The Pool of Bethesda
‘Bethesda’ means ‘House of Kindness’ in Hebrew having been also translated ‘House of Mercy’ or ‘House of Grace’. The historic Pool of Bethesda is believed to have been situated in Old City of Jerusalem to the north of Temple Mount. The Pool’s name could be reference either to the regular visitations of an angel at the time of Jesus giving the Pool healing properties for short periods of time or to the possible use of the Pool for ritual cleansing connected with the Temple worship. However the Pool is best known as being the site of one of Jesus’ miracles.
The New Testament account in John 5 tells us that the Pool of Bethesda was sited near the sheep market and that it had five porches. Archaeologists in the 19th and 20th centuries discovered and further excavated a rectangular pool consisting of two basins with four porches surrounding it and one porch between the two basins. This Pool was in a similar location to that described in the Biblical account. The location of the Pool and the characteristics of the southern basin suggest that it was a mikveh, in other words a bath used for immersion by the Jews to achieve ritual purity in preparation for Temple worship. The other pool was likely a reservoir to repurify the mikveh.
(Credit: Carole Raddato)
The Miracle at the Pool
We read in John 5 that while Jesus was in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast or holyday, He saw a man lying beside the Pool of Bethesda who had been sick and infirm for 38 years. He was waiting by the Pool with many others with different maladies and sickness. The reason for this congregation was that from time to time an angel would stir the waters and whoever stepped in first afterwards would be healed. Jesus knowing that the man had been there for a long time with no-one to help him into the water had compassion on him and healed him.
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and the same day was the sabbath day.
John 5: 8-9
The Significance of the Pool of Bethesda
The practices and rituals in the Jewish Temple were types and symbols pointing towards the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of his people. The ritual cleansing at the mikvehs was carried out by Jews who were ceremonially unclean and unfit for the worship of God. The cleansing in the mikveh first required acceptance that one was unclean and a desire to be clean. This is symbolic of repentance from sin. The actual washing symbolizes the cleansing away of the believer’s sins through the Blood of Christ. We read in the account of Christ’s crucifixion in John 19:34 (see also 1 John 5:6) that when His side was pierced, water and blood came forth. Washing is mentioned many times in the Bible in context of cleansing from sin for example in Psalm 51: 7, a repentant King David prays to the Lord: “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow”. See also Revelation 7:14.
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:14
Immersion at the mikveh can also be linked to the baptism of professing believers in churches today by immersion. Like the cleansing rituals at the mikveh, baptism is symbolic . However while cleansing rituals at the mikveh might have to be performed many times, baptism of a true believer only needs to be undertaken once to demonstrate that the old sinful life has been left behind and the believer is risen with Christ.
The Typology of the Miracle
There is also some beautiful typology around the miracle that Jesus performed in the healing of the sick man. The maladies and sickness of those around the Pool can be seen as typical of the different manifestations of the malady or sickness of sin. The man that Jesus healed was unable to help himself, he could not reach the waters in time to benefit from their healing properties. This can be interpreted as demonstrating man’s total depravity and inability to save himself. Christ’s choice of one out of the number that were lying beside the Pool to heal can either be seen as typical of the doctrine of election or of God’s sovereignty in the timing of his dealings. We further read in John 5:14 that Jesus later found the man he had healed in the Temple and commanded him to ‘sin no more, lest a worst thing come upon thee’. We believe that Christians cannot sin lightly due to their love to Christ and their belief in what he has done for them. We also read that the man told those around him that what Jesus had done for him.