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| Two thousand years
ago, the equivalent of Google was word-of-mouth.
In Jerusalem of Jesus' day, you didn't need the
internet to know that if you were crippled,
paralyzed, blind, deaf or dumb, you should head for
the Pool of Bethesda. |
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The pool was located by the Sheep Gate which was
probably where the sheep were brought into the city
for sacrifice in the Temple. That Sheep Gate
is believed to have been in the vicinity of today's
Lions Gate, for until the end of the 20th century,
there was a sheep market still there, right outside
the NE corner of the walled city. (It was
moved to the periphery of the city because too many
gawkers created traffic jams as they focused on the
sheep, rather than the traffic lights!) |
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Old
City map adapted by itsGila |
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The Sheep Gate of Jesus' day is
believed to be by today's Lions Gate |
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Once you entered the Sheep Gate and found the pool,
you would only be healed if you were the first one
to jump into the pool when the water was stirring.
Imagine all the other people congregated under those
five roofed porticoes, waiting for the first sign of
movement. If you were blind, how would you know the
water stirred? Or if you were lame, how could you
ever be the first to enter the pool? You would need
a lot of faith -- and patience -- which perhaps are
identical. |
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Even the name of the pool hints at healing. Beth is
Hebrew for house and hesed can be translated as
grace. According to the Gospel of John, it was an
angel who stirred the water which was when the
healing took place. The source of the water was
rainfall and no doubt there was an underground
spring as well. |
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The pool seems to be mentioned in the Dead Sea
Copper Scroll (found near Qumran) which describes
the whereabouts of a hidden (or imaginary) treasure
once belonging to the Temple. A rough translation
is, "By the twin pools, in the small pool there is a
jar of aloe wood and one of white pine resin. Near
there, at the western entrance of the porch of the triclinium, [that is the dining room]; near the
place of the stove are 900 talents of silver and 500
talents of gold." |
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Public domain photo
of the Dead Sea Copper Scroll |
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Twin pools are mentioned in the
Dead Sea Copper Scroll |
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We assume that the Romans never found the gold, at
least not by the Pool of Bethesda. But the tradition
of healing was so rooted at Bethesda that even after
the Romans destroyed the Judean Temple and
obliterated the ritual of animal sacrifice, they
built a pagan temple dedicated to their god of
medicine right next to the pool. |
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His name was Asclepius and he was always sculpted
holding a staff entwined with a sacred serpent. Snakes were often used in pagan healing rituals, and
non-venomous snakes crawled freely along the floors
where the sick and injured slept. Eventually the
pagan temples were abandoned and a church was built
near the site. A pilgrim from Bordeaux who came to
Jerusalem in 333 AD reported that he saw the two
pools and five porticoes. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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The Pool of Bethesda (red-roofed structure
in center) had 2 pools and 5 porches |
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During the later Muslim period, however, the Pool of
Bethesda filled with debris and garbage and its
location was forgotten. The first European scholars
looking for the pool identified it with a cistern
immediately to the north of the Temple enclosure
called Birket Israel.
Even Charles Warren, Jerusalem's most eminent
underground explorer, was mistaken on the location
of the Pool of Bethesda. |
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In 1871 when the
nearby Church of St. Anne was being restored, the
pool was discovered and later scientifically
excavated in the 1950s. Once the two basins
were revealed, one could imagine a colonnade running
down the middle and voila, the pool with the "five
porches" was deemed located without a doubt! |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Crusader ruins over the original
Pool of Bethesda |
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Today as we listen to a reading of John 5, we see
the original broad staircase as well as the SE
corner of the southern pool. Let's try to imagine
the faith of the man who waited 38 years for a cure. And then his profound gratitude and ecstasy as Jesus
said, "Arise, take up your mat and walk." |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Toppled pillar from an early
church commemorating the healing of the lame man |
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As we gather in a circle for our own prayers for
healing, let's ask ourselves the question Jesus
asked the infirm man, "Do you want to be well?" |
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Copyright 2012 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Gila Yudkin
calls
herself a Connecticut Yankee guiding in King David's
court. She has been taking her groups to visit the
Pool of Bethesda since 1978. (Whoa!) Gila's passion is
exploring the interconnection of Bible and
archeology. On Gila's tours, the stones speak! |
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After a hands-on prayer for healing at the Pool of
Bethesda, Gila brings her groups to St. Anne's
church to test its famous 11-second echo. As her
friend and colleague Steve Langfur puts it, the
church "transforms a group of middling singers into
a choir of angels." Follow the link for
suggestions of what to sing when you come to
Jerusalem. |
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After visiting the Pool of Bethesda, you will be
ready to start
walking the Stations of the Cross.
See Gila's handy
PDF guide to
locating the stations along the Way of the Cross
AND in the Bible! Your devotional walk will
then be
both meaningful and memorable. |
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Although Charles Warren mistakenly confused
the Pool of Israel [Birket Israil] with the
Pool of Bethesda on his Temple Mount Surface
Map of 1884, he was spot on in identifying
the area south of the Old City walls as the
ancient Jerusalem, the City of David.
Read about his adventures in "Underground
in Jerusalem with Charles Warren." |
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More Jerusalem: |
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Temple Mount excavations? |
Holy land spice |
Mary meets Elizabeth |
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Absalom's Tomb |
Priestly Blessing |
Great place to read Luke 2 |
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If you are an adventurer at heart and would
like to explore Jerusalem on your own, order
Gila’s up-to-date unorthodox guide, “Explore
Jerusalem’s Soul” with
suggestions of the top ten roof-top views,
the top ten inspiring places to study
Scripture, the ten least-known churches
worth visiting and the ten top restaurants
to sample Middle Eastern “soul-food.” |
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Tour the Temple
Mount in the
company of Abraham and Isaac, David and Solomon,
Jesus and the disciples, the angel Gabriel and
Mohammed -- and Gila. Meet many other luminaries,
both real and legendary.
Gila's Temple Mount tour
is now available as a written
24-page PDF with a
Temple Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check
and ten recommended reads on the
Temple Mount from Gila's bookshelves.
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