A Lenten Word - A Pool

Homily for Tuesday in the Fourth Week in Lent

A Lenten Word - A Pool

This word, taken from today’s Gospel text, may seem to be inconsequential. However, the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda can be read as an allegory; in that context, the pool is an important part of the story.

“Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled” (Matthew 5:2-3).

In an allegory, every detail of the story stands for something else. The ailing man stands for the people of Israel. The five porches stand for the five books of the law. In the porches the people lay ill. The law could show a man his sin, but could never mend it; the law uncovers a man’s weakness, but could never cure it. The law, like the porches, sheltered the sick but could never heal them. The pool with its stirring waters stands for a baptismal font and, is thus, the focal point of our allegory. In point of fact, early Christian art often depicted a man rising from the baptismal waters carrying a bed on his back.

Jesus does what the Law could not do. He forgave the man his sins and healed his weakness. As we draw ever nearer to our Easter celebration, our readings will frequently ask us to think of our baptism. Today, let us be mindful of the fact that we are baptized people; we have been favored to experience the flowing waters of baptism that made us children and heirs of the kingdom that was announced by Jesus.