What Would Jesus Do?: John 5:1-9 - Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
If it’s Lent, get the fish… That’s the rule I made for myself anytime I’m eating out and I’m wearing my clerics. On my first Ash Wednesday in ministry, I needed a quick meal before service, so I visited the local Arby’s and ordered a roast beef sandwich. As I sat down to eat, I noticed a woman looking at me in shocked disbelief. Then it occurred to me: I was dressed in my clerics, and eating meat on Ash Wednesday, which is forbidden in the Roman Catholic tradition. Lutherans and Presbyterians are not bound by such rules, but rather than causing a stir, it’s easier to just order the fish, or a meatless breakfast (if it’s available). But my faux pas at Arby’s pales in comparison to the stir Jesus caused in today’s Gospel… Photo by Robert Sciberras on Unsplash It begins with a man seated beside the Pool of Bethsaida who’d been ill for 38 years. There was a long-held pagan belief that when the water bubbled up, the first person into the pool wou...
