Water of Life: A Liturgical Reflection on Healing and Repentance
March 12, 2024 - Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; John 5:1-16
It is interesting to see how liturgists weave Old and New Testament readings into a unifying message in the liturgy of the Word. Today's message revolves around the waters flowing from the temple in Jerusalem. In Ezekiel's vision, water flowing eastward from the temple brings life to the Dead Sea. In Psalm 46, the same water brings joy to the city of God, Jerusalem, and in the Gospel, the water of Siloam brings healing to the sick.
According to the commentary in the Jewish Study Bible, Ezekiel's vision of water flowing from the temple "reflects that of the Gihon spring and emerges east of the City of David, where it flows south into the Siloam pool" (see commentary on Ezekiel 47). The Gihon spring, the main water source of Jerusalem, also gladdens the city of God in Psalm 46. The event described by the Evangelist in today's Gospel took place by the pool of Bethesda, which means either a "house of mercy" or a "house of two springs." However, the Siloam pool, which means "sent," also appears in the Gospel of John, in chapter 9, where a blind man was healed. The difference between the two healing stories lies in the fact that Jesus did not send the crippled man to the Bethesda pool for healing, but He sent the blind man to wash and be healed in the pool of Siloam.
Ezekiel's waters would flow through the pool of Siloam, but they would not flow through the pool of Bethesda. It seems that the Bethesda pool was built as a reservoir for rainwater in 8 BC, with a dam to control the height and a channel that would bring the water into the city. Then, around 200 BC, a second pool was added, and the dam controlled the flow of water from the first pool to the second pool. It seems that each time the dam opened, the waters would stir up, causing them to bubble, and people would jump into it (see Wikipedia, "the Pool of Bethesda"). However, the healing power of its water was limited to the first person to enter.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus "saw" the man, "knew" about his long sickness, and asked him whether he wanted to become well. But Jesus also knew his spiritual sickness. Like in the story of the Gospel of Mark (2:1-11), the man needs to be forgiven before he can get healed. In the Gospel of Mark, we were told that the ability of the healed man to pick up his mat and walk was a sign of Jesus' authority to forgive sins. Here, we encounter a similar situation. Jesus healed his body and forgave his sins. He got well, but to remain well, he had to repent of his former lifestyle. ‘Sin no more,' were the last words spoken by Jesus to the man.
The entire message of the liturgy of the Word leads us into the mystery of Christian baptism. The baptismal waters flow from the pierced side of our Saviour, who for our sake died on the cross. Like the waters of the ancient floods, they destroy sin but preserve life. They save us and bring us the grace of new life. In those waters, we have died to sin and have been made alive to God in Jesus Christ (see 1 Peter 3:18-22; Romans 6:3-11). Reborn in the sacrament of baptism, we are also called to "sin no more" but walk in "newness of life" (Rom 6:4).