It was a special day in Jerusalem, a large and well-known city. In this city there was a pond called Bethesda. This pond was surrounded by five porticoes in which many sick people were lying. They were blind, lame or had other ailments and hoped for healing.
The sick people lay there because they believed that every now and then an angel moved the water and whoever got into the water first would be healed. Among these people was a man who had been ill for a very long time. He had been paralyzed for 38 years and could not move well.
One day Jesus came to this pool. When Jesus saw the sick man, He knew how long the man had suffered. Jesus took pity on him and asked very kindly: “Would you like to be healed?”
The man looked at Jesus and answered, “Yes, Lord, but I have no one to help me get into the water when it is moved. Every time I try, someone else comes in front of me.” The man was sad, because he thought that was his only hope.
But Jesus smiled at the man and said something amazing: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk!” The sick man was surprised, but he began to trust Jesus. He immediately recovered! He was able to get up, take his bed and walk. It was a special miracle!
The people around him were amazed and wondered how this was possible. But not everyone was happy. Some people were upset because the man was carrying his bed on a Sabbath—a day of rest. They asked him who had told him to do this.
The healed man did not know exactly who had healed him, because Jesus had already disappeared into the crowd. But later Jesus met the man in the temple and told him: “Behold, you have been healed; sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you.”
The man was happy to see Jesus again, and he told the people that Jesus had healed him. Jesus showed everyone that He had the power to save and heal people because He was sent by God.
Message of history
Jesus loves us and wants to help us. We can trust Him because He has the power to heal us and care for us.
Bible passage
The story of Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda is found in John 5:1-15.
“1 After that there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is a pool in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate, which is called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay a great multitude of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the emaciated, waiting for the water to move. 4 For an angel went down into the pool at certain times and stirred the waters. Whoever went into it first after moving the water became well, no matter what disease afflicted him with. 5 Now there was a man there who had spent 38 years with his illness. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Lord, I have no man to bring me into the pool when the water is stirred; But while I am walking, another descends in front of me. 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take your mat, and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was healed, and took his mat and walked about. Now it was Sabbath on that day. 10 Then the Jews said to the healed man, “It is the Sabbath; you are not allowed to wear the mat! 11 He answered them, “The one who healed me said to me, ‘Take your mat and walk.’ 12 Then they asked him, “What man is it that said to you, ‘Take your mat and walk?’ 13 But the healed man did not know who it was; for Jesus had escaped because there was a crowd in the place. 14 Then Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have been healed; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you. 15 The man went and declared to the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.”
