After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 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. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath (John 5:1 -9).
The Pool of Bethesda was a place where people went when they didn’t have any hope. It was believed, that on occasion, an angel would churn the waters, and suddenly the waters of the pool would start bubbling, and the first person who jumped into the water would be completely healed.
All the despondent people, all the sick people, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed -everybody came to the Pool of Bethesda, hoping for a miracle. It was the place you went when the doctor said, ”I don’t have anything more for you. I can’t do anything.” The medication wasn’t working, the hospital visits weren’t working, and the doctor didn’t know what to do. So, you went to the Pool of Bethesda: a place of pain, a place of anguish, a place of discouragement, and a place of disappointment.
So many love to live around the Pool of Bethesda. They sit there. They put their feet in the water. They hang out. They love to lie in that place of despair, of hopelessness. They love to spend time in the environment that seems like life will never be better.
But God has a great plan for you. He has a great plan for every person who is at that place of hopelessness.
The man who was paralyzed at the Pool of Bethesda. We don’t know his name. Life will often label you by what you have gone through, but Jesus is not bothered by that, because when Jesus shows up, He sees a great opportunity before Him. God wants to cure you of hopelessness.