John
5:1-3, 5-16
In
the gospel of today, Jesus heals the man who has been sick at the pool of
Bethzatha for thirty eight years by the power of his word. Jesus did not have
to take the man into the pool to be healed because he is the living water. He
breaks the protocol of waiting in anticipation for the moving of the water. He
said to the man, “Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.” Jesus heals in
season and out of season: he heals in the summer and in the winter, in the day
and in the night. Laws of nature and human legal and medical procedures cannot
hold the power of Christ when he comes to heal.
When
Jesus later met the man at the temple, he said to him, “Now you are well again,
be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.” This
statement shows that sin has spiritual consequences which extend to the
physical. Jesus healed both the spiritual and physical paralyses of the man. We
too need to be loosened from spiritual paralyses. The weight of our sins cannot
hold Christ from forgiving us. If he asks you today, “Do you want to be well
again?” what would be your response?
