There is much to learn from the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and how he received his healing in a single day.
The Scriptures tell us that this man, along with others, was waiting for a miracle at a pool (or pond) called Bethesda, because at certain times an angel would come down and stir the waters, making them appear as if they were boiling. Whenever the waters were stirred, only the first person to enter would be healed, and the others would have to wait for another unknown opportunity.
These sick people lived in constant competition, each striving to be the first to enter.
But one day, Jesus passed by and saw this crowd of sick people, waiting for the “stirring waters,” waiting for THESE ANOINTED WATERS to heal them. Here, He encountered one man who at least had faith to be healed. His first question to the man was as if asking, “Do you want to be made well?” — respecting the man’s free will, because the Lord never forces healing upon anyone (cf. Luke 13:11-13). This teaches us that we must ask and receive, for Jesus does not compel us.
Let us read:
John 5:1-9 (NKJV)
“After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.”
Reflect on this man: he had relied on the stirred waters for 38 years but gained nothing. Many today, like him, leave Jesus and place their hope in anointing oils, blessed water, or other rituals, not knowing that God never exalts these things. Only His Son, Jesus Christ, is exalted and honored (Philippians 2:9-11).
Yes, Scripture records occasions where God allowed healing through objects like oils or handkerchiefs (Acts 19:11-12), but these were rare, not a customary practice for receiving healing. The apostles and the early church did not create rituals around objects or waters because they understood the lesson from the Bethesda pool.
Another lesson is that the Lord was walking outside the pool, looking for someone to heal. He did not enter the waters or touch them. Even if a place has a history of miracles, Christ Himself may not be there. Today, many people are deceived by wells, pools, oils, or rituals that claim to bring healing — but Christ is not in them. Salvation and healing come only from Jesus, the Living Water, the True Anointed One (John 4:14; Revelation 22:1-2).
Lastly, after healing the man, Jesus did not tell him to remain at the pool. He instructed him to rise and go. This reveals that Christ is not pleased with people lingering in false hopes or rituals. Even today, He desires that we turn from reliance on superficial objects and run to Him in faith and repentance. Jesus Himself is the true spring of anointing, the true healing, the true deliverance.
The man at Bethesda found freedom in Christ that the waters could never give. Similarly, today:
Maranatha!
Related Scriptures:
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