72, 119:73-96
Jer. 3:6-18
Rom. 1:28--2:11
John 5:1-18
Jer. 3:6-18
Rom. 1:28--2:11
John 5:1-18
John 5:1-18
1After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When 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?” 7The 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.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
In the reading from John today, Jesus heals a man who had been sick for years. When confronted by the Pharisees about breaking the Sabbath, Jesus responds, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”
1After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When 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?” 7The 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.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
In the reading from John today, Jesus heals a man who had been sick for years. When confronted by the Pharisees about breaking the Sabbath, Jesus responds, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”
This is a photo of the pool of Bethzatha as it is today. In Jesus' time it would have been a busy place, with pillars supporting a roof and various porches nearby.
The work of God is to make whole in all ways—give health (of mind, body, spirit), restore relationships (between humans and with God), and offer freedom (whether physical, mental, or spiritual).As followers of the Lord, we are also called to the same ministry of wholeness. Fortunately we don’t have to do it in our own strength or by ourselves. The same One who healed the sick man at the Pool of Bethzatha, is working through us to bring about reconciliation, freedom, health, and ultimately complete wholeness to us first and through us to the world.
What can you do today to further that ministry of wholeness? Do you feel that you need to be made well first?
The sick man, whether from pride or fear or abandonment, thought he had no one who would help him get better. His first response to Jesus is an excuse, “I have no one to put me into the pool”. If you need healing yourself, ask God, don’t wait for someone to “put [you] into the pool when the water is stirred up”.
Of course, we don’t have to be fully whole ourselves. Henri Nouwen calls Christians “Wounded Healers” and says we are called to identify the suffering in our own hearts and use that recognition the starting point of our service.
We are wounded ourselves, but because it is God working through us, our relationship gives us the ability to offer a healing hand to the world. Do you hear the call to “Stand up, take your mat and walk”? Or are you called to offer a helping hand to someone else?
An evening prayer from the Canadian Prayer Book gives us one starting point for that offering of self.
O Lord, who hast pity for all our weakness, put away from us worry and every anxious fear, that, having ended the labors of the day as in they sight and committing our tasks, ourselves, and all we love into thy keeping, we may now that night cometh, receive, as from thee, thy precious gift of sleep; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
For your journal: Read through the story in more than one translation. Sketch (or write) the scene with yourself as the man needing healed. What insights do you get?
Of course, we don’t have to be fully whole ourselves. Henri Nouwen calls Christians “Wounded Healers” and says we are called to identify the suffering in our own hearts and use that recognition the starting point of our service.
We are wounded ourselves, but because it is God working through us, our relationship gives us the ability to offer a healing hand to the world. Do you hear the call to “Stand up, take your mat and walk”? Or are you called to offer a helping hand to someone else?
An evening prayer from the Canadian Prayer Book gives us one starting point for that offering of self.
O Lord, who hast pity for all our weakness, put away from us worry and every anxious fear, that, having ended the labors of the day as in they sight and committing our tasks, ourselves, and all we love into thy keeping, we may now that night cometh, receive, as from thee, thy precious gift of sleep; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
For your journal: Read through the story in more than one translation. Sketch (or write) the scene with yourself as the man needing healed. What insights do you get?
