Feb 29: THE POOL OF BETHESDA

The name Bethesda means “house of mercy,” and it was a pool in Jerusalem where the sick and disabled gathered to be healed. 

The pool of Bethesda was located near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem and it had five porches where the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed would gather and wait for an angel to stir the water. The first person to enter the pool after the stirring would be healed of their affliction.

The Pool of Bethesda is a remarkable place in the Bible that represents God's mercy and healing powers. It is a reminder that with faith and perseverance, one can, by mercy, overcome any obstacle and receive the blessings of God.

The pool presented itself as a competitive opportunity twinned by God’s mercy. One can only imagine the struggles by all the afflicted to get to the pool first in order to be healed. Imagine the stampede, scrambling for a single slot of blessing among tens or hundreds of in need. 

There was a certain man by the pool whom the Lord Jesus again singled out to heal. He had spent almost his entire lifetime waiting for the stirring. But he was always unlucky or outsmarted by others. And more importantly, he had no-one to assist him. 

This is exactly what life is. To be crowned the winner in a race, you need to be the first. To succeed in life, you either struggle on your own or get assisted by someone. But at every opportunity, someone is favoured. And the next time, it will be another person's turn to be favoured either by self-struggle or a helper.

But the third option is the divine intervention to favour you without scrabbling, competing or any human aiding. As you step out today, May you be the next to be favoured. May the Lord your God who worked at the Pool of Bethesda (House of Mercy) locate you today in Jesus name!