20220329 PARALYSED BY SIN AND LEGALISM
29 March, 2022, Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent
First reading |
Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 © |
Wherever the water flows, it will bring life and health
The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed 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 flowed out on the right-hand side. The man went to the east holding his measuring line and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the water reached my ankles. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across again; the water reached my waist. He measured off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross. He then said, ‘Do you see, son of man?’ He took me further, then brought me back to the bank of the river. When I got back, there were many 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 to eat and the leaves medicinal.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 45(46):2-3,5-6,8-9ab © |
The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.
The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within, it cannot be shaken;
God will help it at the dawning of the day.
The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps50:12,14 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
A pure heart create for me, O God,
and give me again the joy of your help.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel | John 5:1-3,5-16 © |
The healing at the pool of Bethesda
There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move. One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.
Now that day happened to be the sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to 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. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.
PARALYSED BY SIN AND LEGALISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 47:1-9,12; PS 46:2-3,5-6,8-9; JOHN 5:1-16]
On this second day of Lent after Laetare Sunday, we are still basking with anticipatory joy of the coming of Christ when He gives us new life. In the first reading, we read of the stream of water coming from the Temple, bringing life to wherever it flowed, trees, fishes and all creatures. Most of all, it bears fruits and “their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.” That was the theme of yesterday’s gospel, when Jesus healed the son of the court official who was near death. Today, we see the medicinal power of the Lord in healing the paralyzed man at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem.
The responsorial psalm sings the same refrain when the psalmist says, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within, it cannot be shaken; God will help it at the dawning of the day.” Indeed, whenever the Lord is with us, He brings life and joy. So long as the Lord is the centre of our life, as He was in Jerusalem, we have nothing to fear because “God is for us a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, in time of distress: so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.”
The question, is how can we allow Jesus to enter into our life? What hinders us from allowing Jesus to dwell within us? The gospel tells us that it is due to the paralysis that comes from sin and legalism. In the first place, we are told that the man was paralyzed for 38 years. Some scholars have suggested that this could refer to the Israelites who were wondering in the desert for 40 years because of their rebellion against God. Rebellion is the consequence of disobedience to the laws of God, resulting in sin. Sin destroys us and paralyses us from love and good works. This was what Jesus told the man after he was healed when He said, “Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.”
Indeed, the close connection between sin and illness is something taught in the scriptures. It is not only based on the word of God but on existential living. If we live a life of sin, dishonesty, cheating, anger, pride and greed, we cannot expect to be happy in life. St Paul says, “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9f) This is because the Kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17) If a man was paralyzed, it was because of the sins in his life.
But we can also be paralyzed by legalism. When we interpret the Laws narrowly or allow the Laws to discourage us, then we live either in fear of breaking the laws, or becoming self-righteous and merciless to fellow sinners who, unlike us, cannot observe the laws. Many of us are over scrupulous with regard to our sins. We are legalistic and so when we sin, it is not so much because we feel sorry that we have hurt our fellowmen or break the heart of God’s love for us. Rather, we are afraid that God as the judge will send us to hell or punish us for our sins or cause us to suffer the consequences of sins. At the other end of the pendulum, we have the scribes and the Pharisees who condemned and despised other sinners because they think they were very holy simply because they had observed the laws meticulously to the last iota. They felt justified before God and they ended up justifying themselves. They did not really need the grace of God because they depended on their efforts. So obsessed were they with the Laws that they conceived the 39 different types of work that could break the Sabbath Law.
But Jesus today has come to take away our sins and our legalistic attitude towards the Law and towards God. He takes away sin through the waters of baptism. Water is always a symbol of cleansing and purification. Water is also a symbol of life which we read in the first reading. It was also a superstitious belief by the sick people at the pool that when the angel stirred the waters, anyone who went down into the pool first would be healed. So this idea of water cleansing, purifying, healing and giving life is very much in the bible. Through the waters of baptism, we too can be forgiven, healed and given new life, just like the water that flowed through the Temple of Jerusalem giving life to all creatures.
This explains why Jesus ordered the man to carry his stretcher. “Pick up your mat and walk.” For the last 38 years, the stretcher was carrying him. He was a slave to the stretcher, to his past, his pain, his shame, resentment against God and others for his condition and the lack of forgiveness. But to carry the stretcher and walk means that he was set free. He was no longer ashamed of his misery. He no longer needed to rely on the stretcher. Instead, he could carry his past with pride and dignity because he no longer depended on it.
Jesus set the man free from his sin through forgiveness expressed in mercy and compassion. Some manuscripts translated the name of the pool at Bethesda, as the House of Mercy. Indeed, it is the mercy of God. The best way to change life is always through mercy and compassion. God is always merciful. God does not rest on the Sabbath because creation is always ongoing. Do women stop giving birth on the Sabbath day, or do people stop dying on the Sabbath day? Of course not! Therefore, anything that gives life or anything that has to do with the works of mercy cannot be postponed even on the Sabbath. God does not rest from showing His mercy and compassion!
Secondly, Jesus comes to free us from the sin of legalism, which is equally paralyzing to our life. Many live in fear of God, yet they still break the laws. When they do, they condemn themselves. Those who keep the laws, often lack joy and love in their life. They carry the burden of the laws and are secretly hostile towards God. Because they lack joy in their life, they want to rob others of their joy by condemning them and making them feel unloved by God. That was what happened to the man who was reprimanded by the Jewish leaders for carrying the mat on the Sabbath Day. According to the Law, he was breaking the Sabbath and if done deliberately, he could be stoned to death. Hence, he defended himself by saying that it was the man who healed him that instructed him to carry the mat. The religious leaders were therefore not happy with Jesus for giving life to others. “It was because he did things like this on the Sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.” The law prevented them from giving life and joy to others. They wanted the rest to suffer with them in carrying the burden of the Laws.
Scholars suggested that the five porticos at the Temple is an allegory of the five books, that is, the Laws. That Jesus was present at the Temple at a Jewish festival, presumably, the feast of the Passover, meant that the only way to lift the burden of the Laws from those of us who are enslaved to the laws because of sin or because of pride, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit which is given to us through Christ’s death at baptism and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in confirmation. The sacrament of Baptism pours forth the Spirit of God’s love into our hearts and Confirmation renews the Spirit of God’s love given to us by empowering us with the joy and love of God so that we can spread to others. Only the Holy Spirit can free us from legalism and put love into our hearts.
But there is also a warning that if we take the love and mercy of God for granted, we can fall into worse sin and hurt ourselves. So often after conversion, many of us fall back into sin because we do not develop our relationship with the Lord. We are told that the “man had no idea who it was since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place.”
So even if healed, without knowing Jesus, we will fall back to sin. Indeed, just as Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be well again?”; He is asking us whether we really want to be well, or do we just want to be freed from guilt for a while. If we do and truly wish to be well, we must turn away from sin by coming to know the Lord. That is why we must deepen our relationship with the Lord after baptism, or any renewal through retreats; otherwise, we will fall back into sin. Only when we come to know Jesus more, and His love for us and mercy, will we then not turn to sin, not because we fear punishment but because we think of the price of His love for us and we do not wish to grieve Jesus by living a life of sin that destroys both ourselves and others. Like the man in the first reading, let us enter deeper into the waters of life so that we can drink from the Lord and quench our thirst.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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