The truth about the "Healing Pool" at Bethesda

John 5: 1-14

That link above will take you to the Scripture I am talking about. I wanted to post it, but it's just too long.

Please read it just in case you've never seen the Scripture or have forgotten the story.

Shane Willard said he has never taught on this Scripture and has never seen it taught. Basically, it makes God look horrible. Like He's up in heaven bored and sends an angel down to stir water then laughs as sick people try to get in.

That is not what was happening.

The pool at Bethesda was a Roman government pagan place. It was a temple to the Greek god of healing, Serapis. The Roman Empire created this smaller pool for a run off from where water was in the larger courtyard. 

They charged people to sit around the pool. They started a lie that an angel stirred the water, when it was really them releasing extra water into the run off area. They paid someone to pretend to be sick, jump in the water and be healed.

SOOOO.. Jesus rolled up in there and did not like what the government was doing to these people. He healed the man to show that He was tired of what the government was doing. And maybe to show them that He is the healer, not this pool of water.

This is a GREAT example of how we can interpret the Bible wrong. How many of you will be honest and say that you thought God sent an angel and that the first person in got healed by God? It's in the Bible, so it's got to be God, right?

I know that's what I thought.

I realize now that I need to check history. The Bible IS a huge part of history. It's all intertwined. I think we forget that. We think the Bible is just the Bible and the rest of history is it's own...but they are one.

Please comment, email me, whatever.. I would love to hear your take on this. 
It really opened my eyes.