Eiji Mandai Discusses Living in the Present Through the Healing at Bethesda

Eiji Mandai has shared reflections on the importance of living in the present moment, drawing from the biblical account of Jesus healing a man at the pool of Bethesda.

According to the biblical passage, a large number of sick people, including the blind and those with withered limbs, gathered at the pool of Bethesda. One man had been suffering from an illness for 38 years. He explained that he had no one to help him into the water when it was stirred, as others would always enter first. Jesus told the man to rise, take up his bed, and walk, resulting in the man's immediate healing.

Mandai notes that the sick people at the pool relied on a rumor that the first person to enter the stirred water would be healed. He suggests that relying on such unreliable things can lead to wasting long periods of time, as seen in the man who spent 38 years accumulating suffering, regret, and complaints without being cured.

In contrast, Mandai emphasizes that Jesus did not focus on the long years of the past but acted in the immediate moment of the encounter. He describes the salvation provided by Jesus as genuine, stemming from the God who created the universe, and acting beyond human strength or morality to restore a person to their original state.

Mandai argues that human life is fragile and fragile, citing reports of devastating debris flows in Nepal that instantly erased towns and took lives. He asserts that because humans cannot know the next moment of their own existence, they should value every single moment and walk in gratitude through faith in the time given by Jesus.