The Bethesda tradition of Christianity

In concentrated study of the Bible by high quality scholars, the synoptic gospels have gotten a lot more attention than the John gospel. One can only speculate the reasons. I suspect that once scholars concluded that the synoptic gospels, when examined closely, were in fact open windows to the Jesus of history, they were eager to push harder and harder and harder. Their scholarship continues to be exciting, and the life, times and message of Jesus become clearer every day. The John gospel has been a casualty and, I believe, has been neglected by today’s abundance of first rate scholars. John has been too easily dismissed as non-historical and fiction.

To appreciate the John perspective, the reader must turn loose of questions of historical reliability and embrace the validity of fiction, mythology and legend. The John gospel writer must be given respect for being a gifted creative writer. He wrote in Ephesus, a city 800 miles from Jerusalem, the primary setting of his stories and reports. He had no research staff and his movement from place to place was limited by his own two feet. His writings were about Jesus and his activity in southern Palestine but were written in the context of a sophisticated and pluralistic city far to the north.

The stories that the John writer left us are engaging and each leaves us with a message to remember.

In the fifth chapter of the John gospel, we are told about Jesus’ encounter with a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. According to the story there was a pool in Jerusalem named Bethesda. The sick man came each day to the pool along with other people with infirmities. At times the waters were stirred with divine healing powers. It was believed the first person who stepped into the water after the stirring began would be healed. The ill man of our story had been coming to the pool hoping to be healed. Always another person got into the water ahead of him, and our subject man did not find healing.

According to the story, Jesus was in Jerusalem to attend a Jewish festival. He saw the man and asked “Do you want to be made well?” The man responded that he needed help and there was no one there to assist him into the pool. Jesus’ response was immediate and simple. “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”

The man stood up and walked away, carrying his mat. Jesus disappeared into the crowd. The story was far from over. The incident took place on the Sabbath. The healing and the man carrying his mat were violations of religious custom. The man and Jesus next see one another at the Temple. Healer and the healed were publicly identified. Some saw Jesus as a threat to the religious system. He was an outsider. His great sin was his healing of a man on the wrong day of the week.

Jesus’ response was simple. “My Father is at work and so also am I.” This comment was fuel on the fire. He called God “Father.”

In my preparation for this column, I read and reread the story of the man at the pool called Bethesda. It is strangely different from anything in the synoptic gospels. Is one true and the other false? In my mind I made a list of the differences. Why did the early church leaders choose to include both versions of the life of Jesus in the collection that we call the “Bible?”

My conclusion is that both are valid witnesses with important messages for all who will read and listen to the messages. The two gospel versions were written at different times for different audiences, by different authors who used different literary tools. There is no correct or false that is involved. My task is to listen carefully to the witnesses.

Two realities have chased me while reading the story of the healing at Bethesda. They chase me in a very personal way. The first is an observation. People passed by the pool at Bethesda every day. I do the same thing. I pass by people in need and never ask the key question. “Do you want to be made well?” In these words, I am confronted with the heart and mind of the God and Father of Jesus from Nazareth. God’s desire is for every person to be whole and well.

For me concretely this translates into health care for every person in our community, nation and world. A follower of Jesus should never pass by someone in need of healing. Bethesda calls for caring.

The second reality is the simple “My father is working and so must I.” In the spread of the Christian gospel, every believer is called upon to be a worker for a simple reason. The God of Christian Faith is a working God. My calling is to be a doer of good in the name of Christ Jesus. My every day calling is simple. “What is the good I will do today in the name of Christ?”

Bethesda is all around us!

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.