ヨハネによる福音書5:1-9  John 5:1-9,

さて、そこに三十八年も病気で苦しんでいる人がいた。イエスは、その人が横たわっているのを見、また、もう長い間病気であるのを知って、「良くなりたいか」と言われた。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（ヨハネ5:5-6）

キリストはどうして、「良くなりたいか」という言葉を語りかけたのでしょうか。この人にとって「良くなりたい」のは当然のことであったはずです。しかし、この当たり前のことが分からなくなるほどの状態だったのです。「主よ、水が動くとき、わたしを池の中に入れてくれる人がいないのです。わたしが行くうちに、ほかの人が先に降りて行くのです」。この人の心は、他人を押しのけてまで、自分だけは癒されたという激しい生存競争が繰り広げられている池のほとりの競争に疲れ果て、失望し、人に対する妬みと不満でいっぱいになっています。私に憐れみをかけてくれる人など一人もいない。誰も自分の痛みなど分かってくれない。周りの人が悪い。周りの人々を責めていくようになります。人に対する疑い、不信が大きくなっていったのです。この人にとって、つらいのは病だけではありません。人を信じたい、愛したいと願いながらも、それができない。人を疑い、信じられず、憎んでしまい、傷つけてしまう。その闇の力、罪の力に苛まれ、苦しめられる。その苦しみに終わりはありません。諦めと絶望に陥って、その出口を見つけることができず、罪の闇の中で希望の光を見つけることができないのです。この人のいるベトザタとは「憐れみの家」という意味の言葉です。でも、この場所には「憐れみ」とは正反対の悲惨な現実がありました。「失望と落胆の家」になっていたのです。

キリストは、この人以上にこの人のことを御存じでした。この人に罪の闇の力に捉えられていることに気づき、そこから抜け出すために、この人のいる悩みの淵、絶望のどん底に来られて、「良くなりたいか」と言われたのです。私の好きな言葉で、哲学者の森有正の言葉があります。「人間というものは、どうしても人に知らせることのできない心の一隅を持っております。醜い考えがありますし、また秘密の考えがあります。またひそかな欲望がありますし、恥がありますし、どうも他人に知らせることのできないある心の一隅というものがあります。・・・人にも言えず親にも言えず、先生にも言えず、自分だけで悩んでいる、また恥じている、そこでしか人間は神様に会うことはできない」。 この38年も病の中にあった人は、誰にも言えず、自分だけで悩み、また恥じている。心の汚い部分、惨めだと思える部分、弱い部分、一人きりで泣いているところ、そこでキリストに出会い、神に出会って、そこが「憐れみの家」になっているのです。（6月18日の真田泉先生の説教より）

This morning I am thankful to be able to share with the brothers and sisters of Shiki-Kita Dendosyo the joy of the gospel as given to us through the words of the Bible. The word “gospel” in the Bible means glad tidings, joyful news. In the days when the Bible was written, the word was in everyday use. News of events such as a victory in war, the death of an enemy king or the birth of a prince brought joy to the people and the whole town was filled with celebration. People described the news of such events as “gospel.” The early churchmen used the familiar and friendly term “gospel” to convey that the encounter between Jesus Christ and the people brought great joy. We now want to hear from the Gospel according to John about the encounter with Christ and the joy of the gospel that is given to us.

The events of John’s Gospel took place at the pool of Bethesda, near the gate of the northern wall of Jerusalem. The gate was known as the “Sheep Gate” because it was close to the sheep market and was the entrance for carrying sheep to be offered as sacrifices in the Temple. It was right around the time of the Jewish festival season, and many Jews were gathering in Jerusalem from all over. The focal point of the festivities was the worship service held in the Jerusalem Temple, and one can imagine that the city was very busy.

However, there were people who were unable to gather at the services held in the Temple and gathered around the pool of Bethesda near the Temple. They were the sick, the blind, the lame and the paralysed. You may wonder why verse 4 is missing. This is because words are inserted here that are not in the original text but were later added for explanation. The words of explanation are as follows. “Waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.” There was a geyser in the pool of Bethesda. Legend had it that sometimes the water would move and the first person to jump in at the right moment would be healed. It is thought to have been a superstition of the time, but people who wanted to be healed would gather at the pool grasping at straws, and wait for the water to move while listening to the lively sounds of the festivities.

Among those waiting for the water to move was a man who had been ill for 38 years. I don’t know how long he had been here, but I believe that he was brought here under the desperate pleas of his family, helpless and with a difficult illness that could not be easily healed at the time. But no one helped him to get into the pool. No one took care of him. When they thought the water had moved, those who came around the pool jumped in it, to be the first to do so. He was left behind in a reality that mirrors today’s competitive society, a living hell on earth. For 38 years, nothing had changed in his situation; it must have been difficult to live with an illness for 38 years. Physical pain, mental pain that could not be healed. His body and mind were torn and exhausted because of his illness. Disappointment, discouragement and lamentation gradually covered and took over the hopeful heart.

But then Christ came and looked intently at the person lying there, neglected by everyone, and saw that he had been sick for a long time already. Christ looked at him and said only one thing. “Do you want to be healed?” But why did Christ say the words, “Do you want to be healed?” It should have been natural for this person to want to be healed. But he was in such a state that he could not understand this natural thing. Then he answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

This person’s heart was exhausted, disappointed and filled with envy and frustration towards others in the fierce competition for survival on the banks of the pool, where everyone tried to push others away and to be the only one healed. Not a single person had pity on him. No one understood his pain. Therefore, he thought that it was the fault of those around him and started blaming the people around him. His suspicion and distrust of people grew. For this person, it was not only the illness that was hard. He wanted to believe and love people, but he could not. He doubted people, could not trust them, hated them and hurt them. He was tormented by the power of that darkness, the power of sin. There was no end to that suffering. He fell into resignation and despair, unable to find a way out of it, unable to find the light of hope in the darkness of sin. The word Bethesda, where this person was, meant “house of mercy.” But in this place there was a tragic reality that was the opposite of “mercy.” It had become a “house of disappointment and discouragement.”

Christ knew this person better than this person. He realised that this person was gripped by the dark power of sin, and in order to get out of it, Christ came to the pit of trouble and despair where this person was and said, “Do you want to be healed?” One of my favourite quotes is from a philosopher MORI Arimasa. “Human beings have a corner of their hearts that they just can’t let people know about. There are ugly thoughts, there are secret thoughts. There are also secret desires, there is shame, and there is a corner of the heart that apparently cannot be made known to others… You cannot tell others, you cannot tell your parents, you cannot tell your teachers, you are troubled and ashamed on your own, and only there can a person meet God.” He who had been in illness for the last 38 years could not tell anyone, was troubled and ashamed only by himself again. The dirty part of his heart, the part that seemed miserable, the part that was weak, the part that was alone and crying, that was where he met Christ and met God, that became a “house of mercy.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not absent when we face harsh realities, when we mourn, when we are sad, when we suffer. He loves us, he is there with us, and he knows all of it better than we do. That Lord has taken all our thoughts, our unbelief, our doubt, our hatred. He has taken all of them, even our sins, as his own, has died on the cross, has forgiven us, has accepted us and has made us live in a new life with God. We believe in the forgiveness of sins and the atonement for sins that Christ has achieved through his death on the cross. This pulls us out of the darkness of sin, makes us rise up and stand up. It transforms us into people who are loved by God, who love God and live in love with others, and who walk the path of light in service to God and to others. We are not in a “house of disappointment and discouragement’” but in a “house of mercy.”

My father, SANADA Ukichi was a pastor, but he passed away almost 20 years ago. After he passed, I found out that today’s Bible passage was one that he often used to share during evangelistic services. Looking back on my father, he had been ill in high school and had to take a leave of absence from school. He had also suffered from diabetes since his twenties and was plagued by this disease until the end of his life. He may have been plagued not only by the illness, but also by various thoughts that came up inexplicably, such as disbelief and doubt. A close friend pastor told me that when he read this verse, he might have compared himself to the man lying in the pool of Bethesda. Knowing that this encounter with Christ was available to him, he found light in the darkness. In the depths of his troubles, he discovered that Christ had met him too, took him to heart, took him seriously, spoke the words of mercy to him, made him stand up and called him to a new mission. Even if you are sick, if you believe in Christ, you will receive forgiveness of sins and new life, and you will be made to walk with God and man and be used for God’s work. This is where we find hope and are made to believe that we have been given joy.

When we look at this world and ourselves, there is a harsh reality that makes it hard to stand up. But Christ says in verse 17 of this chapter: “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” God the Father and Jesus Christ are working in us now, too. On the Sabbath, in this Lord’s Day service, Christ is at work, meeting us through his words and calling out, “Do you want to be healed?” This Christ turns our hearts to God, does the work of God’s love, makes us stand as believers in the forgiveness of sins, calls and uses us in our mission to serve God. The Sunday Lord’s Day service, where we gather in the church and encounter Christ through the words of Scripture, is our pool of Bethesda, our “house of mercy.”

I hope that all of you gathered here today will encounter Christ and walk in the joy of the gospel through the preaching of Rev. MIYOSHI’s sermon in the weekly church service, which is Bethesda, the “house of mercy.”