“By the Healing Waters”

John 5:1-9

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, August 17, 2025

The pool of Bethzatha, meaning “House of Mercy,” near the Jerusalem Temple, was traditionally a place of healing. Perhaps because of its proximity to the Temple, a legend had grown up that an angel would visit the pool from time to time, stirring the waters. The first person down into the water after the angel passed would be healed. Doubtless the man in our Gospel reading was not the only person who waited for years for healing. Let’s take a little trip to the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day, beside the Pool of Bethzatha. You can close your eyes and imagine the scene, or just listen.

The man lay on a woven mat on the hard paving stones around the pool. It was hot in the afternoon sun, despite a bit of shade from the overhanging portico. Not a breeze stirred; the air was humid and heavy. Scores of people lay around the pool – the sick, the lame, the blind. He himself could only walk with help.

His cousin Mordecai had brought him there that morning  - early, but not early enough to get one of the coveted spaces right next to the pool. Instead, he was several yards away, with at least a dozen others between him and the water. Even if the angel came that day and stirred the water, he would never be the first one in – and only the first one to get in the pool was assured of healing.

It had been a long time since the angel had stirred the water – was it weeks, or months? How long had he lain here anyway – (snorts) – 38 years! The illness had taken him when he was a boy – first the fever, then the paralysis – never to walk again. At first his father gently carried him down to the pool each day, hoping for a miracle – for the angel to stir the water, for him to be healed. Then, as his father grew old, his brothers would take turns, with him leaning on them for support. Then they married and had their own families. Finally he was left with only cousin Mordecai, a good man, but he couldn’t always get him there early, and he was often late to help him home at night. So much had been taken from him – learning a trade, marriage, children.

Who would remember him when he was gone?

Day after day he lay, lonely by the pool. His friends, who used to bring him a piece of fruit or a bit of bread, telling him the local gossip, had long ago stopped visiting him.

A shadow fell over him – a man stood there. What did he want? Was he going to give him alms on the way to the Temple? He glanced upward. The man’s eyes were kind. “Do you want to get well?” the stranger asked. A flood of emotions rushed through him –longing, disappointment, anger. He thought, “What do you mean, do I want to get well; why else would I be lying here?” Thirty-eight years of bitterness and lost hope spilled out as he heard himself saying, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.”  Even as he said it, he thought to himself, “What a stupid thing to say. I will never be healed.” The stranger spoke, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” Suddenly he felt a tingling in his legs and back as he felt the strength returning to his useless limbs.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, he rose to his feet. He was standing! And no one was holding him up! He took a tentative step. He did not fall over! The miracle had happened. He was healed. Overwhelmed with excitement, half-bewildered, half-amazed, he picked up his mat and strode away, without even looking back. Jesus smiled, as the man disappeared into the crowd.  

That’s the end of my little time-traveling story. Of course, I added some details that are not in the Bible – we don’t know exactly what was wrong with the man, except that he needed help to move; we certainly don’t know that he had a cousin Mordecai, but we can guess that he was lonely, that he didn’t have many friends. Thirty-eight years is  long time. Thirty-eight years ago was 1987 – imagine all the things you have done since 1987, if you were even born then… Now, imagine that none of that had happened – that you were just lying by a pool, day after weary day hoping to be healed. Pretty bleak.

Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to be made well?” It’s a strange question – who wouldn’t want to be healed?

But, sometimes there are things in our lives that we just live with, that we know we should change, but we don’t. Maybe we have grown comfortable with the way things are, either because deep inside we like it that way, or maybe because change would be too hard. Maybe we are afraid, or we think we will fail. And, after all, if we change we might have to do things differently.

Jesus transformed the man’s life by healing him. Now he must learn a whole new way of being. He had depended on others to care for him. Now he had the opportunity to fend for himself – he could get a job, maybe even marry – that might seem pretty scary after sitting in one place every day for 38 years. We may not be literally paralyzed, like the man, but we, too, may have hopes that have waited a long time to come to fruition. Things maybe we have only dared to dream about. 

One thing this story teaches is that Jesus gives us the power to change. But first he asks us, “Do you want to be made well? “Do you want to be made whole? Do you want to change?

We must first say “yes” to Jesus. When we let him into our lives, we will find the forgiveness,  healing and wholeness we have longed for.  

This story reminded me of a verse in Hebrews 12, the chapter that starts by saying that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses - those who came before us, who cheer us on to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of [our] faith…Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” What in your life needs to change? Is your faith limping? What do you need God to strengthen in you today? (pause)

Not only individuals find it difficult to change, but sometimes churches as well. Personally, I think we are doing fine here at Santa Teresa Hills. I love this church. Yet, there are always things that could be improved. What new challenges might God be calling us to?

I think this building was built around 1987 – 38 years ago, so maybe this story speaks to us today.

A lot of good has been done during that time, but what remains to be done? What do we need to strengthen as a church; are there tasks God is calling us to that we need to take up? What will the next 38 years bring?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, “For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened—or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” How can we encourage each other’s faith? How can we encourage those in our community who may have lost hope, who, like the lame man by the pool, may have given up? Who is waiting for us to come and say, “Here, let me help you.” We may not be able to perform miracles like Jesus, but we can offer a hand. No discouragement is permanent as long as Jesus beside us.

Centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah encouraged the people, saying, “do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Whenever we are afraid, whenever we face a difficult task,  or confront what seems to be an impossible situation, this is a good promise to remember: “do not fear, for I am with you; … I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you.” Whatever strength we have comes from God, who is always ready to ready to lift us up from whatever has been holding us back or defeating us, God, who says to us, “Stand up, take up your mat and walk.” Amen.

Sermon ©Deborah Troester 2025