GET UP! PICK UP YOUR MAT AND WALK

John 5:1-18

Key Verse: 8

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’”

Last week, we learned that Jesus healed a royal official’s dying son. In today’s passage, Jesus also heals an invalid who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus says to the man, first, “Do you want to get well?” second, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk,” and third, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” As we study this passage, may we hear Jesus’ commands to us personally, obey them and become powerful people of God.

Look at verse 1. “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.” Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate a feast. The streets of Jerusalem were bustling with joyous pilgrims. Compared to the festive city, however, verses 2-3 show us a strikingly different scene. Look at verses 2-3. “Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” Imagine a great number of disabled people lying around the pool. It’s somewhat surreal or even a bit eerie. There were groaning sounds, foul smell and the air of misery and distress. These disabled people were there not for swimming, but for healing their disabled bodies and diseases. According to verse 4 in the footnote of the Bible, they believed that from time to time an angel would come down and stir up the water, and that the first one into the pool would be cured of whatever disease he had. But in reality, their chances of being healed were about equal to the winning 6/49. Somehow, they came there to be healed by getting into the pool first, when the water was disturbed.

Look at verse 5. “One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.” Wow! This man was sick for thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years ago, not many of us here were born yet. 38 years ago, Pierre Trudeau’s liberals won the federal election as a minority government in Canada. 38 years ago, City TV was founded in Toronto. 38 years ago, M. Andrew Han was a high school student. For the last 38 years, the world has changed significantly and most people have gone through the seasons of life. But this invalid remained by the pool for 38 years. Perhaps, his childhood friends had graduated from college, married, had children, and attained success in the world. Yet this man had remained a paralytic, his life condition unchanging. He had been cared by others for thirty-eight years. He looked most pathetic. He was a burden to everyone around him.

Look at verse 6. “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” As Jesus came to the pool, first he saw the man lying there. This man was sick, hopeless and lonely. Jesus saw him who needed love and care. Jesus saw him lying there without any hope. Jesus also learned that the man had been in this condition for a long time. Jesus knew that the man had been suffering a long time. So Jesus entered his empty and lonely world. Jesus committed himself to being involved in this man’s life. He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” This question sounded like an insulting question. But Jesus had a purpose to ask this question. First of all, Jesus wanted to make a personal relationship with him. Jesus knew that he was still staying there to be healed although his desire to be healed was fading out. When he arrived at the pool, he was still young and had a great dream to be healed and begin a new life. Perhaps, he studied about signs of water disturbance and about the techniques for quick dive. In order to boost his morale, he studied the stories of persistent men who had tried many years to get into the pool without successes and finally got healed. But after 38 years of repeated defeats, his attitude was different. After all, he became old. He was resigned to his misery. But through this question, “Do you want to get well,” Jesus wanted to reignite a burning desire to be healed.

We must hear Jesus’ question, “Do you want to get well?” Just as this man had a paralysis problem, many people have real problems that rob them of happiness. After struggling for a while with the problem, many have given up and resigned themselves to live as a failure, nursing their misery as best they can. We all have chronic weaknesses which make us fall again and again. But after repeated failures to overcome the chronic weaknesses, our desire to be healed from them slowly fades out and finally we give up. One person has a problem of being overweight. This person struggled for a while but gave up. Now this person tries to “live with it” even though it is debilitating to that person’s happiness. A person with a chronic weakness still has hope if he has a desire to be healed. But he is hopeless when he loses his desire to overcome it. At this time, Jesus asks us, “Do you want to get well?” When we have a desire to be healed from our chronic weaknesses and come to Jesus, we will have Jesus’ healing touch. Jesus came to the world to heal us and make us well in every area of our lives. Let us therefore, keep a holy desire to be healed to the end and be healed through Jesus’ help.

What was the man’s answer? Look at verse 7. “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” This man should have answered, “Yes.” Instead, he talked about others who didn’t give him help. He blamed the selfishness of society for his failure to get healing. He had a defeated spirit. We can see that the man had tried to get into the pool first. But the competition was really tough. He could not outrun strong blind guys. Each time he tried hard and got into the pool, he saw someone else already coming out of the pool healed and overjoyed. He experienced failures again and again. Each failure deflated his spirit further. He felt very keenly the bitterness that accompanies failure. By the way, we must know that failure is really painful and bitter. Many adopt a mentality of mediocrity and avoid the struggle to be successful, thinking it does not matter. After failure, they shrug their shoulders saying, “Oh well.” But one day, they wake up and confront the fact that their lives have been a failure. It hits harder than a direct punch from a heavyweight boxing champion. In our race of life, we must not be defeated. We must win the victory. To win the victory we must never allow a defeated spirit to remain in us. In this man’s case, he was thoroughly imbued with a defeated spirit. How did Jesus help him?

Look at verse 8. “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’” Jesus’ word was God’s command to him. Jesus’ word was spoken with the absolute authority of the Creator who made the heavens and the earth. It was not a suggestion. Jesus’ word was a command of the Almighty God. Jesus was not talking to the paralysis, but to the man. Jesus said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Jesus forcefully helped him to make a decision. Jesus’ word affected his will. Jesus’ word overpowered this man and gave his decrepit will the power to get up. It was as though this man borrowed Jesus’ will for a while. Philippians 2:13 says, “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Jesus can restore our weak wills and make us strong in our decisions and desires to do good. Jesus says to us, “Get up!” to restore our willpower by the power of his word.

Jesus also told him to pick up his mat. He must not live as a burdensome paralytic any longer. From now on he must live a new life as a responsible man and a blessing to others. He must get a proper job to support himself and his family, give generously to the work of God and pay his taxes. Finally, Jesus told him to walk. He must live for the glory of God. He must display the work of Jesus in his life. By walking around, he could show what Jesus had done for him and lead others to praise Jesus. Jesus words, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” were the words of God that could completely heal this man. When this man heard Jesus’ words, the paralysis was driven out from his body. At once, he was cured. His atrophied muscles were suddenly strong and healthy. His bones become like steel. His legs were fully restored to carry him and he got up and walked, carrying his mat.

Jesus has the power to heal any kind of incurable disease. The disease is not the problem to Jesus. The real problem is that people don’t listen to Jesus and obey his words. Jesus’ word has healing power. Although the man did not deserve Jesus healing mercy, or ask for it Jesus healed him by one-sided grace alone. There is a man whose parents divorced when he was young. He was deeply broken because of his parents’ divorce. He became very sorrowful and always felt abandoned. But by God’s one-sided grace, he was met by Jesus. Jesus healed his sorrow and his feeling of being unloved. Then he could taste his heavenly Father’s love and grew to be a powerful Bible teacher. We must know that Jesus came to heal our infirmities. Isaiah 53: 4 says, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…”

What a wonderful healing Jesus performed. But the man who was healed by Jesus’ grace and power was in trouble over the Sabbath restrictions. The Jews saw the man walking joyfully carrying his dirty mat on the Sabbath. They knew that he was healed from his long illness. But they ignored the marvelous healing work of God and criticized the man for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. They said, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” They seemed very religious but in reality they despised the mercy and power of God. They became critical and very negative. Seeing stern faces of the religious leaders, the man became frightened. Then he tried to save his own skin, forgetting Jesus’ healing grace and mercy. He blamed Jesus for giving him bad advice to carry his mat on the Sabbath. The religious leaders wanted to carry out a criminal investigation. However, they could not discover who healed the man. It was because the man had no idea who it was. How could he not know who Jesus was? It was because in his extreme self-centeredness, he forgot about Jesus who healed him and walked away without giving thanks to Jesus. Although he was healed physically, his inner man was paralyzed by the power of sin.

Sin paralyzes man’s soul. Sin makes man too lazy. Sin takes away the holy desires from man’s heart and fills him with dirty and petty desires. Sin makes man proud and unthankful. Romans 1:21 says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” A spiritually healthy person will glorify God as God. A spiritually healthy person will give thanks to God. This is the way God made us to be. But when sin paralyzes a person’s soul, he neither glorifies God nor gives thanks to him. We must know that those who are proud and unthankful are all very sick with sin.

Look at verse 14. “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” It is amazing that Jesus found this man. Jesus helped him to the end. Jesus really wanted him to acknowledge that he had been healed. Jesus wanted him to be thankful and live a happy life. But Jesus also warned him that his pride and ingratitude were sin. If he did not repent, he would end up in a worse condition than being a lifetime paralytic. He would be in hell.

Did the man take Jesus’ warning? No. according to verse 15, the man went to the authorities and told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. This man represents sinful human beings’ response to Jesus who makes them well. Look at verse 16. “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.” Jesus poured out his life to heal one useless man and to save his soul. But as a result, Jesus became an object of severe persecution by the Jews. Was Jesus discouraged? Not at all. Look at verse 17. “Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’” Jesus kept his eyes on God. Jesus called God “My Father.” Jesus had the assurance of God’s love in his heart. Jesus also loved God and did God’s work diligently because God is always at his work. Our God never stops working. He is still working in us, among us, around the world and in the whole universe. What God wanted Jesus to do was to work hard to save sinners from their sins. As God works to save souls, we God’s children must work to save perishing souls, particularly on campus.

In this passage, we learned Jesus healed an invalid with his command. This man spent 38 years in Bethesda, but failed again and again. But he was healed instantly when Jesus’ words spoken to him. To Jesus, our weaknesses or even sins are real problems. Our real problem is that we don’t have a desire to be healed. Our real problem is that we do not obey Jesus’ commands in our practical life. If we have a desire to be healed and obey Jesus’ words, we will surely overcome our weaknesses and sins. At this time, let us hear Jesus’ words “Do you want to get well.” We must all say to Jesus, “Yes, Jesus. I really want to get well.” Let us decide to obey your words, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk,” so that we may stand up, pick up our mat, walk and run for God’s glory. May God help us be healed and then glorify God and thank God for his wonderful work in us and around us all the more.