According to St. John, five times Jesus went to Jerusalem during the great festival of the temple. While for some the trip to Jerusalem is motivated by participation in Jewish rites, – to eat and drink – for Jesus it is another.

It is rather the announcement of his project. He wants to launch “hands to work” before the will of God, His Father. Making known to everyone that the time is coming when the prince of this world will be defeated. New heaven and new earth are coming.And the true worshipers will no longer depend on the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem and neither of the synagogues. They will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

In one of these round trips to the Temple – and precisely in the “Door of the sheep” which used to be pagans, traders, scalpers and others – Jesus learns of the illness that plagued the life of this man. Healing a paralytic who was present, Jesus is revealed as the source of love and life for all. In contradiction, the Jewish promoters of religious feast persecute Jesus for his compassionate and liberating practice.

Often, people who suffer various forms of evil have great faith in God’s power but, somehow, are prevented from reaching Him and receive His grace, which is essential to overcome its ills and suffering.

This is the case of the paralytic, who believed in God’s power and healing thatwould come through the action of the angel to stir the water, but was thwarted by others who entered first in the pool.

So it happens  today, when we create a set of rules and precepts of men who make difficult the participation of many in the divine life and in a personal relationship with Him, that is the source of all the graces that give us life in abundance.

Introduce yourself to Jesus and you to him: “I have no one to help me! As I go others descend before me. “And he who can do anything, you say: “Take your mat and go home, because your faith has healed you. ”

Father Bantu Mendonça

translated from Portuguese