HEALING AT THE POOLS OF BETHESDA

JOHN 5:1–15

The definition of Judaism in the Gospel period was very diverse. There were Jewish people living in various cultures, speaking different languages, and holding different views of Scripture. So in this context, what held Judaism together in the first century? It was the Temple. The Temple defined Judaism, united Judaism, and provided means for the people to know God (Psalm 100; Luke 2:27–32, 37).

An overview of John’s Gospel reveals that each time Jesus came to Jerusalem, he had a major conflict with a group called “the Jews” (see, for example, John 5:10). Since Jesus, his disciples, and the majority of participants in the Gospels were Jewish, a closer look at the phrase the Jews is warranted. What we find is that it is usually associated with events that occurred in the Temple environs, thereby connecting the use of the Jews to the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders of the people.6 These men, who controlled the Temple and made up the Temple vanguard, came from one of two groups—the Sadducees (chief priests) or the Pharisees (teachers of the law and elders of the people).

Aerial view of the excavation of the Bethesda Pools and the Church of St. Anne’s.

Model of the Bethesda Pools.
© Dr. James C. Martin. Reproduction of the City of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple. (See full credit on page 4.)

It was by the Bethesda Pools in Jerusalem, located just a short distance to the north of the Temple complex, that the blind, lame, and paralyzed lay (John 5:3). So we will come to learn why Jerusalem’s Temple leadership were so upset when Jesus healed the invalid at the Bethesda Pools, so close but so far away from the Temple.

John describes in some detail the location of the invalid’s healing. It happened in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate beside pools called Bethesda (John 5:2)7 approximately one hundred yards north of the first-century Temple Mount. Here we find two rectangular pools separated by a wall twenty feet wide and surrounded by a colonnaded porch.8

The disabled man whom Jesus healed had come to these pools for a reason. This was the one place he dared to hope for help for the disability with which he had lived for thirty-eight years. Jesus came to the Bethesda Pools to address such hopelessness and to show the people of Jerusalem yet another illustration of the Kingdom of God.

Excavated area of the Bethesda Pools.

Although the disabled of Jerusalem were near the Temple, the focus of their hope was not in that direction. We get an example of the religious leaders’ attitude toward those gathered by the pool after Jesus healed the disabled man. These religious leaders were more interested in criticizing the man for carrying a mat on the Sabbath than in celebrating his miraculous cure (John 5:9–12)! But Jesus had not forgotten, nor did he disregard those gathered at the Bethesda Pools (John 5:3–6). The Redeemer had come to bring God’s Kingdom and to seek and save the lost, not ignore them (Luke 19:10). Here at the Bethesda Pools, he showed his healing power and the hope of abundant life. Those at the pool may have been marginalized by the Temple aristocracy, but they were welcome in the Kingdom of God. Jesus healed the disabled man at the Bethesda Pools in the shadow of the Temple to offer them an invitation to his Kingdom.

Excavation of the Bethesda Pools in the foreground, with the Church of St. Anne’s in the background.