Cure on a Sabbath

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

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

REFLECTION DO YOU WANT TO BE WELL? In spite of the fact that he knows that the man has been ill for a long time, Jesus still asks him, “Do you want to be well?” Jesus does not impose; he elicits our willingness to be healed. This is typical of Jesus in the gospels: he always asks.

Salvation is God’s gift to us; it has to be received willingly. Objectively, we have been saved through Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. Subjectively, we have to accept this offer of salvation.

Although the sick man does not categorically say yes, his explanation is enough for Jesus to heal him. The miracle demonstrates once again (as in yesterday’s Gospel) the power of Jesus’ word.

Because of the healing on a Sabbath, the Jews begin to persecute Jesus. This is an example of a refusal to receive salvation. Salvation cannot happen to those who refuse to accept Jesus’ saving power.

“I will rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God” (Hab 3:18).

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2017,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www. stpauls.ph.