Bethesda
For thirty-eight years this man has waited by the pools of Bethesda for a cure. The tradition was that in the early morning an angel would stir the waters. If you were then the first to enter the waters, you would be healed.
We probably don’t understand such healings today, but I wonder. If the healings were not taking place, then why would anyone keep coming back? And for thirty-eight years? There must be truth in what was happening, the healings and cures. For if there were no healings people would have abandoned this practice long ago.
Something special happens today. Jesus is at the pool. He asks a strange question. Do you want to be healed? Of course, he does. He has been waiting for thirty-eight years why wouldn’t he want to be healed?
Sometimes though we accept our handicaps and illnesses and don’t want things to change. Today the man is healed. Think of how his life has changed. From begging every day to now – what do you think he did for the rest of his life.
One last thought for today. Interesting how one person is healed by the pools of water as compared to all those healed through the pools of baptism.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen