During one of his visits to Jerusalem, Jesus passed the pool of Bethesda, where lay a multitude of impotent folk. Among them was a man who had been diseased for thirty-eight years. He had come, as had the others, hoping to be healed, for it was believed that at a certain season an angel troubled the waters and that whoever at this time first stepped into the pool would be made whole of whatever disease he had.
Seeing the man lying there, Jesus "saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me" (John 5:6, 7). Jesus told him to rise, take up his bed, and walk. The man was obedient and did as he had been told and was later found by Jesus in the temple, praising God. Jesus then said, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." From the record it is plain to see that Jesus did not take into consideration the name of the physical difficulty; he did not diagnose the case, nor was he concerned with the man's environment. He was concerned alone with the man's thought. He saw that he was willing to be healed. He did not advise him as to the care of his body but only that he should sin no more.
The circumstances connected with this incident are worthy of earnest consideration. This man was seeking healing, but he was turning to matter, to material means, for it—turning to the very thing which had deceived him in the first place. He needed to be aroused from the mesmerism of sinful and diseased thoughts, in which he had indulged for many years, to a realization of his God-given dominion. Even though he had been in that case for thirty-eight years, Jesus healed him instantaneously. The Master knew that man in God's image and likeness had never been sick or in bondage. He did not give recognition or power to the false evidence of the material senses. The years he had been in bondage did not prevent him from immediately being made whole. Disease, pain, discord, and lack cannot dwell where the presence of the Christ is felt and realized.
