Readings: Ez 47:1-9, 122; Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-99; Jn 5:1-16
This chapter of St. John’s Gospel marks the start of a series of confrontations between Jesus and the Jewish people which brought with them persecutions and eventually lead to his death. The question in today’s passage is whether or not the man suffering from illness should be cured on the Sabbath. He had been ill for a long time, yet was not close to death. In the Jewish tradition it was only those who were close to death who were allowed to receive medical attention on the Sabbath. What Jesus recognised was that this man’s illness had kept him in the shadow of death all that time, robbing him of the capacity to live fully and joyfully.Jesus’ response shows something to us about the importance of the Sabbath – as the Son of God he provides us with the authentic interpretation of God’s law concerning the Sabbath, showing that the Sabbath is not only a day of rest and recreation, but a day of God’s mercy. It is never the wrong time for God to heal, never the wrong time to show mercy. Jesus brings the man healing of his sins, and gives him back the life which he had lacked for so long. We may ask ourselves then what we might be lacking – after all, evil is not a ‘thing’ at all, but an absence of the kind which prevents us from being fully human. What parts of our lives have we hidden away from God for all too long? What long term grievances do we carry around with us? Who do we need to forgive? Can we not ask for God’s healing and mercy right now, in order that Christ may enter, and we may start on the journey to wholeness?
I was struck by the language of this reading and post. Is the confrontation between Jesus and the 'Jewish people' or is His confrontation with the Jewish authority? Or perhaps, not even Jewish authority but those who put the law before God's mercy. I love this type of reading because the man does not even know he was in the presence of God, just a man who spoke to him and he was healed. I'm not sure is this in simple faith or an example that all of us take His mercy and forgiveness for granted.
ReplyDelete