Let life flow with its power that heals

Let life flow with its power that heals

John 5:1-9

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. (Verses 8-9)

The setting of the text is Jerusalem in one of the grand celebrations of a Jewish Festival. The word Bethesda (name of the pool) derives from two Hebrew words, ‘Bet’ and ‘eshada’ that can together mean ‘house of flow’; refers to the occasional new bubbling in the pond, which was believed to be a stirring of the water by an angel.  The gate to the Jerusalem city near to this pond was also referred to as the sheep gate; may be because the sheep for sacrifices in the Temple were brought through this gate. The temple was not merely a religious institution, but as many studies show it, was also an economic institution. There were a lot of transactions happening related to the ritualistic cycling of festivals and related sacrifices. That means the location, where this story unfolds, was a place with a lot of hectic activities happening. It is right to imagine that it was a crowded market place too, as it was a place with some religious significance.

There were people flocking with different intentions. The people who controlled the space wanted to make advantages, both economically and socially by manipulating the crowded situation. But there were also people like the paralytic, who had no role to play, but simply to remain as mute spectators of the happenings. They were fending on the charity offered by the passersby. The mythical story of the angel stirring the pond was not adequate enough to inspire the paralytic as it lacked any enthusiasm, newness or palpable hope. He was not even daring to stare into the waters as it remained a stagnant reality without anything fresh gushing up. In spite of the great flow of things and people through the sheep-gate and the place surrounding it, we see that certain stagnant corners are created, maintained and designated for the “unwanted” like the paralytic. Despite the din and bustle around, he finds his space as a stale space. The long accumulated sediments of the motives of covetousness, profiteering and coercion of the powerful, making the occupants of the space paralytic.

Jesus appears from nowhere, as if he was not invited to the situation, as his descend from heaven was not a response to any invitation. Jesus asks the man whether he wants to be made well. He reacts in his presuppositions. He bemoans his predicament. It implies that Jesus’ proposal of a healing seems to be a total impossibility for the man. Jesus makes healing simple and the task achievable. The three imperatives (rise-take up your bed-walk) in his speech to the man seemed workable, though it involved hard efforts. The imperative was to break out of the stagnant life that was stifling the man to be a blessing for the world, but a burden.

Healing on Sabbath becomes a point of contention here. Sabbath violation is a serious discrepancy for the orthodox Jews. Jews oppose Jesus, because he turns out to be a threat to the handlers of the religious system. The defense of Sabbath law in another way is the defense of an entire way of ordering of life of faith. And most often that ordering is decided by the power of the profit making ideologies of a ‘marketized’ religion. The healed man and Jesus together focus on new possibilities of man’s new life.  Jesus’ challenge is to the practice of the religious establishment in restricting the power of life of the people, who are designated to the corners of isolation and rejection. Paralysis symbolizes the sickness we incur because of violating the cardinal imperatives of loving one’s neighbor and loving God.

There are stagnant corners in the din and bustle of the highly marketized religiosity around us. Our task is to help people unleash the uncontainable power of life to make the flow of life to resume. Let us be people who love each other, love God and be channels of God’s blessings for the world.