate terms with us, and for us to share our deepest thoughts and concerns in dialogue, which is prayer.  There is no deeper expression of what is called the condescension of God, as in some very real sense, God became human so that God could engage directly with this isolated man with no one to help him.   The fact that he struggles in this circumstance for decades tells us something, and offers to us a glimmer of light in our own challenges.  It tells us that God knows where we are, and affirms that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7).  And there is another way in which today's reading gives us a sense of grace at work in our lives, and that is through the gift of baptism.  While this paralytic man awaits the angel to stir the water, and some man who would help him, Christ gives baptism to all of us, in which the waters of the world are sanctified for healing on all levels.  That is, through the sacrament of baptism, we are brought even closer to God and God comes closer to us, endowing us with the gift of the Spirit for our own struggles and battles with what ails us in life, and helping us to find God and to reject sin and evil.  We often overlook baptism as the great gift that it is, that it makes it more possible to be endowed with a gift that effects prayer and intimacy and dialogue with God, unifies our understanding of the faith and the living Church, helping us to understand intercession and the communion of saints, and even the work of angels in our lives.  This is a gift of illumination, and so often we seek to squander it by undervaluing its potential for each of us.  Let us consider the ways in which today's reading gives us enlightenment about the loving nature of God and God's care for us, and also how the elements of the world -- something as common as water -- may also be formed in sacrament to help us understand that life of faith which is so vital to our own hope and struggle in life.  Jesus' command to "sin no more" tells us about the importance of valuing what we have and are given by grace, and not overlooking what is worthwhile simply because it is freely given of love.  Today's text tells us that it was an angel who stirred the waters, so that they could be used for healing.  While we may or may not dispute this idea, there is little doubt that the testimony of the whole history of faith gives us evidence of the work of angels -- as messengers, as instruments in human history, as part of the entire communion of saints, intercessors, guides, and guardians of human beings.  While modern sentiment frequently depicts angels as cuddly children, the reality of such beings is one to which many have testified as that of a tremendous intelligence, many times beyond our capacity to grasp, and power that normal earthly barriers of space cannot hinder.  Let us give attention where attention is due, and understand that in the tradition of the Church, each one of us has one such being as guardian, and that where worship is present, so we also worship at the altar with the angels in heaven.  Christ Himself goes so far as to testify of even the least among us that "their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10).  Through the baptism of water and the Spirit, Christ may change the dynamic of healing and sanctifying waters.  But the ministry and presence of these great messengers remains active and with us in all ways, and mysteriously more than we can know, as part of God's love at work for human beings.

Do you want to be made well?

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus had had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

- John 5:1-18

Yesterday we read that after remaining two days with the Samaritans (see the readings from Saturday and Monday), He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  We understand this feast to be the Old Testament Pentecost (which is also called the Feast of Weeks), celebrating the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses in this chapter are seen by tradition to affirm this interpretation.

In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This was a double-basin pool, which has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this pool on high ground came from underground springs; it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study bible notes that this pool functions as a "type" of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, it says, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But grace here is limited to the first person to enter.  Under the new covenant, baptism is given is given to all nations as direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6), without the mediation of angels.  Therefore baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body.  Its grace is inexhaustible.  Moreover, the stirring of the water by the angel is also a sign regarding the Feast of Weeks, as it is understood that Moses was given the Law through mediation by angels; whereas the Incarnation gave humanity direct contact and revelation by the Son.  As we read in the Prologue to this Gospel, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (1:17).

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Jesus singled out this man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance.  Also, it functions as a kind of judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.  Let us understand that for this period, thirty-eight years could well constitute a lifetime.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  My study bible lists several reasons for the relevance of Christ's question to the paralyzed man.  First, it made public the fact that this sick man kept his faith even in circumstances that were seemingly hopeless.  How could a paralytic be the first into the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water, and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This man is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became human to heal all people.  Also, Christ asking this question illustrates that not all ill people truly want healing.  Some prefer to remain infirm for all kinds of reasons; such as, for example, the enjoyment of complaining, avoiding responsibility, or obtaining the pity of others.  This is true of spiritual healing as well; those who truly desire the grace Christ offers will also be called to the struggle of bearing of one's own cross in a particular way.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  My study bible says that the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath.  But it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  Here again is an illustration of the difference between the Law and the fullness of the Incarnation.  That Christ is Lord over the Sabbath is expressed by His command ("Take up your bed and walk") and by the man's obedience.  Once again, it must be noted that the term the Jews in John's Gospel is used like a political term, to denote the leadership and not to the people in general (all the people in this story are Jews).  What is most noteworthy is the malice of the leaders.  They focus only on the violation of the Sabbath, asking "Who is the Man who said to you, Take up your bed'?" and ignoring the good news of the man's healing altogether.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  My study bible notes that the fact that this man was found in the temple shows his great faith.  He had gone there directly in order to thank God for his cure, rather than leaving for someone's home or the marketplace to reveal to all his good news.  Jesus tells him to sin no more.  My study bible explains that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), the connection isn't always direct or one-to-one.  The innocent often suffer in our world, and the guilty are frequently spared worldly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).  However, there are times when our own sins lead directly to our suffering in this world.   St. Chrysostom comments that this was the case with this paralytic.  But my study bible indicates that Christ's warning here is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a worse result than afflictions of the body.  The real hope is to flee from sin altogether.  There is an additional perspective on Christ's warning; and that would be that to sin in forgetfulness of God's mercy to him would be a spiritual rejection of his healing, a spurning of the gift given by God.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus had had made him well.  This man does not maliciously report Jesus to the leadership, but rather he is witnessing to the goodness of Christ.  Even though the leaders are only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about the command to carry his bed.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  In tomorrow's reading, the dialogue will continue with the leadership, as Jesus continues to express the unity between Himself and the Father.  This statement of equality with God, whom Jesus calls My Father,  is an outrage to the religious leadership.

The place where our healing comes from is truly the reconciliation of all things; that is in the Reconciler, Christ Himself.  In today's reading are elements of the Law and the giving of the Law.  The angel that stirs up the waters is a reminder of how the Law comes to be given to the Jews, as preparation for the fullness of the revelation of Christ, God and man.  In the Incarnation itself is the reconciliation of God and man.  St. Gregory Nazianzinus has written, "What has not been assumed has not been healed," referring to the Incarnation; that is, to the complete assumption in Christ of the full nature of human beings, in every dimension.  Therefore, in the Incarnation itself, we see the healing of human beings.  This paralyzed man, seemingly simply waiting for Christ, has been hoping for his chance of divine healing for thirty-eight years, a full lifetime for his place and time.  As preparation for the Christ, the Law was given.  This is the way the Church views the old covenant.  Moreover, as Scripture tells us that there are angels given to every nation, we can also in the same sense view whatever good, true, and beautiful teaching from every culture as a preparation for the fullness of the healing that is offered in Christ.  We await, the world awaits, as did this man for thirty-eight years, the appearance of the fullness of the manifestation of Christ -- not simply God, but God and human, God Incarnate.  That is, God who has become one of us in order to fully heal us and teach us what a unified life looks like.  He comes to give us grace and truth, and of all its fullness, an overflowing of grace for grace.  And at the same time He warns us, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  He teaches us not to take this grace for granted, and to ignore it at our own peril.  What has come near to us, this Kingdom in the Person of Jesus Christ, is not something to be taken lightly.  It is not an offer we'd be well off to spurn.  Moreover, the world may challenge us for our own healing.  Walking the pathway of Christ is not going to be easy or simple.  It is meant to be a struggle and a challenge, for we enter into His struggle and challenge He chose for us when He was born as human being, and walking in His ministry toward the Cross.  Perhaps it is partly for this reason that Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?"  When we are well, we may see things more clearly -- including the things in our lives that challenge that wellness, that may reach up in envy to snatch it away, belittle it, ridicule it, or tear it down because it challenges others also to choose wellness for themselves.  We may consider that in some sense we live in a sick world.  A sick world is one that can be healed, capable of living and supporting healthy life, and made for the good, for the peace and joy that Christ brings (14:27; 15:11).  To ask this question, however, asks us to step into a place where we carry our own cross, and take up the responsibility for being healed and made whole.  We will view things in a different way than those who do not seek nor cherish Christ's peace and joy within themselves, from those in whom irresponsibility results in tearing down what they cannot and do not wish to understand.  If all of this seems bleak, let us consider what life is like without Christ's mercy, without grace and truth.   In Mark's Gospel, Jesus responds to all of this Himself.  Pertinent to today's reading, He reminds us again of the mission of the angels, when He tells us, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:35-38).  All the witnesses of Scripture testify to the worthiness of the gift, and the struggle to cherish and uphold it by our lives and how we choose to live by His light.