TUESDAY IN THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT READINGS AND REFLECTION:
JESUS CURES OF A MAN AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA
(Jn 5:1-16).
TUESDAY IN THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT
MASS READINGS
1st Reading Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
Verse Before the Gospel Psalms 51:12A, 14A
Gospel John 5:1-16
READING I
Ez 47:1–9, 12
The angel brought me, Ezekiel, back to the entrance of the temple of the Lord, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the façade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He led me outside by the north gate, and around to the outer gate facing the east, where I saw water trickling from the right side. Then when he had walked off to the east with a measuring cord in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water, which was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand and once more had me wade through the water, which was now knee-deep. Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade; the water was up to my waist. Once more he measured off a thousand, but there was now a river through which I could not wade; for the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming. He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?” Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit. Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides. He said to me, “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Dómius virtútum nobíscum, refúgium nobis Deus Iacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the Lord,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
Create a clean heart in me, O God; give back to me the joy of your salvation.
GOSPEL
Jn 5:1–16
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’”
They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.
GOSPEL REFLECTION
COMMENTARY FROM THE NAVARRE BIBLE, ST. JOHN (with permission)
- 1 We cannot be certain what feast this was; it probably refers to the Passover, known the world over at the time as the national feast of the Jewish people. But it could refer to another feast, Pentecost perhaps. (On this question see “The Dates of the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ” in The Navarre Bible: St Mark, p. 49f);
- 2 This pool was also called the “Probatic” pool because it was located on the outskirts of Jerusalem, beside the Probatic Gate or Sheep Gate (cf. Neh 3:1-32; 12:39) through which came the livestock which was going to he sacrificed in the Temple.
- Around the end of the nineteenth century the remains of a pool were discovered: excavated out of rock, it was rectangular in shape and was surrounded by four galleries or porches, with a fifth porch dividing the pool into two.
- 3-4 The Fathers teach that this pool is a symbol of Christian Baptism; but that whereas the pool of Bethzatha cured physical ailments, Baptism cures those of the soul; in Bethzatha’s case only one person was cured, now and again; Baptism is available to everyone, at all times; in both cases God’s power is shown through the medium of water (cf. Chrysostom, Hom, on St 7ohn, 36, 1).
- The Sixto-Clementine edition of the Vulgate includes here, as a second part of v.3 and all v.4: ‘Exspectantium aquae motum. ‘Angelus autem Domini descendebat secundum tempus in piscinam et movebatur aqua. Et qui prior descendisset in piscinam post motionem aquae sanus fiebat a quacumque detinebatur infirmitate” [which translates as the RSV note below]. The New Vulgate, however, omits this passage, assigning it to a footnote, because it does not appear in important Greek codexes and papyri, nor in many ancient translations.
- 14 The man may have come to the Temple to thank God for his cure. Jesus goes over to him and reminds him that the health of the soul is more important than physical health.
- Our Lord uses holy fear of God as motivation in the struggle against sin: “Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you”.
- This holy fear is born out of respect for God our Father; it is perfectly compatible with love. Just as children love and respect their parents and try to avoid annoying them partly because they are afraid of being punished, so we should fight against sin firstly because it is an offence against God, but also because we can be punished in this life and, above all, in the next.
GOSPEL REFLECTION
Jesus cures a paralytic on sabbath. A controversy among the Jews arose because of an erroneous and legalistic interpretation of the Old Law which prohibits manual work during sabbath, and dedicating it as a weekly day of rest. Therefore, accorfing to the Jews, the paralytic was disobeying it for carrying his mat.
Jesus rejects this strict and legalistic interpretation. He was more concerned with the physical and spiritual well-being of the paralytic and thus, he cured him. With this miraculous cure, Jesus also demonstrates that He is the Christ, the Lord of the sabbath, and has precedence over sabbath.
Let us examine ourselves whether we have the same attitude as the Jews in today’s Gospel in our dealings with the people around us. Oftentimes, we wrongly judge others because we only focus on what we see externally in people’s actions, without considering their intentions, which oftentimes we will never know. Hence, only God has the right to judge the entirety of people’s actions.
At the same time, Our Lord reminds us of the need to struggle after being cured from our spiritual ailments. Although the healing was physical, these miracles symbolize the spiritual purification of the affected. Hence, Our Lord said, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” Let us ask Our Lord so that we may struggle daily out of love for Him and others to avoid sin and its occasions.
Stay safe and God bless, Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.
VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: DO YOU SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THE PRESENCE OF JESUS?
In today’s gospel reading, a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years is approached by Jesus. Unlike many of those Jesus cured who approached Him for healing, it is Jesus, this time, who takes the initiative and asks him, “Do you want to be well?”
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