Câu chuyện trong bài Tin Mừng hôm cho chúng ta thấy một người bại liệt nằm chờ cho sóng trong hồ Bếtdatha nổi dậy để được chữa bệnh trong 38 năm năm qua, nhưng anh ta vẫn không có được một cơ hội lội xuống hồ nước trước người khác mỗi khi thiên thần của Thiên Chúa làm cho hồ nổi sóng để anh ta có thể được chữa lành, nhưng vì tình trạng bại liệt hết cả thân người của anh ta, anh ta không thể nào lội xuống nước một mình được. Như chúng ta biết rồi một ngày đó, Chúa Giêsu ghé qua, thấy cảnh thương tâm và lòng kiên nhẫn 38 năm chờ đợi của anh, Chúa Giêsu đã đến và chữa lành cho anh, chỉ đơn giản như thế, bởi vì Chúa muốn .
Tất cả chúng ta đang sống một cuộc sống chẳng khác gì như người đàn ông bị bệnh bại liệt này. Chúng ta như đang sống qua một cuộc sống hầu như chỉ biết chấp nhận những gì mà thế giới vật chất này đã giao ban cho chúng ta và chỉ biết chờ đợi cho một sự may rủi hay một thời điểm nào đó khi có một cái gì đó hoặc có ai đó sẽ đến để giúp chúng ta để đem chúng ta vào hồ Nước Bếtthada để được ơn chữa lành. Chúng ta đang chờ đợi một người nào đó để họ vào cuộc sống của chúng ta để làm thay đổi tình trạng khó khăn bế tắc trong cuộc sống hiện tại của chúng ta, hay giúp chúng ta thoát khỏi được những sự khó khăn của chúng ta, chẳng hạn một người nào đó sẵn sàng giúp cho chúng ta một số tiền để trả nợ, Hay mong chờ một người nào đó phát minh ra phương pháp chữa bệnh ung thư mới mà chúng ta đang mắc phải.
Cuộc đời con người chúng ta rất ngắn, chúng ta không thể chờ đợi một ai đó đến và có thể giúp chúng ta. Hôm nay Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta rằng Ngài có thể chữa lành cho chúng ta và Ngài muốn giúp chúng ta trong các tình hình phức tạp hiện tại của chúng ta. Nhưng chúng ta đã không nhận ra được ơn lành và sức mạnh nơi Đức Giêsu Kitô. Ngài sẽ cứu chữa chúng ta tất cả các bệnh tật (không những chỉ có về thể chất nhưng cũng còn cả tình cảm và tinh thần). Nhưng một điều duy nhất mà chúng ta cần phải làm đó là cầu xin với một tấm lòng kiên trì, thành thật, đơn sơ và tin tưởng.
Today's gospel talks about a man who is sick and cannot move freely by himself. He has been waiting for 38 years to be able to get into the pool when the angel of the Lord touches it so he can be healed, but because of his condition he is unable to do so. Then one day, Jesus comes and heals him, just like that, because he wanted to.
We all live our lives like this sick man. We go through life just accepting what has been handed to us by the world and just waiting for the moment when something or someone will come to help us to go into the pool to be healed. We are waiting for someone to come into our lives to change our situation, to help us out of our difficulties, for someone to give us the money to pay off a debt, for someone to discover a cure for the cancer we have, or for someone to give the answer to the board exam so we can finally pass it and start earning a lot.
Let us not wait for someone to come and help us. Today Jesus is telling us that he can heal us and he wants to help us in our present situation. We do not realize that our healing (not only physical but emotional and spiritual as well) comes from Jesus Christ. All we need to do is ask.
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 5:6–8
Let us begin by imagining the overwhelming joy of this man, who was healed after he had been ill for thirty-eight years. He lay on a mat near the Pool of Bethesda, a place where tradition held that the first to enter the water after it was stirred would be healed. Some later traditions associated the stirring of the waters with the Archangel Raphael, whose name means ‘healing of God.’ While Scripture does not link Raphael to this story, his healing nature from other biblical traditions makes the association meaningful for reflection.
When Jesus approaches the paralyzed man and asks, “Do you want to be well?” the question seems almost unnecessary. Who wouldn’t desire healing after suffering for so long? Yet this question points to a deeper reality—one that transcends physical illness. The man’s condition and Jesus’ question symbolize the spiritual paralysis that can afflict any soul trapped in habitual sin. Just as the man could not heal himself, so too are we unable to free ourselves from the weight of sin without divine intervention. Jesus asks us the same question today: Do we truly want to be freed from our spiritual paralysis?
The man’s response to Jesus also reveals an important truth. He says, “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.” This admission reflects a deep hopelessness that those who struggle with habitual sin often experience. Years of failure to overcome sin can lead to discouragement, even resignation. But this very discouragement is where grace begins to work. In acknowledging our inability to heal ourselves, we open the door to Christ’s healing power.
Perhaps Jesus chose this man precisely because he had lost all hope. After thirty-eight years of suffering, he had no one to help him and no expectation of healing. Yet Jesus, in His mercy, intervened. This is a powerful message for all who struggle with sin and despair of overcoming it: There is always hope in Christ. He takes the initiative when we cannot, bringing healing where we least expect it.
Picture Christ coming to you today, asking, “Do you want to be well?” Our response should mirror the man’s humility: Lord, I am powerless to free myself from my sin. In this admission of weakness, we allow Christ to work in us. It is through our humility that we prepare to receive His grace.
Reflect today on any sin—whether venial or grave—that has become a habitual part of your life. Have you grown resigned to these sins, thinking they are impossible to overcome? Are there sins you have become so accustomed to that you no longer recognize their spiritual harm? Christ asks you today: Do you want to be healed? Acknowledge your weakness, confess your inability to heal yourself, and wait on the Lord. Be attentive, and you will see He is already taking divine initiative, working in ways you might not yet realize.
My attentive Lord, You are fully aware of my sin and the burden it imposes upon me. You come to me night and day, asking if I want to be well. Please help me to be attentive to You and Your gentle invitations. Help me to have hope that I can change, grow closer to You, and become the saint You want me to become. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am like the blind and lame in the Gospel. I need you and your healing touch. I need to see with eyes of faith and need to be strengthened to walk in your ways. Search for me when I am lost, comfort me when I am found.
1. The New Bethesda: The Gospel of John today narrates the third sign that Jesus performed. Like the first two signs, it also looks forward to the Sacraments of the Church. In particular, the third sign – the healing of the paralytic on the sabbath near the pool of Bethesda – draws our attention to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We find, here, an important comparison between two sacraments: It is not necessary for the paralyzed man to enter the water, which would be like a form of Baptism. “Instead, it’s just the word of Jesus that heals. This is like Reconciliation, which the Church Fathers called a ‘second Baptism,’ but doesn’t require us to enter the water once again” (Bergsma, New Testament Basics for Catholics, 231). At the end of the passage, the man who was healed is admonished to sin no more, so that nothing worse may happen to him. In the same way, we are told in the Sacrament, “Go and sin no more.” The same power of Jesus that healed the paralyzed man is offered to us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (see Bergsma, New Testament Basics for Catholics, 231).
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?” John 5:5–6
Only those who have been crippled for many years could understand what this man endured in life. He was crippled and unable to walk for thirty-eight years. The pool he was laying next to was believed to have the power of healing. Therefore, many who were sick and crippled would sit by the pool and try to be the first to enter it when the waters were stirred up. From time to time, that person was said to have received healing.
Jesus sees this man and clearly perceives his desire for healing after so many years. Most likely, his desire for healing was the dominant desire in his life. Without the ability to walk, he could not work and provide for himself. He would have had to rely upon begging and the generosity of others. Thinking about this man, his sufferings and his ongoing attempts for healing from this pool should move any heart to compassion. And since Jesus’ heart was one that was full of compassion, He was moved to offer this man not only the healing he so deeply desired but so much more.
One virtue in the heart of this man that would have especially moved Jesus to compassion is the virtue of patient endurance. This virtue is an ability to have hope in the midst of some ongoing and lengthy trial. It is also referred to as “longsuffering” or “longanimity.” Usually, when one faces a difficulty, the immediate reaction is to look for a way out. As time moves on and that difficulty is not removed, it’s easy to fall into discouragement and even despair. Patient endurance is the cure for this temptation. When one can patiently endure anything and everything they suffer in life, there is a spiritual strength within them that benefits them in numerous ways. Other little challenges are more easily endured. Hope is born within them to a powerful degree. Even joy comes with this virtue despite the ongoing struggle.
When Jesus saw this virtue alive in this man, He was moved to reach out and heal him. And the primary reason Jesus healed this man was not just to help him physically but so that the man would come to believe in Jesus and follow Him.
Reflect, today, upon this beautiful virtue of patient endurance. The trials of life should ideally be seen not in a negative way but as an invitation to patient endurance. Ponder the way you endure your own trials. Is it with deep and ongoing patience, hope and joy? Or is it with anger, bitterness and despair. Pray for the gift of this virtue and seek to imitate this crippled man.
My Lord of all hope, You endured so much in life and persevered through it all in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Give me strength in the midst of the trials of life so that I can grow strong in the hope and the joy that comes with that strength. May I turn away from sin and turn to You in complete trust. Jesus, I trust in You.
Introductory Prayer: Christ, I certainly believe in you because, in baptism, you gave me the gift of faith. I believe for all those who do not believe in you. See my effort, Lord. I trust in your divine plan and hope for your saving grace.
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