About 70% of human body is made of water. It means
that water is essential to life – not just to human life but to all other
living beings, as our life is sustained not only with water to drink but by
food sources from many other living beings. Imagine what a life would be like
if water had evaporated from the earth.
The scripture readings of Tuesday of the Fourth Week
of Lent (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; John 5:1-16) call us to ponder and reflect on the
importance of water to our life and the role of God for this. While the First
Reading (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12) gives a vivid image of the river of the living
water turns from the Temple in an eschatological post-exilic Jerusalem, the
Gospel Reading (John 5:1-16) describes Jesus as the source of the living water
and how the living water from Jesus can affect life through the sign performed
by Jesus on a paralytic man by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. And this sign is the third sign that Jesus
performed.
The source of the living water is the Temple in the
eschatological image described in the First Reading (Ezekiel 4:1-9, 12). In
contrast, the source of the living water in the Gospel Reading (John 5:1-16) is
Jesus himself, his body. So, there is a juxtaposition between the Temple in the
eschatological Jerusalem and the body of Christ, in regard to the source of the
living water.
In fact, in his conversation with the Samaritan woman
by the Jacob’s well near Jericho, Jesus revealed that he is the source of the
living water (John 4:10-14). And as to echo his statement on the living water
to the Samaritan woman, also in reference to Isaiah 12:3 (the fountain of
salvation) and Ezekiel 47:1 (the Temple where the river of the living water
flows from), Jesus later in Jerusalem exclaimed:
Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever
believes n me, as scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow within him (John
7:37b-38).
Jesus made a reference of his body to the Temple
rebuilt in 3 days after its destruction (John 2:19), suggesting that his
resurrected body is the new Temple to be rebuilt after destruction. In fact,
water, along with his blood, flew from the body of Jesus when a Roman soldier
thrust his lance into the side of Jesus’ body on the Cross (John 19:34) to
signal the imminent establishment of the new Temple through his resurrection.
Quite interestingly, Jesus, in his private revelation
to St. Maria Faustina, taught her to pray:
O
Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus, as a fount of
mercy for us, I trust in You (84, Diary of St. Maria
Faustina).
And he further explained what the blood and that water
gushed forth from his heart are when he appeared to her with the two rays
coming from his chest:
The
two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes
souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls...
These
two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized
Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.
These
rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell
in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire
that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy. (298-299,
ibid.).
Though John describes that the lance of the Roman
soldier thrust a side of Jesus’ body, after his expiration (John 19:30, 33-34),
it is obvious that the lance actually reached his heart.
The opening of the heart of Jesus shortly after he
took his last breath on the Cross, letting the water along with the blood flow,
is echoed in the tearing of the veil of the sanctuary (Holy of Holies), where
the tabernacle was securely placed upon the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51//Mark
15:38; cf. Luke 23:45, Luke indicates that this took place right before Jesus’
expiration). The veil of the sanctuary was like a closed gate sets between the
limits of the human sphere and the divine sphere (tabernacle)(Exodus 26:31-36),
through which only the high priest could pass through only on the day of Yom
Kippur (Day of Atonement)(Leviticus 16:1-18).
But, upon Jesus’ expiration, this separation between
God and us was torn open and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the depth of the Divine
Mercy, was pierced open to let the blood and the water gush so that we can
live, while our souls are kept righteous and pure. And all these were revealed
even before the new permanent Temple was established upon the resurrection of
Jesus – as the glory of his resurrection was revealed to Peter, James, and
John, on the mountain as Jesus was transfigured (Matthew 17:1-13//Mark
9:2-13//Luke 928-36).
This shows that even before his death and
resurrection, Jesus, as the Temple to be rebuilt for good (John 2:19) already
possessed the living water, which benefited the paralyzed man, who had been
trying to seek healing effects from the water of the pool of Bethesda, as
described in the Gospel Reading (John 5:1-16).
The Gospel narrative (John 5:1-16) has three parts:
Jesus healed a paralyzed man by the pool of Bethsaida – the third sign performed
by Jesus (vv. 1-9); the healed man was questioned by those who could not appreciate
the sign of healing (vv. 10-13); Jesus met with the healed man again and the
news of his healing began to spread and the hostility toward Jesus also began
to grow (vv. 14-16).
The pool of Bethsaida is one of the mikvahs. Mikvah
was a very important part of Jewish life as it was a ritual bath for cleansing,
purification, and healing. Israelites bathed in mikvah for Yom Kippur. In
John’s Gospel, another mikvah is mentioned, and it is the pool of
Siloam, where Jesus performed the sixth sign, healing a man born blind (John
9:1-7).
It was Jesus who initiated the interactions between him
and the paralyzed man, as soon as he saw the man, by asking:
Do you want to be well?
(John 5:6)
Obviously, Jesus knew why the man was by the pool of
Bethsaida, as it had been known as a healing mikvah. Like the healing
water of Lourdes, springing from the ground of the Grotto of Massabielle, many
people in need of healing, physically, mentally, and spiritually, flocked to
the water of the Bethsaida pool. And they took turn in bathing for healing. However,
this paralyzed man had not been able to bathe for 38 years because he was
rather immobile on his own and nobody assisted him to get to the pool, as he
told Jesus (John 5:7).
So, Jesus simply commanded the paralyzed man:
Rise, take up your mat, and walk (John
5:8).
Immediately, then, the man was healed and became able
to walk by himself (John 5:9).
It is noteworthy that the paralyzed man never bathed
in the mikvah of Bethsaida, for which he had spent the past 38 years in
vain. All he needed was the commanding words of Jesus: Rise, take up your
mat, and walk (John 5:8). And the man was healed immediately even though
Jesus did not touch him physically at all.
See the power of Jesus as the source of the living
water that heals!
The living water flew out of its source, Jesus, to the
paralyzed man through his commanding words: Rise, take up your mat, and walk
(John 5:8). Therefore the man was healed immediately and completely,
without bathing in the actual mikvah of Bethsaida.
Why so?
It is because the living water that flows from Jesus
(i.e. John 7:38) is the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Life, which also comes through
the words of Jesus (i.e. John 6:63).
No, the man never became wet with water. But, he sure
had received not just water but the very living water from its source, Jesus, through
his commanding words: Rise, take up your mat, and walk (John 5:8).
And the man gained a new life. His life was renewed as
the reproach of his old paralyzed life was immediately removed by the living
water from Jesus through his commanding words. Amazingly, so it happened even
before the new eternal Temple was established upon the death and the resurrection
of Jesus (i.e. John 2:19). The new eternal
Temple for which Jesus foretold, referring as a result of his death and
resurrection (John 2:19) is ultimately the eternal source of the living water
that heals and gives life. And as he revealed to St. Maria Faustina, the very
source of it is his Sacred Heart, the very Holy of Holies, of this eternal
Temple. Its eschatological image is reflected in the First Reading (Ezekiel 47:1-9).
In the second part of the Gospel Reading (John
5:10-13), the man whose paralysis was healed by Jesus had to face inquisition
by those who were rather disturbed by this healing sign performed by Jesus.
At first, those inquisitive people were already
accusatory toward this man for he was carrying a mat on Sabbath day (John 5:10).
And the man told them that the man who healed him told him to do so (John
5:11). But the man did not know it was Jesus. Not to mention, he did know that the
name of the man who healed was Jesus, and he did not know that Jesus is the
Christ, either. So, he could not tell who healed him to those who asked him,
and Jesus slipped away from the scene in the meantime (John 5:12-13).
The second part (John 5:10-13) shows that there were
always people who did not appreciate what Jesus did – though he came to do the
will of his Father (John 6:38). And soon after this scene, Jesus himself began
to reveal why he did what he did in reference to his relationship with the
Father, including the third sign, healing the paralyzed man, to those who questioned
him (John 5:17-47), as we will reflect on this in the Gospel Readings of the
next two days, Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:17-30) and Thursday
of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:31-47). And for the remaining of the Lenten
weekday reading, until Monday of the Holy Week, we will continue to follow how
the consequences of the third sign (healing the paralyzed man by the pool of
Bethsaida – John 5:1-9) will evolve into the intense hostility to kill Jesus.
In the third part of the Gospel Reading (John
5:14-16), we see Jesus returned to the man whose paralysis was healed by him.
Then, Jesus told him:
Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you (John 5:14).
Does it mean that the man had to suffer from paralysis
for 38 years because of his sin? Perhaps, because of the flesh (Galatians
5:19-21), or maybe not necessarily so (i.e. Luke 13:1-3; John 9:1-3).
Jesus was not interested in digging into the man’s
past. Rather, he wanted to make sure that the man would not let his flesh
trigger sin in the future, since the reproach of his past flesh was removed by
Jesus’s living water through his commanding words: Rise, take up your mat,
and walk (John 5:8).
Afterward, the man spread the news that Jesus healed
him, and this ignited persecutory hostility toward Jesus for he violated the Sabbath
command (Exodus 20:8-11)(John 5:16-15). And we will see how this hostility will
grow into the killing of Jesus as we move forward on our Lenten journey into Holy
Week, on to Good Friday.
We also know that Jesus has become the source, the fountain, of the living water to give us life and to restore our life, because he was killed. Because of his death, the fountain of the living water was opened so that the living water began to flow. And the living water which flows is also his words, which come with the Holy Spirit as the spirit of life. And this is the eternal Temple established upon his resurrection.
We cannot live by bread alone but we also need what
comes out of the mouth of God, such as the Word, and the Holy Spirit in his
breath (Deuteronomy 8:3; e.g. Matthew 4:4; cf. Genesis 2:7; cf. John 20:22).
Likewise, we cannot live by water alone – though it is essential to keep our
flesh alive. For eternal life, we do need the living water that only comes from
Jesus (i.e. John 4:13-14; 7:38). And as it was reflected in the Gospel Reading
(John 5:1-16, especially v.8), the living water, also with the spirit of life
(i.e. John 6:63) comes out of the mouth of Jesus through his words.
Jesus is the eternal Temple, from which the living water flows, along with his blood of life. And this is how the Divine Mercy flows from his Sacred Heart, the very Holy of Holies, toward us.
"Jesus, I trust in you"!
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