If you would, let me lead your imagination for a few moments. You are part of a group of Jewish travelers headed for Jerusalem that you might attend the Passover, the high-point of the year in your religious faith. As you walk along, you discover that your tiny group has converged with another group also headed for the capital city, and to your surprise, these fellow travelers are Jesus and His disciples. They, too, are obviously traveling to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Passover. Then, without notice, He makes a detour, a detour that will lead to Bethesda. You have heard the stories and the controversy that surrounds this carpenter turned rabbi. You're not sure why, but your group feels strangely compelled to follow along behind this Galilean.
What do you expect to see or to find in Bethesda? Picture, if you will, Gettysburg, when her country side was strewn with wounded bodies, and you see Bethesda. Imagine a nursing home overcrowded and understaffed, and you begin to see the activity around the Bethesda's pool (a pool claimed to have healing powers). Or call to mind the orphans in Bangladesh or the abandoned in New Delhi, and you will see what people saw when they passed through Bethesda. As you move into the city, you begin to hear the endless wave of groans that rise from a mass of faceless need. Faceless because these people are used to being walked passed; faceless because they are continually ignored by passersby.
But not Jesus! Can you picture it, Jesus walking among the suffering? My! It's worth the telling of the story if all we do is watch Him walk. It's worth it, just to know He even came. He didn't have to, but throughout His ministry He had a special concern for the suffering and the neglected. As you gaze at Him, He is alone with the needy... the people need Him -- so He is here.
Surely, there are more sanitary crowds arriving with you as Jesus and His disciples enter into Jerusalem. Yes! You and your group of travelers are now numbered among His disciples. This year, it's an even more exciting time to be in the holy city. People have come from many parts of the world to be at this feast, to bring their sacrifice and to meet with God in the Temple. Little do they know that God has been with the sick and suffering. Little do they know that you have seen God walking slowly, stepping carefully between the lame and the blind and those with broken lives, and His meeting them all at their point of need. Little do they know that the strong young carpenter turned rabbi who surveys the ragged landscape of pain that fills the Temple area is God.
Those of us, who confess to be His disciples, need to think of how we can meet the needs of those who suffer, and with God's help, minister to their need.