April 5, 2010
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
By Beth DeCristofaro
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. (Ezekiel 47:6-9, 12)
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. (John 5:6-9)
Piety
O let all who thirst
Let them come to the water
And let all who have nothing
Let them come to the Lord
Without money, without price
Why should you pay the price
Except for the Lord?
And let all who seek
Let them come to the water
And let all who have nothing
Let them come to the Lord
Without money, without strife
Why should you spend your life
Except for the Lord?
(Lyrics “Come to the Water” by Matt Maher)
Study
Ezekiel’s flowing streams come from his visions. These visions were of a rebuilt temple and a utopian future with which he renewed the hopes of Israelites in exile. The pool of Bethsaida was real enough – archeologists have found remnants of a pool with five porticos northeast of the temple in Jerusalem. But the story told throughout Jerusalem, that an angel who stirred the waters of the pool would bring healing to the first person to call in, was about magic not God. Much like Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Jesus offered the ill man more than magic. Jesus, the living water, offered him wellness, wholeness and the chance for a better life.
Here we are, midway in Lent, with an oasis of readings full of the lush, vibrant luxuriance of God’s creative and healing promise. In the desert there is life. In our own journeys Jesus walks up to us and asks: “Do you want to be well?” He wants us also to take up our mats and walk, accomplished by drinking the living water not the life-giving but limited “waters” around us which we mistakenly believe will make us whole. Can we see beyond the stirrings, the outward appearances which can be deceptive? Can we look within ourselves and others to find Jesus’ life giving waters and leap wholeheartedly into them? It means moving off the steps of the well where we await mythical angels and turning back to the itinerant preacher, Jesus the Christ.
Action
In what ways do you need healing? Are you able to answer Jesus’ question: “Do you want to be well?” Are you ready to pick up the mat which you have lain on and carry it out of your comfort zone?
Look around and see who else might need healing – especially those whom you think need healing because they annoy or discomfit you or whose ideas you find suspect. Pray for them. Pray for yourself for deeper sight.
