From John's Gospel, the 5th chapter:
"Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids -- blind, lame, paralyzed."
The name "Bethesda" means "house of mercy"; from the roots בית (house) and חסד (mercy, kindness, goodness).
And there are plenty of people around the pool in need of mercy. They're there because of a superstition surrounding the pool (some versions of John's Gospel include this explanation):
Every so often, an angel of the Lord would come down and stir the water. After the water was stirred, whoever got in first would be healed of whatever affliction they had.
Seems like a pretty good deal, right? But the tragic irony of Bethesda -- in my opinion -- is its name. For as many that may have been healed at that pool, there were multitudes more that only ever found an empty promise.
One man had been there for 38 years.
And Jesus saw him. He knew the man had been there a long time, and He asks him a question:
"Do you want to be healed?"
Your reaction when you read this story may be to find Jesus' question offensive. Or dumb. I certainly had a similar reaction the first time I read this story.
This is more than a question, really. It's an invitation. But the man at the pool misses that.
And I think his response teaches us something about ourselves. What does he tell Jesus?
"Sir, 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."
Imagine that. This man is so fixated on the pool, so caught up in the superstition about the angel and the water, convinced that this is his only option... that he can't see what's right in front of him. The Son of God, inviting him to healing.
This is our problem.
We put "limits" on our ability to be made well because we fail to receive the invitation God is giving. We lack the faith to understand what Jesus has always been offering. Real healing, new life.
The pool was never going to fix this man's problem. It was only an idol. An empty promise. A distraction from something better.
Are you missing Jesus' invitation to something better because you think you know what you need?
[Make special note of how this man is healed. It's at Bethesda, but the man never gets in the water.]
"Get up, take up your bed, and walk."
And immediately the man was made well, in a way he had never considered.
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