Today we hear Saint John’s account of the healing of the paralytic man by the pool of Bethesda. He had been waiting for thirty-eight years to be healed. When Jesus saw him, He asked him whether he wanted to be healed and when the man replied that he had nobody to help him into the healing waters, Jesus commanded him to get up, take up his bed, and walk.
The Church gives us this account of one of the great healing miracles of the Lord in the Easter season in order to illustrate Christ’s victory over sin and death. The healing of the paralytic is a symbol of the renewal of the life of all humanity through the Resurrection of Christ. Indeed, some of the Fathers describe this event as a foreshadowing of the waters of baptism in which healing is offered to us all.
We are all spiritually sick, and this has repercussions on us in various ways, many of which we are not even conscious of. Jesus Christ came to heal us, so that we may have fullness of life in Him. The Church has been likened to a hospital, for it is the place where sick people come to be healed. God does not usually heal us instantly, nor does He heal us against our will; rather healing is a gradual process in which we need to be active participants. But through a life of prayer and repentance, through listening to God’s Word and participating in the Sacraments, we too can come to share in the victory of Christ over sin and death.