The Healing Waters of Kindness: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3

The Old Testment Prophet Ezekiel was a priest living in exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC. It was one of the most traumatice periods in Isarael's history, the Babylon exile. In the middle of devastation and displacement, Ezekiel shared a vision (Ezekiel 47:1–9,12) of hope: water flowing from the Temple, bringing life wherever it goes. It was a promise of God’s healing presence, reaching beyond the sanctuary into the world.

The Gospel of John(John 5:1–16) was written near the end of the first century. John presents Jesus as the source of life and salvation. In chapter 5, Jesus heals a man who had waited 38 years beside a pool that was believed to have healing power. This text shows Jesus as the bringer of life, one who transcends rituals and locations. He is the living water, and his word is enough to heal.

Reflecting on Water

There is water in both stories. But it’s not really about the water—it’s about what flows from the heart of God.

In Ezekiel, a stream begins at the altar and grows deeper as it moves outward, healing everything in its path. In John’s Gospel, Jesus meets a man who has no one to help him. His kindness is not loud or dramatic. He sees. He speaks. He heals.

The man says, “I have no one…” Jesus replies, “Stand up.” And life begins again.

Isn’t that what we long for in Lent? To be met in our stuck places, to be lifted gently, to feel something new moving in us?

Kindness is like that water. It doesn’t shout. It flows. It makes space. It revives. And we are invited to let it flow through us. To become a stream in someone else’s desert.

What might begin to grow if you let kindness move through your life this week?

Pray

Lord Jesus, you are the source of life. Where you flow, hope returns. Let your kindness move through me.
Quiet.
Steady.
Healing.
Help me notice those who feel forgotten,
And be a stream of your mercy.

Amen.