An Atheist Bible Study Of The Gospels Miracle Healing At The Pool Of Bethseda

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The last few miracles I critiqued featured in all the Gospels apart from the one written in John’s name, but this one is covered by John alone in Chapter 5:1-47. Jesus goes to Jerusalem, presumably in stealth as he has not yet made his very public triumphal entrance into the city. He visits the Sheep’s Gate area, (where sheep will be brought in from the pastures for sale and slaughter). Near the Sheep Gate at Bethseda there is a mysterious pool. The pool is a centre of healing, visited by the sick, lame, blind, crippled, etc., in the hope of healings. An angel is believed to visit the waters at certain times when those bathing in the pool are healed of their disabilities and pains. This is interesting. An angel is already doing the healings, without Jesus having any part in the activity. It isn’t stated if the angel is visible to the pool visitors or they feel healed and just attribute their health to the angel. Jesus seems to be there just to observe at first. He sees a man who has been infirm for thirty-eight years. The man wants to go into the pool when the waters are stirred up (a sign that the angel is present) but others jump the queue and no one assists him or puts him into the water as he desires. Jesus could have helped the poor unfortunate man into the healing waters but instead he just tells him to take up his bed and walk. The man does so, and again, as with other miracles performed on the Saturday Sabbaths, this creates trouble. The man is criticised by the Jews for being up and walking healthy on a Sabbath. Asked who healed him, he is unable to say a Jesus never gave his name or stayed around. Later the man re-meets Jesus and then starts to tell people who it was who helped him. Challenged about his action by the Jews Jesus makes no apology for healing on the Sabbath, and points out that his Father, God, perform healings on the Sabbath too. Jesus is now in trouble for performing illegal Sabbath healings and comparing himself to God, to the point of declaring himself to be the Son of God. Jesus states that he can even raise the dead if the dead believe in him. He denounces the Jews for not believing in him, adding that even Moses denounces them for refusing to believe in him. There is a lot going on in this mysterious chapter. Jesus seems to be competing with an angel that is already performing healings. As the angel is not human, but a direct agent of God it can heal on the Sabbath, but Jesus cannot. The infirm man has missed his turn in the water every visit made over 38 years, which seems odd. Surely whoever gets him to the pool should be able to help him get into the water too, and even Jesus could have done that. Jesus, in healing the man without the water, is showing himself as somehow better than the angel, but he tries to stay anonymous about it. Once identified, he makes very arrogant statements critical of the Jewish faith (comments later used in support of acts of anti-Semitism). A very unconvincing miracle. Arthur Chappell