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Chapter 21—Bethesda and the Sanhedrin
This chapter is based on
John 5
.
“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is
called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these
lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered.”
At certain seasons the waters of this pool were agitated, and it
was commonly believed that this was supernatural and that whoever
first stepped in would be healed of whatever disease he had. Hun-
dreds of sufferers visited the place; but so great was the crowd when
the water was troubled that they trampled underfoot men, women,
and children weaker than themselves. Many who succeeded in reach-
ing the pool died on its brink. Shelters had been erected about the
place. Some of the sick spent the night in these porches, creeping to
the edge of the pool day after day, in hope of relief.
Jesus was again at Jerusalem. Walking alone, in apparent medita-
tion and prayer, He came to the pool. Seeing the wretched sufferers,
He longed to exercise His healing power and make every sufferer
whole. But it was the Sabbath day, and He knew that such an act of
healing would so excite the prejudice of the Jews as to cut short His
work.
The Saviour, however, saw one case of supreme wretchedness,
a man who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight years. His
disease was looked on as a judgment from God. Alone and friendless
and feeling shut out from God’s mercy, the sufferer had passed long
years of misery. When it was expected that the waters would be
troubled, those who pitied his helplessness would bear him to the
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porches. But at the favored moment he had no one to help him in.
He had seen the rippling of the water, but had never been able to get
farther than the edge of the pool. His persistent efforts and continual
disappointment were fast wearing away his strength.
The sick man was lying on his mat when a compassionate face
bent over him. The hopeful words, “Wilt thou be made whole?”
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