Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 / John 5:1-3, 5-16
Waiting can be boring and tiring. If we have just missed the bus or the train, the wait for the next one is anything from being enjoyable.
And in the fast-moving high-speed life in Singapore, waiting is seen as unproductive and wasted time.
The man in today's gospel passage waited for 38 years for that chance to get into the pool, but it had yet to come.
And after 38 years, that man's illness had become a way of life. He had almost no hope of ever being cured, and had lost the desire to help himself.
Life had become a waiting for something that will not happen, and with that life had become hopeless.
So it is understandable why the man did not give a direct answer to the question of Jesus as to whether he wanted to be cured.
The answer would be an obvious "Yes" but the man moaned and groaned about his sad and hopeless situation. It was like waiting for nothing to happen.
But Jesus showed how gracious He is by giving the man what he desired. Jesus understood that the man had his hopes emptied so life had become a "waiting for nothing".
Jesus is our healer and He wants to heal us from this "nothing" syndrome - a waiting for nothing; a living for nothing; a doing for nothing; or even a praying for nothing.
Jesus is the living water that nourishes our arid hearts so that our lives will bear fruits of goodness and bring God's healing to those in need. There is no need to wait any longer for that to happen.