John 5:1 After this, there was a Judean festival; and Yeshua went up to Yerushalayim. 2 In Yerushalayim, by the Sheep Gate, is a pool called in Aramaic, Beit-Zata, 3 in which lay a crowd of invalids — blind, lame, crippled. 4 [
John 5:4 Some manuscripts have verses 3b–4: . . . , waiting for the water to move; 4 for at certain times an angel of Adonai went down into the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever stepped into the water first after it was disturbed was healed of whatever disease he had.] 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Yeshua, seeing this man and knowing that he had been there a long time, said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered, “I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I’m trying to get there, someone goes in ahead of me.” 8 Yeshua said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and walked.
Now that day was Shabbat,
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When was the last time you had a disagreement or were angry with someone? Do you ever find yourself wanting to hang on to that anger--wallowing in the delicious feeling of self-righteous rage? If we are honest we really want to hang onto that certain sense of superiority or rightness that comes along with a little ego-restoring wound licking. At the same time we can imagine some suitable retribution for the other. We don't want to forgive too quickly and relinquish the position of moral superiority.
If healing includes the ability to let go and forgive and have our relationships restored and all the brokenness mended--if healing is really about wholeness--then if we were asked if we wanted to be healed, we would have to say, "well, not quite yet." Do we want to be healed? Do we want to forgive everyone who has hurt us? Are we ready to humble ourselves and admit our own faults and ask for forgiveness from others? Are we ready to be healed in this way too? And if not, what do we still want to hang on to and what's our excuse?
Forgiving, gracious God, heal me--even of my pompous self-righteousness and the unwillingness to forgive and accept the forgiveness of others--even if I'm not done enjoying it just yet. Amen.
Tim Kellgren
Retired, Elim Lutheran Church, Petaluma, Calif.
Master of Divinity, 1971
John 5:1 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes.
3 In these lay many invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"
7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me."
8 Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk."
9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
[New Revised Standard Version]
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