Tuesday 21 March

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 21; Ps 46: 2-3, 5-6, 8-9; John 5:1-3,5-16
Disturbance

Jesus offers mercy. Just the phrase, “ now that day was a Sabbath” opens up this text for us. He was only too aware of how Sabbath could be misused and reduced to a criteria of assessment, instead of a time and space where the ambience of the day proclaims God’s nearness and mercy. There is something different in the atmosphere on the Sabbath. The image of the water being disturbed is evocative of the mercy and a healing that can happen for ourselves, sometimes when without warning there is a disturbance in our life there is a level of healing and a deep sense of the nearness of God.