THE POOL OF BETHESDA

The Pool of Bethesda ("house of mercy, house of kindness, house of grace" are all meanings of Bethesda) is a rectangular shaped spring-fed pool where Jesus healed an invalid. The pool was believed to have curative powers, and invalids would lie there until the angel of the Lord troubled the water. Then, the first to step into the water was healed. In John 5 Jesus healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years. The pool was 350 long and 200 feet wide and was a part of Herod’s grandiose plan to augment Jerusalem’s short water supply. Jesus became a target for the pious of the day, because He had healed this man on the Sabbath. The pool was decorated with porches and porticos and was 25 feet deep. The Pool of Bethesda is right next to the Church of St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus. It is said that this church is built over the home of Anne and Joachim.

The Pool of Bethesda as it looks today in Jerusalem.