Pool of Bethesda

The Pool of Bethesda is just inside of the Lions Gate. Large excavations exposed the pool. The Pool of Bethesda (which means house of mercy) is mentioned only in John 5:2 where the afflicted came for healing when the waters were troubled. Here Jesus healed the man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. John 5:2-9 says "Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."Read more