Jesus heals on the Sabbath in our Gospel. Sarah, a member of our congregation is a Masters student studying Electroacoustic composition at the University of Manchester. Here she reflects on the Gospel for the Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5. 1-3, 5-16)
What strikes me the most is that. the rule about sabbath doesn’t serve the purpose of God’s love at that very moment [when the Jews condemned Jesus]. The rule doesn’t matter because after all the man was healed.
“What does that say about disobedience and tradition?”
If the rule, or tradition, doesn’t serve God’s purpose of love or mine, I would reconsider to follow the rule or not. I think sometimes people get too fixated on tradition and rule, and forget about God’s love.
“In our conversations in the past we have talked about feminism, what do you think about the complete absence of women in this passage?”
I think the Gospels were about spreading the good news, and I don’t doubt that Jesus did as much for women as for men. And it is filled with important women. I think that in the writing of the Gospels they had to focus more on men if they were to be taken seriously. It would definitely go against God’s love if I were to think that Jesus did more for men.
“Lastly, the sick man said ‘while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me,’ Jesus didn’t address the inequality in the situation, but the man was healed nonetheless, do you think it is important that when we offer healing and consolation, we also address the inequality and injustice involved?”
He didn’t address the inequality or unfairness, but I suppose you can’t fight the entire system at once. There is so much unfairness, and to fight all of them at once just won’t work. Jesus founded the foundation of fighting inequality, and he also healed a lot of people on the way.
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