Imagine being sick for thirty-eight years, and then all of a sudden, you are cured! What an experience.That is just what happened to the man by the pool in Bethsaida as recorded in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. Fr. Mike looks at this wonderful story of healing. Tradition was that when the waters of the pool were stirring, the first one in was miraculously healed. The man waited by the pool year after year, but was so sick that he could not get into the pool by himself.Then Jesus enters into the picture. He asks the man what he wants. Then he simply tells the man to stand up, pick up his mat, and go home.
But the Jews couldn’t let this be. They tell the man that he has broken the law by picking up the mat. Then later on, they go to Jesus and ask him what right he had to heal on the Sabbath. Fr. Mike looks at this legalistic approach to life and compares it to the never ending love of God. He then looks at healing itself, whether it be through medicine or by the hands of a healing minister. He warns us about not believing in magic, but in the true and deep healing that comes from God’s love for us.
