Hanging Out At the Pool!

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 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. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid 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.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 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.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

This is a great story about the compassion of Jesus for a man who was an invalid for 37 years.  It also shows the hearts of the Pharisees who are more interested in enforcing Sabbath days rules, many of which they had added, than this man's healing.  Jesus was going up for one of three Jewish festivals that Jews all around the world came to.  As he went up his passed by a pool which was sought to bring healing powers.  

Many invalids tried to be the first one into the pool, as there was a superstition that an angel stirred up the water so that the first person to get in got healed. The problem was though the man was had been attempting to get in for 37 years, he never made it in because of his condition.  But that didn't stop him from trying.  He clearly had hope that one day, maybe this day might be his lucky day.

When Jesus saw the man and his condition, he asked him if he wanted to be made well.  Instead of saying "yes", he went on to describe why he could never make it into the pool.  Jesus immediately says to him, "Get up pick up your mat and walk."  The man trusted in Jesus' word and walked for first time in 37 years.  When he showed up at the temple, he was interrogated by the Jewish leaders.  You can see the ridiculous nature of the laws they had added, when they cite his offense as picking up his mat and walking on the Sabbath. Again instead of being ecstatic about their fellow Jewish brother being healed, they were more concerned about him picking up a mat.  What do you think this says about their heart condition?  

The man did not realize it was Jesus who had healed him, so when he sees him in the temple Jesus says, "Stop sinning so something worse doesn't happen to you." At face value this doesn't sound like something Jesus would say.  It seems harsh, especially after Jesus had such great compassion on the man.  What I think it means is now that the man was healed physically, there was a potentially worse disease he had for even more than 37 years.  It is called "sin".  And it is a disease that kills.   The man apparently listened to Jesus as he courageously tells the Jewish leaders it was Jesus who healed him.  The man not only could physically walk now, but he was also following Jesus.