JERUSALEM: BETHESDA

Rather than follow the chronology of our trip for the next few posts, I've decided to follow the chronology of Christ's life, at least the part that was in Jerusalem. I've already covered the healing of the blind man at the Pool of Siloam. Another one of Christ's healings also occurs at a pool--the Pool of Bethesda. 

I had several "Aha!" moments in Israel, and one of them was about why water is such an important image in the Gospels. Israel is essentially a desert climate, and Jerusalem itself had (and has) a fairly limited water supply. Water certainly wasn't piped into homes during the time of Christ; it was brought in by hand in containers. It was an effort every day to get enough water to sustain life. When Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," he was using a metaphor that would have had significant meaning in such a dry country. Similarly, performing two of his miracles at pools of water would have powerful symbolic meaning.

But I'm jumping ahead.

The Pool of Bethesda is located in what is now the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, just inside the Sheep Gate, also known as the Lion's Gate. It was through this gate that lions and sheep were brought to the Temple for sacrifice. Later, it would be this gate that Jesus--the sacrificial Lamb--would enter on his way to his crucifixion.

The pool is part of a walled complex that includes a large, beautiful, peaceful courtyard and the 12th century Church of St. Anne. Our group arrived when the courtyard was essentially empty.