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Jason Sobel- The Miracle at the Pool of Bethesda - Signs & Secrets of the Messiah
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00:00We're embarking on an extraordinary journey through the book of John, Sefer Yohanan.
00:05This book isn't just a historical account, it's a collection of divine moments.
00:11Right now, we're looking at the moment when Yeshua showed a grace that echoed prophecy
00:18and reaffirmed his identity as the Messiah.
00:21This is the first half of our two-part journey into the signs and secrets of healing.
00:26We find ourselves at the Pool of Bethesda, the setting of a miracle that's about much more than healing.
00:34It's a revelation of faith's incredible power and a glimpse into the divine.
00:39Secrets are waiting to be uncovered, transforming our understanding of the Savior.
00:46Yeshua performed a miracle that rocked the status quo.
00:50Let's step into this event and break it down piece by piece to see ancient mysteries and divine revelations.
00:58The journey is full of surprises, and with each sign, I know you'll watch the character of Yeshua Jesus
01:06become more clear to you, richer, and more vivid.
01:10Let's go beyond Sunday school stories and see Yeshua through Jewish eyes.
01:15This is Signs and Secrets of the Messiah.
01:48This is Signs and Secrets of the Messiah.
01:54We've already unraveled the secrets behind one of Yeshua's signs, the miracle at the wedding.
02:01Right now, our journey brings us to the healing at the Pool of Bethesda,
02:05where I'm standing right now, the actual location that commemorates the miracle.
02:15John 5, 1-13 tells us about Yeshua's visit to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the biblical feasts.
02:23During his visit, Yeshua healed a man on the Shabbat, the Sabbaths, stirring the waters of controversy.
02:30This man resided by a pool known as Bethesda.
02:34A lot of people in that era believed in the curative powers of the waters.
02:40Yet this man, who had been sitting by the pool for 38 years, remained crippled.
02:46The healing powers of the water weren't working for him.
02:50Yeshua, seeing the man's struggle, asked him,
02:53Do you want to be made well?
02:55The man responded with an excuse,
02:58And he explained how he couldn't reach the healing waters in time.
03:02Yeshua encouraged him to pick up his mat and walk.
03:13Let's delve a bit deeper into the narrative of this healing at the pool.
03:18A healing that not only transformed the life of a man,
03:21but also ignited the flame of hope and faith for so many.
03:26I want us to break down two secrets within this miracle right now.
03:32Where it happened and when it happened.
03:35Let's start with where.
03:36The pool of Bethesda is located near a gate called the Sheep Gate.
03:41This particular gate attracted a lot of disabled people.
03:44They would hang out there and probably ask for money or seek help.
03:48The name Sheep Gate is pretty symbolic when you know the historical context here.
03:54In those days, the blind, the lame, and the chronically ill
03:58were considered to be of lesser value than sheep.
04:02They were treated like second-class citizens, not worthy of respect or dignity.
04:07They were like shepherdless sheep, neglected and unwanted.
04:11But Yeshua, the good shepherd, had a different perspective.
04:15He cared for these marginalized souls, these societal outcasts who were seen as broken beyond repair.
04:23Among them was that man at the pool who didn't have the independence or freedom to walk for 38 years.
04:31When Yeshua approached him, he asked,
04:34Do you want to get well?
04:35This seems like a crazy question at first.
04:38Who wouldn't want to be healed?
04:39The man had spent virtually his entire life in the state of immobility.
04:45Of course, he wanted to be healed, but there was more going on here.
04:50This question goes deeper.
04:53This man was hopeless.
04:55He thought, nothing is going to change for me.
04:59It's been 38 years.
05:01Besides, I probably won't be around much longer.
05:03Just look at his response to Yeshua's question.
05:07Sir, I have nobody to put me in the pool when the water is stirred.
05:12While I'm trying to get in, somebody else steps down before me.
05:16Notice, he didn't offer Yeshua an answer.
05:19He offered him an excuse.
05:21He offered a justification.
05:23He was explaining why he wasn't healed yet because that's what he was focused on.
05:28It didn't even occur to him to answer Yeshua's question because he had lost all hope.
05:34Yeshua didn't ask, why are you not well?
05:37He was asking, do you want to be made well?
05:40He was asking if the man had any hope.
05:44Hal Lindsey has been quoted as saying,
05:46A man can survive roughly 40 days without food, around three days without water,
05:51about eight minutes without air, but not even a second without hope.
06:14At the beginning of John chapter 5,
06:17it specifically says that Yeshua performed this miracle
06:21while he was visiting Yerushalayim, Jerusalem,
06:25to celebrate one of the Jewish feasts.
06:27If we can know which holiday Yeshua is celebrating,
06:31it can shine a light on this miracle in new ways.
06:35It gets you thinking, right?
06:36What feasts are we talking about here?
06:39There are three big pilgrimage holidays on the Jewish calendar
06:43known as the Shalosh Regalim.
06:45Passover, Pentecost called Shavuot in Hebrew,
06:49and Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles.
06:53Passover is named directly all over the Gospels.
06:56So for Passover, John would have said so like he did in chapter 2.
07:02Sukkot, on the other hand, has the special title of the festival,
07:06Hachag.
07:07But John 5, 1 doesn't use a definite article.
07:10It's just a feast.
07:12This leaves us with Pentecost.
07:14It's the only one of the three holidays not directly mentioned in the Gospels.
07:19So if we take a look at this holiday, what do we see?
07:23Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, is not just any holiday.
07:28It's centered around one thing.
07:30It's a celebration of tikvah, of hope.
07:33Specifically, this holiday is celebrating the day that God gave His people
07:38the Ten Commandments and the Torah at Mount Sinai.
07:42For us believers in Yeshua, this holiday celebrates something else too.
07:47In Acts chapter 2, the disciples get another hopeful surprise.
07:52The arrival of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh, on this same holiday.
07:59Two incredible moments when God gave His people hope.
08:02The Ten Commandments and the Holy Spirit.
08:05You might see the first of many connections here.
08:09Just like God giving hope to the Israelites at Mount Sinai,
08:13Yeshua was offering hope to this man in a practical way.
08:17This miracle happened near the Sheep Gate,
08:20a place where lost and hurting people would gather.
08:24On the holiday that celebrates the hope found in God.
08:29This clearly reveals to us that Yeshua is the Good Shepherd.
08:34The one who can bring hope to the lost sheep, just like us.
08:38I want to go a little deeper into where this miracle took place.
08:42Right here where we're standing.
08:44Let's look at the secret of Bethesda itself.
08:55Jerusalem is one of the most special and unique cities in the entire world.
09:01I absolutely love it.
09:04There is a tangible presence of God in this place like I've never experienced anywhere else.
09:11Words can't describe it.
09:13That's why I love taking people here, especially for the first time when we take them on our rock road
09:19and rabbi tours.
09:21But why is this place so unique?
09:24Well, God chose Israel and Jerusalem in particular to be the spiritual center of the world.
09:31God says this,
09:33I have caused my name to abide there.
09:37There is this city in which we're driving in Jerusalem.
09:42God said this was going to be the space where his name and his presence was going to be uniquely
09:48put.
09:49And that's why this is the spiritual center.
09:52It's the place where God wanted his house, the Beit HaMikdash, the temple to be built in Jerusalem.
09:59It's the place where the Holy of Holies was, where God's presence literally filled it and rested over the Ark
10:06of the Covenant.
10:07It's amazing to comprehend that.
10:10But there's also a secret hidden within the name of the city itself.
10:15In Hebrew, Jerusalem is Yerushalayim.
10:18It says this in Psalm 22, verse 2,
10:22Jerusalem is like a city compacted together.
10:26Well, what does that mean?
10:27What's interesting is that the ending of the word Yerushalayim, the word ayim means double.
10:33Like you have anayim is two eyes or raglayim is two feet or yedayim is a set of two hands.
10:41So the ayim ending implies a pair, implies two.
10:45Well, how does that apply to Jerusalem?
10:47Jerusalem, the idea here, the deeper spiritual meaning is that there is a Jerusalem below.
10:53That's the earthly Jerusalem, but it corresponds to a Jerusalem above.
10:58That means there's literally two Jerusalems, an earthly Jerusalem and a heavenly Jerusalem.
11:05And that is why this is the spiritual center of the world.
11:08One day, the heavenly Jerusalem is going to come and it's going to situate itself right here,
11:15based out of Jerusalem.
11:16Isn't that absolutely incredible?
11:18We are on the Mount of Olives.
11:20It's not only the spiritual center, it's also the center of redemption.
11:24This is the place where Yeshua is going to put his feet at the second coming.
11:29There are all these graves next to me.
11:31In fact, this is the oldest continuously used graveyard in the entire world.
11:36150,000 graves, 150,000 graves.
11:39Why so many graves?
11:40Because Zechariah tells us Messiah is going to put his feet on this mountain and the dead
11:45are going to rise here.
11:47Now we can understand more clearly why Jerusalem is the spiritual center, the center of redemption,
11:55ultimately the center of revelation, where Messiah will come and put his feet on this mountain.
12:03The Mount of Olives that we're driving down right now and seeing the Temple Mount on the right-hand side.
12:11Absolutely incredible.
12:12This is where Messiah is going to come and establish his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
12:24When we're looking at this healing, it's important not only to look at the event itself,
12:29but also when and where it took place.
12:32We've seen that this miracle happened on Shavuot, a holiday celebrating hope.
12:38We've also seen that it happened next to the Sheep Gate, a place where the outcasts would gather.
12:44So Yeshua is the shepherd offering hope to the hurting.
12:48But what about Bethesda, the actual pool itself?
12:52There are secrets here that we have to talk about.
12:56Take a look at John 5.2, for example, which describes the pool of Bethesda.
13:02John specifically writes that Bethesda has five porches.
13:06This is one of those details you could easily overlook.
13:10Big deal.
13:11It has a lot of porches.
13:12But let's look at this through Jewish eyes and see the meaning here.
13:17Why is the number five significant?
13:20Well, on the first Pentecost, Shavuot, God himself came down on Har Sinai, Mount Sinai,
13:26and handed over the Torah, including the Ten Commandments, to the people.
13:31So every Shavuot, Jewish people celebrate the arrival of the five books of the Torah.
13:37The number five in Jewish tradition also symbolizes mercy and grace.
13:43So this miracle Yeshua performed, it happened on the same day God, out of his grace, gave the Torah, the
13:51five books of Moses, to his people.
13:53And now Yeshua the Messiah is performing an act of grace at a place that symbolizes grace itself, Bethesda.
14:04Five porches is actually a callback to the five books of the Torah.
14:09It shows us that all of this, every little detail, points to God's grace.
14:16Maybe you're not convinced.
14:18It could be a coincidence, right?
14:20Yeshua just happened to be there on Shavuot, a holiday about grace.
14:25And he just happened to perform a miracle, showing grace to a man in need.
14:30Maybe this is just coincidence that this just so happened to take place at Bethesda,
14:37at a place that specifically has five porches, the number of grace, and is connected to the Torah.
14:43Well, if that isn't enough to show you the intentionality of the details in Scripture,
14:48then maybe this is.
14:51We call the place where this miracle happened Bethesda, but let's take a look at the original name.
14:58In Hebrew, it's Beit Chesed, or Beth Zatha in Aramaic.
15:03Both of these names translate into house of loving kindness or grace.
15:10Yeshua's miracle of healing this man, showing him grace and mercy,
15:15happened on a holiday, about grace, at a place literally called grace.
15:20These are details we can uncover when we take a step back and see the Scripture through Jewish eyes.
15:28This is what I mean when I talk about seeing the Bible in high definition, in HD.
15:40I want to explore the name of this place, Beit Chesed, a little bit more.
15:46Specifically, that second word, Chesed, it's a Hebrew word that I think reveals a lot about the character of God.
15:54Chesed means loving kindness.
15:57It's used a lot in Scripture, but specifically, it pops up throughout the book of Ruth.
16:02The whole story is about Chesed.
16:05During Shavuot, the time when Yeshua was healing this man, Jewish people read the book of Ruth.
16:12The author of Ruth had a fondness for the word Chesed, or kindness.
16:17And he used it throughout the story to highlight the kindness shown by Boaz to Ruth and Ruth's kindness to
16:24Boaz.
16:25Picture Ruth.
16:26She's got nothing.
16:28She's destitute.
16:29She's in desperate need of mercy and grace.
16:33Who steps up?
16:35Boaz.
16:36He offers her Chesed, showing her kindness when she needs it the most.
16:42Ruth and the man at Bethesda share one big commonality.
16:46They were both considered second-class citizens.
16:49They were viewed as less than.
16:51Ruth was a Moabite.
16:53She was a foreigner.
16:54She wasn't expecting that he would even notice her.
16:57She was invisible.
17:00Now, think back to those disabled people by the Sheep Gate.
17:03They were considered lowly, forgettable, neglected, and even invisible.
17:10They weren't considered worthy of attention.
17:13Only through Chesed, the loving kindness that Boaz and Yeshua had, did they see these people and find the beauty
17:22in them.
17:23Boaz helped Ruth see her worth and dignity.
17:27Yeshua gave the man the freedom to walk and to be a citizen considered worthy of attention.
17:34That's what grace looks like.
17:36Out of all the Jewish holidays, Shavuot is tied to Chesed the most.
17:42It's a powerful reminder that God's strength comes from a place of kindness.
17:48But in this story, the Lord's kindness transformed the paralytic.
17:53He took away his shame and disgrace at a place used for ritual cleansing.
17:59Yeshua washed away the suffering of that man without ever stepping foot into the water.
18:05Yeshua, Jesus, more than anyone else, embodies Chesed, the loving kindness, the covenantal love of God.
18:14He is a living example of God's grace and mercy.
18:18He takes away our shame with his grace.
18:21Just like Boaz did for Ruth, he does this for each and every one of us.
18:32Now let's look at the secret of the number 38.
18:36This is important.
18:37The man in the story has been an invalid for 38 years.
18:42Many people probably thought that the man was an invalid due to his sins.
18:46But Yeshua, Jesus, challenges his thinking in an instant.
18:50When we examine the number 38, we can see an immediate connection.
18:55You might remember that the Israelites were in the desert for 40 years.
19:00That's true, but there's more to the story.
19:03After leaving Egypt, the Israelites traveled for two years.
19:07This is a time of preparation.
19:09Two years of God setting up his chosen people to inherit the promised land.
19:14Eventually, they came close to their destination.
19:16So the Israelites sent 12 spies to the promised land to kind of scope it out.
19:21The people refused to obey God and enter the land because some spies reported that it was too dangerous.
19:30There were giants in the land.
19:32That generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness because of their unwillingness to trust and have faith
19:40in God.
19:41By simply not trusting God, they were made to wander for another 38 years due to their unbelief.
19:47It's no coincidence that the man at the pool of Bethesda was an invalid for 38 years.
19:54This is a divine detail.
19:57It's meaningful that the man was disabled for exactly 38 years because it sets up Yeshua to bring everything full
20:05circle.
20:08Every word in the Hebrew language has a numerical value.
20:13The number 38 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word meaning to exile.
20:18That's not the only connection in the numbers.
20:2238 is also the numerical value of the word for sickness.
20:26It's also the numerical value of the Hebrew word meaning reveal.
20:30Reveal, Yeshua took a man who was in exile, 38, and healed his sickness, 38, to reveal himself, 38.
20:39Can you believe it?
20:41Wow, even the amount of years that this man was struggling becomes meaningful and beautiful when he comes into contact
20:49with Yeshua.
20:52I believe there's an even more significant connection in the secret of the number 38 here.
20:59Yeshua essentially asked the man, do you want to be healed and enter your promise by faith?
21:05Or do you want to be like the generation that died in the wilderness?
21:10He's asking this man not to make the same mistake that his ancestors did.
21:15He's asking for faith.
21:17He doesn't want this man to wander like the Israelites.
21:20He wants this man to find his healing, his promised land.
21:25The man by the pool is at a crossroads and the question is his turning point.
21:30But of course, we know there is always another layer to this.
21:35There's always more.
21:37His heart is what matters at this moment because Yeshua is testing this man to see what's in his heart.
21:44Is he a man of faith or unbelief?
21:47His heart in Hebrew, libo, has, guess what?
21:52The numerical value of 38.
21:55The generation that came out of Egypt had such a slave and victim mentality.
22:01They kept testing God.
22:03Yeshua didn't want this man to fall into the same pattern.
22:06John recorded this miracle so that we can see it's never too late, never too late to hope, never too
22:14late for healing, never too late to have faith.
22:18Yeshua healed this man and he can heal us too.
22:25There are going to be times when you're at a crossroads.
22:28We can go down the path of faith or the path of unbelief.
22:33I realize this is easier said than done.
22:36But hearing stories like the man at the pool of Bethesda empowers us because he wasn't any stronger than you
22:43or I.
22:43He was doing the same thing every day, sitting by the same waters.
22:49Nothing about his life was changing.
22:52He didn't muster up any courage or say some perfect prayer.
22:56The man at the pool only took one simple action.
22:59When Yeshua told him to stand and walk, he stood up and he walked.
23:05We've seen so many miraculous healings throughout our ministry.
23:09Once I was speaking at a church in California and I said, if anyone wants prayer for anything, including healing,
23:16come forward.
23:16A high school girl kind of hobbled forward on crutches.
23:21She was in a lot of pain with a torn ACL.
23:23And she said, I'm a cheerleader and I want to believe that God's going to heal me.
23:29I believe, in fact, God is going to heal me.
23:32To be honest, I was a little worried.
23:34Usually when you pray for people, you can't tell if their issue is immediately healed or not.
23:40But here it was very clear.
23:42And I believe with her.
23:44I prayed for her and she said, OK, let me see if God's done anything.
23:49She put down her crutches and she put her arms around two friends and she began to slowly hobble.
23:54Then she asked her friends to step away and she began to walk.
23:58And the next thing I know, she was running around the sanctuary yelling, I'm healed.
24:02I'm healed. Praise God. Praise God.
24:05It was incredible.
24:07She had the faith to take a step, to put down her crutches and to see what God had done.
24:16All of us need to have that level of faith as well.
24:21God's healing power is not just a thing of the past.
24:25We see God's miracles all the time in the present day.
24:29He's not just a God of the past.
24:31He's the God of the here and now.
24:34Yeshua is the same yesterday, today and forever.
24:37He still heals and his loving kindness endures forever.
24:46I've met so many people who feel stuck in life, just like the man at the pool of Bethesda.
24:52Maybe they've been through trauma.
24:54Maybe they've been living with a disability.
24:57Or maybe they've just made mistakes that they can't seem to move past.
25:01They might feel like they're constantly waiting for the moment to come, just like the man who was waiting for
25:08the water to be stirred.
25:10He sees their pain, their struggle, and their longing for something better.
25:17And he doesn't just see them.
25:19Yeshua steps in to help them.
25:22He doesn't wait for the right moment or the right conditions.
25:25He simply says, do you want to be healed?
25:29And then he provides the healing they needed.
25:32The truth is, we're all in need of healing.
25:35In certain ways, we've all been those neglected people by the sheep gate.
25:41Why?
25:42Because we all need a shepherd.
25:44Healing doesn't always happen the way we expect it or look the way we want it to.
25:50It might not even mean an immediate physical healing, like the man at the pool experienced.
25:55It might mean healing us from past hurts and traumas and inner healing.
26:01But no matter what kind of healing that you need, Yeshua, Jesus, is able to provide it.
26:11This is a story about God's chesed, his loving kindness, and his desire to bring healing, transformation, and hope into
26:20our lives.
26:21The man at the pool is waiting for this moment to come.
26:24Next week, we're going to be exploring more of God's healing.
26:28We're seeing how this one event at the pool of Bethesda is connected to Old Testament prophecy.
26:35What's the significance of the timing of this miracle?
26:38What does it mean that Yeshua broke with certain religious traditions of his day and healed on the Shabbat, the
26:45Sabbath?
26:46I want us to uncover the secrets within the miracles of healing that point us to the promises of God.
26:53That's all right here next time on Signs and Secrets of the Messiah.
26:58Signs and Secrets of the Messiah.
26:59Signs and Secrets of the Messiah.
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