What happened at the Pool of Bethesda?

Response

The Pool of Bethesda was located “in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate” «Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. », (John 5:2), positioning it north of the temple, close to Fort Antonia. John adds that the pool was “surrounded by five covered colonnades.” In Jesus’ era, the Pool of Bethesda was situated beyond the city walls. It was at this pool that Jesus performed a miracle demonstrating His superiority over any human ailment and revealing that superstition and religious myths are inadequate substitutes for faith in God.

The Pool of Bethesda served as a water source for the temple in ancient times. The mention of the “Upper Pool” in 2 Kings 18:17 might allude to the Pool of Bethesda. At some point during the Hasmonean Period, an extra pool was constructed alongside the original one.

The pool’s name, “Bethesda,” is of Aramaic origin, meaning “House of Mercy.” John mentions that “a great number of disabled people used to lie [there]—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” «In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. », (John 5:3). The covered colonnades would have offered shelter for the disabled individuals who gathered there, but there was another reason for the popularity of the Pool of Bethesda. According to legend, an angel would descend into the pool and “stir up the water.” The first person to enter the pool after the water was stirred “was made well from whatever disease he was suffering from” «For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he was afflicted with. », (John 5:4).

Had” (John 5:4, NAS). The Bible does not teach that this actually happened—John 5:4 is not included in most modern translations because it is unlikely to be original to the text—rather, the superstitious belief probably arose because of the pool’s association with the nearby temple.

On the day that Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda, there was a man there who “had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” “And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.” (John 5:5). Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (verse 7). Obviously, the man believed the urban legend about the stirring of the water. He blamed the fact that he was never healed on his tardiness in getting into the water.

Jesus swept aside all superstition and bypassed altogether the need for magic water with one command: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” (John 5:8). The man was instantly cured, and “he picked up his mat and walked” (verse 9). The man did not need quicker reflexes or beneficent angels or enchanted water. The man needed Jesus.

Amazingly, not everyone was happy about the man’s miraculous healing. The day Jesus healed the man at the poolside happened to be a Sabbath. As the man left Bethesda, the Jewish leaders saw him carrying his mat, and they stopped him: “It is the Sabbath,” they said. “The law forbids you to carry your mat” “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.”

version/john-5-10″>(John 5:10). The man informed them that he was simply following orders: “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’” (verse 11). The Jewish leaders asked who would dare to encourage breaking the Law, but “the man who was cured did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd” (verse 13).

The response of the Jewish leaders indicates that, despite the evidence God presents, there will always be individuals who refuse to acknowledge the truth. Jesus was a genuine Miracle Worker, yet the religious leaders failed to recognize the miracle. All they perceived was a violation of a regulation. The issue was not the violation of God’s command, as Jesus fulfilled the Law and completely adhered to it « Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. », (Matthew 5:17). The only thing being transgressed was a pharisaical interpretation of one of God’s laws. Therefore, a blessing intended to strengthen faith only deepened the blindness of those who refused to acknowledge it.

The conclusion of the narrative reveals that the man who experienced physical healing still required spiritual healing. “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you’” «Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. », (John 5:14). Jesus’ words serve as a reprimand for an unspecified sin—the man was living in opposition to God’s will in some way—and a caution of “something worse.” What could be more severe than thirty-eight years of paralysis? How about an eternity in hell see Mark 9:47?

Now that the man recognized Jesus, he went back to the Jewish leaders and informed them “it was Jesus who had healed him” «The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.», (John 5:15).

Ted, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, who had made him whole., (John 5:15). It is probable that the man did this in praise of Jesus, to magnify the glory due to His name, and also from a sense of obligation—he had been asked a question and felt he should respond with the answer, once he had it. Little did he anticipate the reaction the leaders would have: “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him” (verse 16).

The Pool of Bethesda was the focus of a local legend about healing, but Jesus showed that faith in legends and superstition is misplaced. In contrast, faith in Jesus Christ—the One who can heal with a simple word, the Savior who can forgive any sin, the true Master of the “House of Mercy”—is never misplaced.