John 5: 1-15 (ESV)
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Jesus asked a paralyzed person “Do you want to get well?” This man has been paralyzed for 38 years. He has not been able to move on his terms for longer than Jesus’s life on earth. So a younger man came to this person and had the audacity to ask “Do you want to get well?” “Do you want a different identity?” “Do you want to be different than what you have been for the last 38 years?” Everyday this man must have prayed to send someone who will help him to get into water. Did he not have family members who could have sat with him to get him into water at the right time? Could he have paid someone to get him into water? Maybe he was poor or at least not rich enough.
He imagined several times of getting well so that he does not have to beg. This man has been at this phase of life for 38 years! It is quite possible that begging is all this man knows. Here comes a young know it all person and asked “Do you want to get well?” The real question is “Are you willing to be obedient?” It requires some effort from your part. Jesus is about to ask you to do something that does not make much sense. “Take up your bed and walk” For someone who has been unable to move at his will for at least 38 years, this is something he dreamed of and gave up on.
What have you given up on because you do not have the right contacts? Do not stop dreaming because when Jesus shows up, if you are obedient, you can pick up your bed and walk. This bed became the one thing that he came to know the best during this ailment – he knows exactly where the lumpy spots are, its smell on extra humid days, he got stories to tell about how he got this bed, famous people he saw while he was on this bed,… This ailment became his comfort zone and Jesus is asking this man to get off his comfort zone, roll it up and walk. No matter how much you dream of something, when the time comes, some people get a little anxious – Is it really happening at last? What if I try to walk again and fail? What if I fall down?
Let me bring your attention to something else. Have you heard of the saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”? This man has not used his legs in 38 years!!! His leg muscles and back muscles have atrophied. Have you seen someone walking after getting a cast removed off their legs and back? Most of the time they are given a cane to help walk and maintain balance. If we were to use modern medicine, this man would have had months and months of physical therapy to strengthen the muscles and to learn to walk again. This man would have needed a wheelchair not a cane or walker because of the lack of strength. When Jesus healed him, Jesus not only just fixed the root cause that caused this paralysis but also strengthened his muscles to be able to lift up his bed. World can give you a cane to walk with but when Jesus does not have a side hustle or have a contract with DME providers who sell canes, walkers, wheelchairs… When Jesus shows up to the one with no one to help, He takes care of their needs fully and satisfies their soul.
Did you know that our heart rate and blood pressure change when we change posture? This man’s body has not done this in a really long time. If a person has been bed ridden for months, their body gets used to not regulating heart rate, blood pressure and other physiologic functions related to postural changes. When a person wakes up from say a coma, the hospital staff are extra cautious to make sure the patient does not lose balance and fall. Whenever I talk to a patient who is getting started on a new blood pressure medicine, I tell them to be careful not to fall the first days – get up from bed, chair, toilet etc slowly and have a plan as to how to prevent fall.
Look what Jesus did! Get up and pick up your bed – this requires multiple postural changes within a matter of a few seconds. When Jesus healed, He strengthened the muscles that this man has not used in the last 38 years and taught his body how to adapt to postural changes.
Dear child of Most High God, what is bothering you today? What are your struggles? Are you willing to comply with Jesus’ seemingly unreasonable command? He who called you is Faithful and He is one that began a good work in you will not only continue it but also perfect and complete it until the day comes whether that is death or second coming of our Lord Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
Key things I took away from this passage:
- Obedience to His Word (then spoken, now written) is of utmost importance. Sometimes this means getting out of our comfort zone.
- If He asks you to do something, He will give you what you need to do it. He is not like the Egyptians who expected Israelite to make bricks without providing clay. He is our ever loving Father and Savior.
