God in the Midst of Pandemic COVID-19: Reflections based on John 5:1-181

Abstract

This reflection is an attempt to foreground the message of John 5:1-18 in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic context. A contextual interpretation of the passage provides us several new insights and a new perspective that takes into account the struggles of the people and other existential realities. The invalid person who was lying by the pool of Bethesda undergoes a breathless situation as he was undergoing continuous frustration over a period of 38 long years. Though he was ill, enduring a prolonged quarantine, living in social isolation, widely treated as unclean, and resilient to the situation of a ‘life camp,’ Jesus liberated his life from clutches and transformed him toward a hopeful future age. In today’s context, the healed man’s story can be considered as a paradigm for the church to follow the words and deeds of Jesus and to engage in the ministry of liberation and transformation. Moreover, the story provides hope for all who are undergoing untoward situations in life during the COVID-19 pandemic context. The man stands tall as a representative of the afflicted, persecuted, and the dehumanized sections of our society. The transformation happened in his life can be considered as a paradigm in the contemporary human situations. Author(s) retain the copyright of this article ©2021 Publishedby VEDA Publications This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 1 This is an edited version of a sermon preached during the Sunday Community Worship Service of The United Theological College, Bengaluru, on 18 July 2021. BIBLICAL STUDIES JOURNAL (BSJ) http://www.biblicalstudies.in/ BSJ.2021; 3(4):1-7