6th Sunday of Easter Acts 16.9-15 John 5.1-9
When you are off on a holiday, or if you are visiting a place of interest, or just visiting through familiarity, quite often you may divert and call in to a local tourist hotspot. During this visit you re-acquaint yourself with its attractions. Such repeat visits all go to making you feel at home, they reassure you. A sense of comfort is felt.
It is quite likely that in the time of Jesus such places existed. Today we read how Jesus was visiting Jerusalem. A Jewish festival was being held and it would have attracted many visitors from far and wide. Rather like a craft fair, or a vintage car show, even a camping and caravan show, these events bring many people to come along to display, to demonstrate, to see things for themselves. It could be that so many people arrive that the local roads become gridlocked with any kind of through traffic being impossible. Imagine such an event taking place 2000 years ago. The roads will be full of people walking, some with horses or donkeys. A general movement of people, a crowd moving at a different pace. All of them aiming at a particular venue. An ancient bottleneck could occur, and we can almost feel the pressures especially if there are some ancient roadworks causing a diversion to the route.
Just think what the locals thought with so many traipsing past their window. What price for a little privacy.
But this is where Jesus was and he, we read, is at one of the places the tourist may well have had on their travel itinerary. A pool by the sheep gate, a popular place to visit. The pool had a tradition of healing properties. The tradition was that when the surface of the water was disturbed the first one to enter the pool could be healed of their infirmity. During his visit Jesus strikes up a conversation with a local. This is something that many of us might well do. We may be asking questions about the pool, about it's healing properties, is history, any number of things. Jesus learnt of the illness of this one local. Telling him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk, is another miracle cure of Jesus. You can only imagine the joy of the man now healed. We can also possibly guess at the reaction of those in the vicinity.
One can almost hear the cries of why not me, why not old Thingyvitus just next door. The fact is a miracle had taken place. Jesus had shown the glory of God. The passage we had read out to us stops at this point. The reaction of officialdom is part of the next reading of the story. We can be sure that Jesus was in deep water.
A miracle happening is bound to attract attention. People are going to ask questions. They will try to understand what just happened. But, by definition, it can only really have one explanation. It is something that just happened but by the action of a divine hand. The miracles performed by Jesus to glorify God.
Miracles continue to be performed by the apostles. We can read of these in the Acts of the Apostles. All through the following years miracles have occurred. Right up to today unexplained occurrences take place, unexplained, that is unless one has a belief and trust in God.
This period from Easter to Pentecost is largely devoted to proofs of the Risen Lord. The readings from the Acts of the Apostles tell us of sightings and encounters with Jesus after his Crucifixion. Proofs are being laid before us that Jesus has indeed Risen. This period ends with the Apostles being empowered and sent out in to the world. And so it is today. Each of us has the Holy Spirit as our companion. We too can go out onto the world and do God’s will
Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,