He was just a humble beggar. Sick, bedraggled, and poor, he had suffered for 38 long years. There he lay, near the healing waters, always hoping for a miracle or a cure. He waited, hoping for someone, anyone, to notice him. Hoping that someone would see his need and help him into the water.
People constantly passed by the Pool of Bethesda which was near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem where the poor beggar lay. Both the rich and the poor passed through that gate, as well as the religious leaders. People who could have helped him. People who should have cared and should have helped.
Yet day after day, they passed him by. They never seemed to notice his struggle to reach the pool. Until the day when Jesus passed by and learned that he had been in that condition for a long time. The Lord healed him that day, as recounted in John 5, and told him to pick up his mat and go.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 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.”
John 5:10
It was a marvelous miracle that put an end to his lifetime of suffering and granted him the possibility of living a normal life. But the religious leaders could not see any of this. Just as they had failed to see the man in his time of need, they failed to see or celebrate the miracle of his deliverance.
They were too busy looking at the mat.
They focused on the mat and the rules he was breaking by carrying it. That blinded them to his poverty, his need, and his 38 years of suffering. It blinded them too blind to give thanks for the miracle of his healing.
The Pool of Healing
Many scholars believe that the Pool of Bethesda, with its five shady porches, was probably built by a wealthy benefactor to provide shelter for the sick. It was an ancient spa of sorts. People went there to bathe in the spring-fed pool’s healing mineral waters of the spring-fed pool and rest under the verandas.
While the pool’s exact purpose is unclear, scholars largely agree that it was used as a reservoir for ritual cleansing. Due to its proximity to the Sheep Gate, some theorize that sheep were cleansed in it prior to sacrifice. Others maintain that it was used for ritual bathing by Jewish worshipers.
Many people believed that an angel would come down from time to time and ‘stir’ the water and impart healing properties to it. According to this tradition, anyone who managed to enter the pool while the water was being stirred would be healed. This is where the lame man lay, waiting for the ‘healing waters’ to come.
While we may never know exactly how the pool was used, we do know that it was not the source of this man’s healing. He was healed by a single word from Jesus Christ.
Two contrasting kingdoms
Interestingly, the word Bethesda means “house of mercy.” And it was there, in that house of mercy, that two kingdoms collided. Two worlds with diametrically opposed ethical codes — The Kingdom of Christ which centers on love and mercy, and the religion of the Pharisees based on power and wealth.
It was there that they collided because nothing illustrates the contrast between the two kingdoms more clearly than mercy.
The Kingdom of Religiosity
The self-righteousness of religion is blinding. It blinds us to the needs around us, and impedes us from helping them. It also prevents us from rejoicing when those needs are met.
“Get off your mat and leave it,” says religion. “So what if it’s your only possession? Just don’t break the rules. Don’t rock our religious boat or threaten our way of life.”
The moment the lame man broke their rules, the religious crowd found fault with him, and accused him of wrongdoing. “You are wrong to carry your mat on the Sabbath.”
They would have left him stranded. “He refuses to follow our rules, so he is in the wrong.”
Religiosity erects high walls with rules and regulations designed to censure and expel transgressors. These man-made rules matter more than people. So, rather than helping needy people, like the lame beggar, religion pushes them away without letting them collect their belongings first.
The House of Mercy
But Mercy understands the needs of others. It recognizes their need for spiritual, physical and emotional healing. Mercy reaches out with compassion. It builds bridges to help the needy reach the healing waters of life. And it rejoices in God’s goodness when they do so.
Two kingdoms
The house of mercy which sees the needs — and the house of rules, which sees a beam in everyone’s eye but its own.
And what about that dirty old mat? Mercy even helps them carry it!
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