4TH WEEK OF LENT

. . . when the water is stirred up.

Water is essential for life. In extremely arid environments, plants squeeze every drop of moisture out of the soil or air to stay alive. St. John draws on this life-giving quality of water in today’s Gospel (John 5:1-16) when he tells the story of Jesus healing a man near a pool in Jerusalem.

Jesus sees this man, who stayed by a pool known to have healing powers but for whatever reason had never been healed. “Someone else gets down there before me,” the man says (John 5:7). According to an ancient tradition, the pool contained healing powers only at certain times, when God stirred it up. The movement likely came from an underground spring that would occasionally flow into the pool. In biblical language, running water, as opposed to the still water of a pool, was called “living water.”

There is dramatic irony here: the man was telling his tale of woe to Jesus, the source of all living water (John 4:10, 14). Jesus had no need to use the pool. All he had to do was give a word of command, and the man was healed.

We can find ourselves in a similar irony in our relationship with Jesus. So often we turn to God to solve some problem or to grant us a blessing. Of course this is not bad in itself—Jesus started with the man’s natural desire: “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6). But if our relationship with Jesus is limited to such prayers, it may mean that we are seeking him because of what he can do for us, not because of who he is.

Like the man by the pool, we can miss Jesus standing before us, the source of life and healing. He can quench our thirst for love, for forgiveness, for freedom and meaning. His presence can soothe us like living water. He can fill us with a peace that doesn’t come and go. In him we can find answers; we can find hope. We can find him who satisfies us like nothing else can.

Jesus is offering you his living water today. You may see obstacles in your life; you may be waiting for the pool to stir or for someone to carry you. But Jesus stands ready to cut right through your circumstances, to heal and restore.

“Jesus, Healer, I thirst for your living waters.”

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
John 5:1-16

WORD AMONG US