Living WaterSample

Water that restores

Jesus heals the man at the pool — John 5

The waters of Bethesda were normally meant for purification. The pool was likely a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bath where people ceremonially washed away impurity. 

But this mikveh was different. The waters were thought to have healing powers. People with all sorts of ailments would gather, like the disabled man in John 5, hoping for the same thing — a miracle. Whether anyone was ever healed by the waters or it was a folk legend, we don’t know. 

When Jesus arrived, the disabled man barely looked up. The pool was all he could see — that and the crush of people. The man didn’t realize that if he would simply turn around, he’d be face to face with the One who had the power to heal any infirmity. 

Even afterward, the man had no idea who had healed him (5:13). It took another not-so-chance encounter in the temple for his eyes to be opened. Now healed, he could see Jesus for who He really was.

Similar to the man at the pool, Michael Chisimba of Zambia is disabled by a leg condition. He contracted polio at age 8, and today he limps and uses a stick for support. 

Michael used to work a few hours each day, crafting items from sheet metal. He yearned for more hours to focus on his job so he could care for his family, but if he wanted to bathe after work, he had to close up shop early and walk to a stream by mid-afternoon. What was worse, his family had to drink the dirty water from that stream, and it caused terrible sickness for their whole household.

But in 2015, their community partnered with World Vision to install a mechanized water system. Today, safe water for bathing and drinking is only 30 feet from their home. 

“It gives me great joy because someone has extended my day,” says Michael, who is now able to work all afternoon. “My income has gone up because I’m able to make more products.

 “We don’t get sick anymore. Before, when my children were sick, it would rob me of that joy. This joy is unspeakable joy now that we have water. Because of water … I’m able to do my work.”