During His ministry, Jesus performed more than 40 miracles including healing the sick, changing elements of nature and even raising people from the dead. A miracle is considered an event that occurs outside the bounds of natural law. Each month, we will take a closer look at one of His miracles to understand the depth of His love for us. Understanding the miracles of Jesus can change your life, and it all begins with believing through faith.
The third documented miracle of Jesus was recorded in John 5:1–9, and it took place in Jerusalem by the pool of Bethesda. The word Bethesda means “house of mercy.” Jesus encountered a man near the pool of Bethesda who had a crippling infirmity for 38 years.
Many sick people visited the pool believing an angel would come each day and agitate the water and the first person to enter the pool would be healed.
In this man’s case, he was crippled and unable to be the first person in the pool because he had no one to help him. When Jesus saw the sick man who had been lying there for some time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled.”
Jesus told him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” Immediately, the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.
When the man told people that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath, the traditional Jewish day of rest, many Jewish people became so upset, and they sought to kill Jesus.
Jesus didn’t heal people on the Sabbath to stir up trouble. Rather, He was doing the will of God. We should always look for opportunities to do good for others. This miracle demonstrates the Lord’s mercy toward us and helping those in need is not restricted to a time constraint.
This miracle also teaches us to endure in our faith. The disabled man had been suffering for 38 years, and each day he positioned himself by the pool hoping for a miracle yet was continually disappointed. He had no reason to believe that this day would be any different. Jesus shows us through this miracle that with continued patience and faith, miracles can happen we when least expect it.
Keep coming to the pool of hope as you continue on your faith-journey and see how God’s blessings will overflow in your life—it may be when you least expect it.
