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Bethesda and the Sanhedrin
This chapter is based on John 5.
“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is
called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great
multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed.”
At certain times the waters of this pool were agitated, and many
people believed that this was supernatural and that whoever stepped
in first would be healed of whatever disease he had. Hundreds of
sufferers visited the place; but the crowd was so great when the
water was troubled that they trampled underfoot men, women, and
children weaker than themselves. Many who succeeded in reaching
the pool died on its brink. People had put up shelters around the
place. Some of the sick spent the night in these porches, creeping to
the edge of the pool day after day, hoping for relief.
Jesus was again at Jerusalem. Walking alone, in apparent medi-
tation and prayer, He came to the pool. Seeing the poor sufferers, He
longed to exercise His healing power and make every one of them
whole. But it was the Sabbath day, and He knew that such an act
of healing would stir up the prejudice of the Jews so much that it
would cut short His work.
The Savior, however, saw one case of supreme wretchedness, a
man who had been a helpless cripple for thirtyeight years. People
considered his disease as a judgment from God. Alone and friendless
and feeling shut out from God’s mercy, the suffering man had spent
long years in misery. When it was expected that the waters would
be troubled, those who pitied his helplessness would carry him to
the porches. But at the crucial moment, he had no one to help him
in. He had seen the rippling of the water, but he had never been able
to get farther than the edge of the pool. His constant efforts and
continual disappointment were quickly wearing away his strength.
The sick man was lying on his mat when a compassionate face
bent over him. The hopeful words, “Do you want to be made well?”
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