Tuesday of 4th Week of Lent
“Jesus said to him ’Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk!’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his stretcher and began to walk around.”
8th March 2016
Ez.47,1-9.12 Ps.45 Jn.5,1-16
“After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem next to the sheep pool there is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticos ; and under these there were crowds of sick people, blind, lame, paralysed. One mad there had an illness which lasted thirty-eight years and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in that condition for a long time, he said, ’Do you want to be well again?’ ’ Lord, ’replied the sick man, ’I have no one to put me into the pool and when the water is disturbed ; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets down there before me.Jesus said ’Get up, take your stretcher and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and started to walk around.”
The Good News we receive from Jesus is that he takes away the consequences of sin because man doesn’t have the strength in himself to save himself.
Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, and we admire His courage. He knows that he is going to suffer a great deal, be crucified, and here he turns towards the poorest people.
Can we imagine the suffering that 38 years of paralysis implies? Jesus intervenes in the life of this man as a true Saviour. Far too often the difficulties lived in this life are not seen in the light of the greatness of God for whom nothing is impossible.
Before all else, this passage teaches us to have confidence in God. The sick person has waited thirty-eight years; who knows for how long we shall have to wait.
God’s ways are mysterious and very often very different from our own. He says to this man : ’Do you want to be healed?’ This man doesn’t even think about it anymore!
Jesus will heal this man because by himself he has no strength to save himself. He is so confirmed in a negative image of himself that it seems strange for him to be able to be healed : ’someone else always passes before me!’ We too can
also feel that deliverance is for others, that for other people everything is going very well, but not for me! Jesus has come to save all of us!
" The man was cured at once and he picked up his stretcher and began walking around.Now that day happened to be the Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured : ’It is the Sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your stretcher.’
He replied ’But the man who cured me told me ’Pick up your stretcher and walk.’ They asked ’Who is the man who said to you ’Pick up your stretcher and walk’ ? ’
The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus and disappeared as the place was crowded."
Some Jews react in an inadapted way, they reprimand this man because he is carrying his stretcher now of no use, just as Jesus had ordered him to do so.
For him, he had been waiting do long for this grace and it has come, so he must bear witness to it.
This man had spent many years going from defeat to defeat, he is saved because Jesus had taken the first step. Only the experience of his healing can change his inner attitude.
For us, healing is to know how to walk with our wounds without them preventing us from living.
In our wounded humanity, the man who had the experience of this healing becomes a sign for others. Everything that was used so he could lean on it to settle into a refusal of life has thus disappeared and so now he settles into life!
“After a while, Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ’Now you are well again, do not sin anymore, or something worse might happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews it was Jesus who had cured him.it was because he did things like this on the Sabbath that the Jews began to harass Jesus.”
God’s mysteries are unfathomable, but my actions depend upon myself. What am I doing for those who are suffering?
Jesus died on the Cross to buy us back. Before this liberation, this man didn’t have the capacity to see God in his life, and now He is contemplating God at work in Jesus.
The ’resurrection’ is at work in the secret of the heart, with gentleness and humility. This man has now understood that henceforth the Saviour is present. The world has settled into ways of doubting, but this cured man is a witness that God’s Salvation is really at work in the present day.
The carrying of his stretcher is a sign that his heart is delivered his handicap has disappeared. He can manifest that Salvation is at work.
Even today we need to shine forth once more with the Salvation brought about by Jesus in the deepest part of our hearts.
We ask Jesus for the grace to lead us into the Heart of the Father.
405. Mardi de la 4ième semaine de Carême : Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent
TUESDAY of FOURTH WEEK of LENT
Fourth week of Lent : Tuesday of Fourth week of Lent
“After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem next to the Sheep Pool there is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticos, and under this there were crowds of sick people, blind, lame and paralyzed; One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in that condition for a long time, he said’ Do you want to be well again?’ ’Sir’, replied the sick man, ’I have no-one to put me into the pool when then water is disturbed ; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets down there before me.’ Jesus said ’Get up, pick up your sleeping mat and walk around’. The man was cured at once.”
Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. We admire his courage for he knows that he is going to suffer greatly and be crucified, and it is towards the poorest that he turns his attention. He says to this man : “Do you want to be healed?” This man doesn’t even think about this eventuality anymore! Jesus will heal this man because he has no strength to be saved by himself! Through this illness, we come to the understanding of how sin can bring life to a standstill. Sin affects lives to such an extent that, without divine grace, poor people can be taken up in evil , with all their thoughts making them slaves to sin.This man is so confirmed in a negative image of himself that it seems quite strange for him the idea of being healed! “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed and while I am still on the way, someone else gets down there before me.” No one who wants to help me! Someone else goes before me! We can also experience the belief that deliverance is for others, not to give ourselves much credit lies deeply within us : for others things are fine, but for me, life is awful! Jesus came to save us all!
This man had spent many a year going from defeat to defeat, but he is saved because Jesus takes the first step. Sin takes us far along the road of lies, making slaves of us and we can enter into a state of deep disillusion, disgusted with our present life. Jesus does not ask this man’s advice, he simply says :
“Get up!” This man needed to have the experience of healing in order to believe. Only a healing experience can change an inner attitude. Jesus says again : ’Pick up your sleeping mat!’ and says to him : ’Walk around!’ Very often, healing for us is that we walk around with our wounds thus preventing us to live! In our wounded humanity the one who has had an experience of healing becomes a sign for others.Everything that was serving as a support to settle him in a refusal of life has thus disappeared and thus he settles himself into life!
“After a while, Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ’’ Now that you are well again, do not sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus that cured him. It was because he did things like this on the Sabbath that the Jews began to harass Jesus.” This man is freed from the hold of sin and we find him in the Temple, the place where one can say thank you to God and show the power of Jesus who sets free. Beforehand, this man did not have the capacity to see God in his life, and from now on he can contemplate God. In reality, he contemplates the Word made flesh who dwells amongst us, full of grace and truth. This man contemplates the work of God who acts through his Son. The “Resurrection” is the work in the secret of the heart, in gentleness and in humility. This man has discovered that henceforth the Saviour is present. It is not easy to bear witness to the work of God in the world for it has settled into an attitude of “the death of God” for such a long time! Even the religious world doubts! The healing of this man bears witness to the fact that Salvation from God occurs in the present moment.He carries his sleeping mat, and this is a sign that his heart is set free : his handicap has disappeared. He can manifest how Salvation is at work. Once again, on this today, we are called to shine forth Salvation brought about by Jesus in the deepest part of our hearts.