A reading from the prophet Ezekiel (47:1-9, 12)
The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple where a stream was flowing eastwards from under the Temple threshold, for the Temple faced east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water was flowing out on the right-hand side. The man went off to the east holding his measuring line and measured off four hundred metres; he then made me wade across the stream: the water reached my ankles. He measured off another four hundred metres and made me wade across the stream again: the water reached my knees. He measured off another four hundred metres and made me wade across the stream again: the water reached my waist. He measured off another four hundred metres: it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross. Then he said, ‘Do you see, son of man?’ Then he took me and brought me back to the bank on the river. Now, when I reached it, there was an enormous number of trees on each bank of the river. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good for eating and their leaves for healing.’
A series of visions, marking the return after the exile, brings the book of the prophet Ezekiel to an end. He has been given instructions about the rebuilding of the temple, and has witnessed the return of the Lord (Ezekiel 43). This further vision of the temple, rebuilt after destruction by the Babylonians, shows it to be a source of blessing and fertility, for God is there. The water gushing from the temple, in ever greater abundance, transforms the barren natural environment on the way down to the Dead Sea. Where there were only lifeless minerals new life teems. Fish are now ‘very plentiful’. All along the banks there are fruit trees which ‘bear new fruit every month’, and have healing powers. The water from the temple speaks of God’s transforming presence and prepares for Christian baptism.
Psalm 46 (45) The psalm reflects the vision of Ezekiel, for the ‘waters of a river’ bring joy to the city of God.
A reading from the holy gospel according to John (5:1-3, 5-16)
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem next to the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticoes; and under these lay many sick people, blind, lame, paralysed. One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been there for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ The sick man replied, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am on my way, someone else gets down before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your mat and walk around.’ The man was cured at once, and picked up his mat and started to walk around.
Now that day was a Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your mat.’ He replied to them, ‘The man who cured me said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk around.” ’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick it up and walk around”?’ The man who had been healed had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared, as the place was crowded. After this Jesus found him in the Temple and said, ‘See, 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 who had cured him. Therefore the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.
This is one of several visits of Jesus to Jerusalem in the Fourth Gospel. It seems that the pool was an ancient pagan site for healing, dedicated to the Greek god Asclepius. Jesus is present in Jerusalem for an unspecified ‘festival of the Jews’. The man who has been ill for thirty-eight years is understandably despondent. There is no expression of faith or even of hope. But Jesus puts the man’s well-being first, violating the Sabbath on his behalf. There is no response from the man, so that it is not surprising that Jesus chides him with ‘do not sin any more, or something worse may happen to you’. This should not be understood as a threat, but perhaps simply a challenge to gratitude for his new condition. The complaint that Jesus worked the sign on the Sabbath will give rise to a lengthy exchange with certain Jews, and to the ‘persecution’ of Jesus.
Jesus heals this poor man despite his hopelessness.
Pray for those who feel their life is pointless.