Healing at Bethesda

John recorded this miracle of the Savior in Jerusalem: “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water… And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath” (John 5:2-9). In a recent podcast discussing miracle, John Bytheway referenced a talk by President Packer based on this account of Jesus healing at the pool of Bethesda. President Packer taught, “There has always been in all of humanity a sprinkling of those who are described in the scriptures as the blind, the halt, the lame, the deaf, the withered, the dumb, the impotent folk. We refer to them as having learning or communication disorders, as the hearing or visually impaired, as those with motor or orthopedic limitations. We speak of intellectual or emotional impairment, of retardation, and mental illness. Some suffer from a combination of these, and all of them cannot function without some help.” He offered this comforting promise of healing: “Truth: After mortal death we will rise in the resurrection to an existence to which there will not, neither could there be an end. The words everlasting, never ending, eternal, forever and forever in the revelations describe both the gospel and life. That day of healing will come. Bodies which are deformed and minds that are warped will be made perfect.” No matter what infirmities we or our loved ones deal with in this life, the day of healing will come. Even if it takes 38 years or even more, the promise of the gospel is clear: “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” (Alma 40:23). Like the man of Bethesda eventually was, all shall be restored to their proper physical, mental, and spiritual state.

                But, in the meantime, we must deal with the infirmities of this life just as those impotent, blind, halt, and withered did at the pool of Bethesda. Some are visible impairments and others are mental illness even more difficult to understand, but all such challenges can be terribly painful for them and for their families. As we sometimes wonder why the Savior doesn’t just come and heal those we love, President Packer offered this encouragement: “In the meantime, we must look after those who wait by the pool of Bethesda. You parents and you families whose lives must be reordered because of a handicapped one, whose resources and time must be devoted to them, are special heroes. You are manifesting the works of God with every thought, with every gesture of tenderness and care you extend to the handicapped loved one. Never mind the tears nor the hours of regret and discouragement; never mind the times when you feel you cannot stand another day of what is required. You are living the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in exceptional purity. And you perfect yourselves in the process.” I have often thought about the fact that this man suffered for 38 years—how long that is for those suffering with physical or emotional or other ailments! In the Bible the number 40 is often used to represent a really long time—people fasted for forty days, the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years, and the flood lasted forty days and nights. So perhaps the number 38 here in this story represents “a little less” than a long time, signifying that though these types of challenges can seem endless, they will indeed end, even if they last most or all of mortality. This story also perhaps shows us that even when desperately desired, healing may not come immediately. This man had waited a very long time. The stories of Jesus are full of accounts in which He immediately healed people who were suffering, but this one is a reminder that the suffering of these people had gone on for years or even decades before they found total healing at His hand. And so it may be the same for us and those we love.

I love this promise that President Packer gave at the end of his talk: “I bear witness of the restoration which will come. Each body and mind will be restored in perfect frame. However long and unfair mortality may seem, however long the suffering and the waiting may be, he has said: ‘After that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold, I, the Lord, have spoken it.’ (D&C 58:11–12.)” Those pure spirits who have innocently suffered in this life, and those who have selflessly cared for them, will surely be among the first to partake of the supper of the Lord and His salvation.