Most readers of the New Testament remember the dramatic story of how Jesus healed a blind man at the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem (John 9:1–11). The pool was a major feature of ancient Jerusalem as it was fed by spring waters which qualified it for use as a mikveh for ritual bathing. That is why Jesus told the man he healed “ ‘Go …wash in the Pool of Siloam’ … So the man went and washed, and came home seeing” (vs. 7).
The pool’s history predates the time of Jesus by many centuries, however. It was constructed by Hezekiah, the king of Judah in the eighth century B.C., who anticipated a siege against Jerusalem by invading Assyrian armies (2 Kings 20:20). So the pool began as an important source of fresh water for the inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem, and probably only later began to be used as a place of ritual bathing, as it evidently was in Jesus’ time.
Although the history of the Pool of Siloam was well known, its exact location was not. In 1880, the famous Siloam Inscription was discovered carved on the wall inside the water tunnel made by Hezekiah which led to the Pool of Siloam. The ancient Hebrew inscription records how the tunnel was constructed by digging from opposite ends and meeting in the middle. So the tunnel that supplied the pool’s water was known, yet the pool itself remained buried.
Traditionally, the site of the Siloam Pool was the pool and church that were built by the Byzantine empress Eudocia (c. A.D. 400–460) to commemorate the miracle recounted in the New Testament. However, the exact location of the original pool as it existed during the time of Jesus remained a mystery until only recently.
British-American excavations conducted in the 1890’s led to the uncovering of some of the steps of the pool itself near the City of David to the southeast of the traditional site, and in the 1960’s famed British archeologist Kathleen Kenyon found more of the steps. In 2004, municipal water company work exposed additional steps and subsequently Israel’s archaeological authority, the IAA, began systematic excavation of the area. Now the IAA has announced that it has confirmed that the pool was larger than previously thought – 225 feet wide and approximately 1.25 acres in area – and that steps existed on at least three sides of the pool, allowing visitors to sit and immerse themselves in the water. IAA also announced that a good portion of the pool is now excavated, and it is hoped that it will soon be opened to the public for the first time in 2,000 years.
The Pool of Siloam, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel,” and the texts and finds that have been unearthed in and around these sites are of great importance for understanding and establishing the biblical stories. According to Professor Gershon Galil, head of the Institute for Biblical Studies and Ancient History at Haifa University in Isarel, these finds “support the claim that scriptures in the Book of Kings are based on texts originating from chronicles and royal inscriptions and that the Bible reflects historical reality and not imagination.”
The Pool of Siloam is also important as part of the wider context of ancient evidence of the Jerusalem of Jesus’ time. According to the City of David Foundation’s Ze’ev Orenstein, “The half-mile running through the City of David, from the Pool of Siloam in the south, continuing along the Pilgrimage Road, up to the footsteps of the Western Wall, Southern Steps, and Temple Mount, represents the most [religiously] significant half-mile on the planet.” Archaeology continues to recover the buried world of the Old and New Testament stories, and – as Orenstein affirms – soon visitors to the area will be able to “see with their own eyes, touch with their own hands, and walk with their own feet upon the very stones” described in those stories.
“… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).
Although these scriptures might seem to conflict at first sight, we should understand that they record two things said by Jesus on the same occasion – in the Sermon on the Mount. So it is unlikely that they really contradict each other. As is so often the case, we simply need to look at the context of each scripture.
In Matthew 5:16 Jesus’ words were part of an analogy he made of the disciple reflecting God’s light in a darkened world:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
In this analogy we see that it is the “light” of God’s way that shines in our lives if we are walking according to his will. Notice that people seeing this “light” would glorify not us, but God (vs. 16).
Matthew 6:1, however, records words spoken in a totally different context:
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:1-4).
In this case, Jesus was talking about the manner in which we give to others – that we should give discreetly and not for show or personal credit. So the two scriptures have totally different contexts. Matthew 5:16 is talking about the importance of good works in our lives, and Matthew 6:1 stresses that we must have a right motivation for our good works. This means that while we are called to be a light to the world, clearly showing God’s way in our lives, our good works must always be done from a motivation of love and concern for others – not through any selfish motivation such as “looking good” or to appear “religious” or “spiritual.” While Matthew 5:16 talks about how we appear to others, Matthew 6:1 deals with how we appear to God.
*For more information on the topic of Christian giving, download our free e-book The Way of Givinghere.
The New Testament mentions some ten different centurions – the Roman army officers who commanded around eighty soldiers – but only mentions the names of two of them. The first is Cornelius – the centurion familiar to every Bible reader – who became the first Gentile convert to Christianity. The second centurion who is named, Julius, is hardly known by comparison, but what the New Testament tells us about him shows that he was an exceptional soldier and of no small importance in the spread of Christianity.
Like Cornelius, Julius was stationed in Caesarea, the Roman headquarters in Palestine, but he is said to have belonged to the Sebastes or Imperial Cohort or regiment (Acts 12:1), rather than the Italian Cohort. Although the title Sebastes was given to some Imperial troops, Caesarea was itself called “Sebaste” and it is likely that the soldiers under Julius’ command were simply troops belonging to Caesarea itself (see Josephus, Wars of the Jews ii.12.5).
Because Julius was stationed in Caesarea, he was selected to transfer the apostle Paul from Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:1) and he is mentioned several times in the narrative of Paul’s sea voyage (Acts 27:6, 11, 31, 43). At first, Julius did not listen to Paul when the apostle warned him of impending hazards; but eventually he allowed Paul to tell him what the soldiers should or should not be allowed to do, and even took measures to ensure Paul’s safety when others wished to kill him.
Throughout the voyage to Rome, Julius showed considerable kindness to Paul. Acts tells us that when the ship stopped at the port of Sidon “Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care” (Acts 27:3 CSB).
It is possible that Julius knew that Paul had done nothing wrong, and that if he had not appealed to Caesar he could have been released (Acts 26:32). But Roman centurions were held personally responsible for the prisoners delivered into their charge, many had reputations for being strict, and few would allow any situations in which prisoners might escape. Julius could also not easily give Paul preferential treatment before the other prisoners and the fact that he allowed Paul to visit his friends was unusual enough for Luke to record this – and shows a notable level of kindness on the part of the soldier.
Later in this account when a great storm arose, at Paul’s urging Julius prevented the crew from escaping in the lifeboat – which would have led to the death of all those left aboard the ship. After the ship was wrecked, Julius again intervened to prevent the soldiers from killing Paul and the other prisoners (Acts 27:31-32, 42-43). In fact, Luke tells us specifically that the centurion “wanted to spare Paul’s life” (Acts 27:43).
So, we see that during a particularly dangerous and critical period in Paul’s ministry, the centurion Julius played a vital role in his protection and ultimately in the successful spread of Christianity. As a soldier and an officer, he was alert, learned from experience, acted decisively when necessary, and conducted himself with discretion and courage. As an individual with a caring side, he treated Paul – although he was only a prisoner – with consideration, respect, and care.
Although Luke gives us no hint that Julius was a believer like Cornelius, there are several lessons we can learn from Julius, nonetheless. The centurion can remind us that there are many unconverted people in the world who exhibit unselfish kindness, and we should be willing to learn from their behavior where it is good. To take a single example from what Luke records, Julius evidently focused on his prisoners enough to see that Paul could use the help of his friends – and then assisted him in getting that help. Do we look out for the needs of those even in the peripheries of our lives? Pondering the actions of this soldier can be profitable for anyone who can see the qualities that Luke highlights in his account of Julius, the centurion who balanced service, honor, and caring.
When ancient Israel entered the promised land of Canaan, they were told that God would drive out the Canaanites before them and that the Israelites were to destroy any who remained.
The Bible tells us that this judgment was delivered on the Canaanite people because of their extreme depravity. The Canaanites would sacrifice their children – putting them to death in order to gain some advantage for themselves, to make their lives better. The Israelites were warned time and again not to follow that way (Leviticus 18:21, 24 and Deuteronomy 18:9-13).
In the past, some skeptics challenged whether such a horrible practice could actually have existed in ancient Canaan; yet actual evidence of child sacrifice by the Canaanites does exist. Several ancient Egyptian wall reliefs carved in the temples of Karnak and Luxor, actually depict the abominable practice (A. Spalinger, “A Canaanite Ritual Found in Egyptian Reliefs,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 8 [1978]:47-60.).
If we fast forward to today’s world it is sad that so many cultures have chosen to go that same way in what has become a genocide without borders – the abortion of countless unborn babies. Today abortion is viewed as an acceptable sacrifice – for some, even up to the time of the birth of a child – to personal convenience. The usual rationale, of course, is that before birth babies are not people. Biblically, however, it is clear that life begins before birth, and the Bible gave clear laws to protect the life of the unborn (Jeremiah 1:5, 20:17; Exodus 21:22-23, etc.).
But even though many people do not know or accept the biblical view of life before birth, it may be surprising to learn that widespread abortion is something that a majority of people do not accept or want. According to a recent national public opinion poll conducted in the United States by the highly respected Marist Institute for Public Opinion, eight in ten Americans support “substantial restrictions” on abortion. In fact, a majority would limit abortion to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother – or would prefer not to allow it at all. In fact, only one in ten Americans say they would prefer no restrictions on abortion while most Americans – feel abortion is “morally wrong.”
So if most people in our democratic society feel they would like to limit widespread abortion, why is nothing done to restrict it? The answer may lie in the fact that many people say they feel afraid to speak out on the topic because people who do so are so mercilessly attacked by the minority of people who want unrestricted abortion. It has become not politically correct to even mention abortion, but fine to practice it. So, we have a tragic disconnect in our society – between what many people believe deep down and the fact that they feel unwilling or unable to do anything about stopping what they believe is wrong.
Whatever nation we live in, whenever we have an election it is our choice that will determine whether we begin to limit abortion or reinforce and expand the practice. It is a choice we cannot sidestep by not voting, and the words of famed theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died in the Nazi Holocaust, are relevant: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil … Not to act is to act.” Choosing one way takes us along the path of humane love for the vulnerable and defenseless unborn – the way of parental acceptance or adoption. Choosing the other path takes us yet further into the ways of the Canaanites who sacrificed their children in order to gain some selfish advantage or convenience for themselves. We vote with our hands – and the lives of millions of unborn children are in our hands.
An old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip showed Calvin’s mother telling the grubby youngster to go and get into the bathtub. The next frame showed a grinning Calvin sitting in the empty bathtub fully clothed and saying “I obey the letter of the law, if not the spirit.” Like Calvin, most children can be very good at obeying the letter of the law – its exact literal meaning – while avoiding the command’s spirit – its underlying intent – but as adults we don’t always grow out of that approach.
An example of this can be seen in the way in modern Israel some landowners keep the letter of the Old Testament law by not farming their land in the seventh year to let it rest (Leviticus 25:2–4), but they lease out the land for the year and let someone else work it – while they “keep” the law by not working the land. Calvin’s attitude may be true of all of us at times, but we should never underestimate the Christian responsibility to obey the spirit of the law.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus interpreted the law of Moses according to the spirit of the law, rather than the letter. While the Mosaic law said we must not murder, Jesus said that extreme and disparaging anger can make us guilty of breaking that law, because it is the same attitude that produces both anger and murder (Matthew 5:21–22). While the Mosaic law said we must not commit adultery, Jesus said to look on a woman lustfully is to commit adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:27–28).
So keeping the letter of the law, but not its spirit and intent, is expressly forbidden by Christ. Most believers understand this basic principle of Christianity, but how do we apply it – how do we know, for example, what other ways a given command of Jesus should be applied in order to keep its spirit and intent? The answer is surprisingly simple.
We should realize that the wording of a law often does not fully cover every possible way in which it should be applied, and we must be willing to look for its intent – the spirit of the law. For instance, as one of the laws given in the Old Testament book of Leviticus states: “Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God” (Leviticus 19:14). Although this law literally only forbids cursing the deaf and causing the blind to stumble, if we think about it, we can see almost endless possible ways in which the spirit of the law can be applied.
The intent of this particular law is not to do anything that takes advantage of, or makes life difficult for, those already dealing with disabilities. For example, the spirit of this law would forbid us to sell inferior goods to a blind individual that we know we would not be able to sell to a sighted person. If we take a little time to think about this law, we will soon see other ways in which it can be applied that fall within the spirit of the law even though they are not included in its literal wording.
This brings us to the simple way in which we discover the spirit of a given law – we must think about it! While that may sound just too simple, it is nevertheless true. That is the difference between Bible reading and meaningful Bible study – between just getting through the Bible as opposed to getting the Bible through us.
We have all read some of the many instances in the Psalms where David speaks of meditating on God’s law (Psalm 1:2; etc. ) – and this is what we must do if we are to ever see its spiritual intent. It is not a question of which laws or commands we must or must not keep today – it is the only way in which we can come to deeply understand the way to truly keep the intent of the whole law, as Jesus said, by loving God and loving others.
We do not try to keep God’s law of love in order to earn salvation, and we will never be able to keep it perfectly in this life – in letter or in spirit (Galatians 5:5). But the more we think on the principles behind the laws of the Old Testament and the standards of behavior that Jesus gave his followers, the more we will see the spiritual intent behind those laws and commands, and the better we will be able to love God and love others as ourselves.
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