Only one way out?

Today, we are celebrating the miraculous release last Monday, October13, 2025, of the final 20 hostages, held 728 days by Hamas in Gaza!  As I was walking and praying about this amazing event, I heard the Lord say, “It was easy for me to bring those hostages out from their captivity by Hamas.  But it is far more difficult to bring my people out of the prison cells they have built for themselves, and out of the tunnels they have dug for themselves!  But the most amazing thing is they have no idea that the most restrictive “bars” and “tunnels” are of their our own thinking.”  He told me that many prayers for deliverance and freedom are powerless, because we pray for Him to answer them in a particular way that we have thought or imagined.  When we lock our faith onto “only one way out,” then the initial problem that was stopping or imprisoning us becomes fortified with thicker “iron bars” or with an even deeper and darker “tunnel” of our own making.

The Apostle John witnessed a man who was in a similar situation.  He had been afflicted with a disease for 38 years and was believing for his healing to come one way—the only way he knew.  Here’s his story:

John 5:1–9  1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches (the number of grace).  3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool (He thought if he did, it would solve his problem—what is keeping him sick) when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath (emphasizing REST in what we can DO in Christ, rather than what we can DO in our own strength). (NKJV)

Spiritual Meaning of Bethesda

There is great spiritual significance in this place called “Bethesda.”  It is derived from Hebrew and Aramaic roots meaning “House of Mercy” or “House of Healing.” 

Spiritually, Bethesda represents the place of God’s mercy and restoration.  The pool, surrounded by five porches (the number of GRACE—God’s supernatural power and ability), gathered those suffering and seeking healing.  John made it clear there was an abundance of need by the multitude of sick lying on the five porches of grace.   The waters symbolized the hope of deliverance and renewal, yet it wasn’t until Christ showed up that true healing could be realized.  Jesus’ act of restoring the helpless man underscored that healing does not come by ritual, superstition, or physical effort, but by faith in the Word and in the promises of God.

The crippled man tried for 38 years to DO what he believed he needed to DO to be healed—he saw “ONLY ONE WAY OUT” of his “prison” of infirmity, but his greatest captivity wasn’t his disease, it was in not believing there was another way out—a better way out—of his prison.  When Jesus asked the most important question, “Do you want to be made well?” the sick man proceeded to tell Jesus how it must be done.  When we are faced with the difficult problems of life, isn’t that our tendency as well, to tell the Lord what He needs to do to fix it for us?  Another favorite of mine is to explain the problem to Him in great detail, as if He doesn’t understand the problem fully.  One similarity, if we were to physically construct a prison cell or dig a tunnel for captivity is that we would have only one way in and out.  Our experience with personal “prison cells” and “tunnels” is that they usually share this similarity. 

Some things to think about:

• Where in your life are you waiting for healing?

• Are you relying on tradition or stepping into grace?

• What does it mean to “rise and walk” in your current season?

• The man had no one to help him into the water, yet Jesus chose him.  What does this say about God’s love as the basis for healing?

• Bethesda was crowded with the sick, yet Jesus singled out one man.  What does this say about God’s grace even in overlooked or hopeless conditions?

• The pool was believed to heal when stirred by an angel, but Jesus bypassed tradition and healed the man directly.  What does this say about Christ as the true source of wholeness?

Prophetic Significance:

Bethesda prophetically foreshadows the ministry of Jesus and the coming of the New Covenant.

• To the Jewish mind, under the Old Covenant, what did the five porches symbolize?  What do they symbolize to us now, under the New Covenant? 

• So, how did Jesus’ healing at Bethesda suggest a shift from the law’s limitations to the freedom and power of grace?

• When Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made well?” wasn’t it obvious?  So why would Jesus ask him that question?  

• Why does divine healing require a personal decision and faith, rather than just passive waiting?

• When it comes to healing, what should our faith look like?

• The man was told, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  At what point in the sick man’s healing journey did his healing manifest?