Cure on a Sabbath

Today's Reflections

Cure on a Sabbath

 

Jn 5:1-16

¹There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ²Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. ³In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. [⁴] ⁵One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” ⁹Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” ¹³The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. ¹⁴After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. ¹⁶Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.

 

Reflection:
 

ILL FOR THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS. The man has suffered long—for 38 years. In spite of his illness, however, the man remains hopeful, patient, and optimistic. He is a picture of confidence in God. He firmly believes that someday he will be healed. This healing now comes in the person of Jesus who sees his faith and confidence in God and instructs him to rise, take up his mat, and walk.

Let us always perform good and noble deeds. Let us help and heal. Let us make use of every opportunity to do good. And let us not be discouraged if people turn out to be ungrateful or question our motives.

Name the person(s) you will help today.