Sermon from 16 August 2026

Unlike the first party, the second comes about in a more surprising context. A pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda (or Bethzatha) was a public gathering place for people who needed some type of physical healing. There was a spring underneath the pool and when the spring would give off water, the water at the surface would bubble up. It was thought the first to enter the pool would experience healing when the bubbling occurred. One man who had illness with his leg for 38 years had tried and tried to be the first in the pool but was never successful. Jesus used the occasion to show the man there was no magic in the water. Rather Jesus was the spring of the water of life. No magic water would heal him, only the presence and power of Jesus can heal us from the pool of life that we find ourselves stuck.