After the healing that Jesus performed for an official’s son in John 4:46-54, the next chapter recounts how He later went to Jerusalem.
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
John 5:1-2 NIV
If you’re like me (and this might be an American thing), you may refer to travel directions as “up” (north), “down” (south), “out” (west), and “back” (east). If so, we might be thrown off by the fact that Judea (including Jerusalem) is south of Galilee, but Jesus went “up” to Jerusalem. However, it is my understanding that Jerusalem is at a higher elevation, so one “goes up” to Jerusalem. (Having grown up in a relatively flat part of the United States’ geography, we didn’t use “up” and “down” to describe locations very much, but I have since learned to appreciate topological differences!)
John (the author of this gospel) sets up some context for what comes next, by describing a pool that has covered “colonnades”. Google Docs (which was handy when I prepared the original lesson from which this series of articles was constructed) defines “colonnade” as, “a row of columns supporting a roof, an entablature, or arcade.” I’m not sure what an “entablature” is, but I envision overhangs like a balcony that you can sit underneath at a sports stadium.
Apparently, while the specific name of this place has different readings, the actual location has been found and excavated by archaeologists. [Ref. Bryant & Krause, p.143.]
What we do know from the Bible here is that there were a lot of sick and/or disabled people who would lay near this pool. John describes several specific physical infirmities, although this might just be a representative list.
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
John 5:3, 5 NIV
What we don’t know with certainty here is a little extra content that appears in some manuscripts of the Bible, but not others. This “extra” verse 4 describes how an angel would stir the waters, and the first person into the waters would be healed. I imagine this as a bunch of people sitting around watching the water, and when they see it move, everyone makes a mad scramble for the pool. Maybe the best places – next to the water itself – were taken, but when someone was healed, everyone would move a little closer to the front of the line. Perhaps there were even some informal “rules” about how the process of moving up in line was supposed to work, and those who jumped the line were called out by the crowd (but now I’m just speculating).
So, was this the case or not? Did God actually send an angel to provide healing in the water, here? I’m not sure, but I am not ruling it out. God can absolutely heal people, and He sometimes sends His angels as His messengers, so there’s no reason that this couldn’t have happened exactly as stated, regardless of whether this “verse 4” was inspired by the Holy Spirit for John to write, or whether it was added later by a copyist to explain the context.
Regardless of whether or not these extra words were in the original, though, we find in verse 7 that this particular man apparently believed that he could be healed by getting into the water.
How about you and me? What are our reactions are to others’ stories about God’s healing or other examples of His divine intervention? Is our first reaction something like, “Well, that was probably just a coincidence” or “I bet that was just the medicine”? Or, is our default feeling more like, “God is good!” or “Yes, I expected that prayers would be answered, since God is still working today and has the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.”
Now, I’m not here to judge you if you happen to be a little cynical by nature. Years ago, while visiting a church in Louisiana, I heard an account of missionaries in Africa who had witnessed a dead person being brought back to life. My snap judgment was to question, “Was the person really dead, or did it just seem like it?” Since then, I have regretted that this was my initial reaction, and today I can confidently affirm that God can still raise people from the dead (especially in answer to His church’s prayer, and when doing so will further His good plan), just as He has done in centuries past.
I can’t always say how God accomplishes individual events that are part of His plan (whether His divine intervention or providing help in other ways), but I must remember that He is all-knowing and all-powerful, while also being perfectly wise and loving. The details are up to Him.
So, you’re welcome to read ahead to the rest of this account in John 5:1-15, but in the meantime, I’m not here to make a dogmatic statement about what actually happened at this pool before Jesus showed up. Instead, I hope that we’ll pause for some introspection about how we believe God can work – as He chooses to, in His wise and loving will – around us today. I’m confident that your beliefs in this matter (no matter what they are) will impact your worship of Him and your prayer life.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for February 11, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, February 11, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – John, by Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 