The ill and disabled would congregate at these regional healing centers. Yeshua (Jesus) comes on the scene and everything changes, Rise, take up your bed and walk. Healing. Thats why when Jesus asked the man at the pool if he wanted to be healed, the man told Jesus he couldnt be healed because he couldnt get into the pool when the waters were churned. It is often in our most private moments that true loyalty, or the lack of it, is made known. Verse 18: "This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because, not only was he breaking the Sabbath, he was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. He wanted his Hellenized Jewish audience to gain a new understanding. But there are other interpretive options as well that to my mind make a lot more sense. In the words of the sick man I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me. (vs. 7) The stirring up of the water was likely happening when the priests of the Asclepius cult, would open the connecting pipes between the higher and the lower portions of the pool of Bethesda. As in his meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus was making the claim that he was the true source of healing He was the source of living water. translationsThis does not take away from what Jesus did. Jesus asks the man if he wants to get well. We can hear in their Greek names our modern words for hygiene and panacea key concepts associated today with medicine and health. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. The Pool of Bethesda, and consequently John 5, has been reinterpreted in Jewish circles as an Asclepius-Pagan Temple due to a heavily Hellenistic influence in Jerusalem in the first century. Copyright 2016 by David Taliesin, http://www.sabbatsandsabbaths.com. 6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives"(Heb.12:5-6, ESV).Perhaps this is the message/warning Jesus was giving the man He had just healed.VERSE 15: "The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. What was the significance of this location? Thank you! When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me. Jesus said to him, Stand up, take your mat and walk. At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. I have long wondered about the absence of an asclepion in Jerusalem and this article does clear up a lot of questions re the importance of this pericope in Johns gospel. Yeshua found him and brought him out of this idolatry. 55a with reference to Ezek. Now let's contrast the Pool of Shiloah (Siloam). Note: Your Bible May Not Include Verse Four. To begin with: I believe the Pool in Bethesda was a "mineral spring" aka "hot spring" or "spa" coming from the Latin words "Sanus Per Aquam " meaning "Health Through Water." Hydrotherapy meaning "water therapy" has been since ancient times believed in and practiced. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem () by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, [] Bethesda, having five porches. In the Angel app users can watch full episodes, cast to their television, pay-it-forward to fund future seasons of shows they love and buy official merchandise. Going to the Synagogue on the Sabbath could indicate the man had knowledge of the Ten Commandments and it also fits with worshiping other Gods and repentance. When Christians controlled Jerusalem in the Byzantine and Crusader periods, they liked to mark the sites of Jesus miracles and other important events in his life, so they added a chapel and churches that now cover the Bethesda Pool complex.. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalidsblind, lame, and paralyzed. The stirring up of the water was part of a ceremony when the priests of the Asclepius temple opened the connecting pipes between the higher and the lower portions of the pool. "Jesus had previously said that God had sent Him. 3In these lay a multitude of invalidsblind, lame, and paralyzed. It is hard to tell the difference. Both pools mentioned in the Gospel of John have now been identified the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2) and the Pool of Siloam. These people could quote the prophesies telling of Jesus. If this is correct, it may change our perception of the entire story described here. This same five-portico design was described by him is Chapter 5 of his Gospel. "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. We had fun doing this and we hope you enjoy it. Later in the story Jesus would meet the man he healed in the Israels Temple and will warn him not to continue in his life of sin (something that fits perfectly with the idea that the Pool of Bethesda was Asclepion). Fill in your details and we will contact you shortly. Topical. Lets keep on thinking together! Interestingly enough, both of these sites took place next to a poola reminder that Jesus is indeed the living water of healing. He speaks of raising those who are dead in sin to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit; also, of His raising the dead in their graves; and of His office as a Judge; but gives God the glory for it all. He tells the man not to wash in the pagan pool, but to rise to Gods word! Download the Angel app onGoogle Playor theApp storeand start watching today. Well, in this example, He healed the cripple by the pool of Bethesda. '"The "Feast of Tabernacles," translated from the word meaning "tent," or booths, was a seven-day feast held each year in Jerusalem, in October. Roman medicinal baths constructed at the Bethesda Pool only a century or two later reflect this continued tradition. The Bethesda Pool, where Jesus heals the paralytic man in the Gospel of John, is a complex site. We often refer to the end times as The Rapture, and the second coming:"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. John 5:1-30: Verse 1: "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." John does not tell us which Feast this was. Only confirmed in its identity in the last century, the Pool of Bethesda site revealed Crusader and Byzantine churches, two huge rectangular Hellenistic (Greek) water reservoirs, surrounded by five colonnades or porticos, even as the Gospel writer records. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. Can someone think of another healing where Jesus says: Dont you sin any more!. Verse 30: "I can do nothing on my own. Interestingly, until the 19th century, there was really no archaeological evidence for the Pool of Bethesda, so skeptics used this as a proof that Johns account was written by some later zealot who didnt have eyewitness knowledge of Jerusalem or an actual pool called Bethesda. This is where the Jewish background and Greco-Roman background of NT intersect in our text. The Apostle John is the only gospel writer to record the healing of a lame man at the pool of Bethesda and a man born blind at the pool of Siloam. Another Great Stuff! 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, [b]paralyzed, [c . The lame man, for 38 years, had been lying at this pagan pool when Yeshua finds him. They did not embellish things, but certainly were not afraid to clarify issues, when they thought something was missing.Hence the new character in this story, the angel of Israels God, was added by the well-meaning, but misguided copyist. Pagans recognized this first but then others claimed these sites later and added their own intention and energy to them. Why did Jesus choose to heal here? many truths from the original texts. It was also used in the ordinance of the red heifer because it was the only water source inside the city. To post suggestions or ideas for the sub, please go to /r/TrueChristianMeta. The section may have been purposely removed due to a perceived but incorrect pagan or heretical inference which is understandable in light of events . (LogOut/ It therefore appears that while the pool of Bethesda was a pagan place (Asclepion), while the pool of Siloam was connected with Jerusalem Temple. Reddit, Inc. 2023. Although the Codex Sinaiticus renders . In his Gospel account, John describes Jesus going to such a pool, surrounded by five covered colonnades. Model of Bethesda Pool, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Bethesda. According to Urban C. von Wahldes The Puzzling Pool of Bethesda, Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2011, This story about Jesus miracle suggests a long history of healing at the site. - Postcard From Israel Postcard From Israel Mosaics: Every Stone Matters Mosaics and the Dark/Light Contrasts 00:00 01:04 The Ancient Hebrew Language Revived The Culture & Customs of Bedouin Tents Sweeter Than Honey Even before the time of Jesus, this location may represent a shallow valley dammed to retain rainwater and referred to as "the upper pool" in the 8 th -century BC (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3). 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. So often readers only see the text from a 21st century, non-Jewish/Greek/Roman perspective and thus miss the original message and authorial intent. The Pool of Bethesda was "in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate" ( John 5:2 ), which places it north of the temple, near Fort Antonia. How You Decide What Scenes are Angel Golden Scenes. John 5King James Version. John 5:1-5 explains that the pool of Bethesda was by one of Jerusalem's gates, known as the sheep gate, and was surrounded on five sides by colonnades. This historical drama set in Judaea and Galilee in the first century CE follows Jesus and those whom He met and ministered to. 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? The site is in Jerusalem, close to the Church of Saint Anne and near the Sheep Gate, true to its location described in John 5:2. With the magical stirring of the waters in place, I suspected that this site probably began as an ancient pagan holy well or sacred spring upon which a Jewish mikveh (ritual purification bath) was constructed. This is proper Biblical Teaching, Bible Study and Expositions. We need only to trust in Him, because Jesus paid our way by what He did on the cross.THE FUTURE, INTERWOVEN WITH THE PRESENTVerse 25: "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. The Pool of Bethesda/Asclepion was probably part of the Hellenization of Jerusalem, along with several other important projects such as a Roman theater and a Roman bathhouse. The pool(or pools as there were in fact two) were Roman Pagan pools one dedicated to Fortuna the goddess of fortune and the other to Asclepius god of healing. The text suggests that the Miracle Jesus performed was in the face of this cult idea of these pagan pools being divine.