Get Up

Text: John 5:1-9

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Thirty-eight years is a long time to sit on your mat. Every day, the same thing over and over again. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. And not much changes. Sitting on his mat has become a way of life for the man in today’s gospel. Maybe it always was his way of life. It’s possible this man was lame from birth. And the only thing he has to hope for is the possibility that when that water begins to bubble up, he might be the first one in and be healed. From that point of view, really the only thing that he can do is wait, and watch, and hope that things will change.

There was a belief that this pool of water called Bethesda had healing properties and that it could change a person’s life. It was said that every now and then an angel would stir the water, the water would begin to bubble, and the first one into the water would be healed. The man in today’s gospel can’t move quick enough to get to the water, and as he says, “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.” It’s a hopeless existence. At least until Jesus arrives. But then, Jesus’ words change everything.

“GET UP, TAKE UP YOUR BED, AND WALK.”

          It’s a simple sentence. A straightforward command. Yet contained in those eight words are the full truth of what Jesus has come to do. Today, we’ll examine them in three distinct phrases and see how they were heard and heeded by the lame man and how we can hear and heed them ourselves.

Get Up! Initially, these might seem like rather harsh words coming from Jesus. The guy has been sitting there, unable to move himself for 38 years. And Jesus just walks by and tells him to get up. It’s like someone walking up to me and telling me to play the tuba. Not going to happen. But those aren’t actually the first words that Jesus speaks to the man. He first says to him, “Do you want to be healed?” Well, yeah, of course he does. But that’s not what his reply is. His reply is one of resignation and despair. “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.” Because he thinks his only hope of healing is in the waters that he can’t get to, and he has no hope that anyone will help him get there. What this man doesn’t see is that his hope is right there in front of him.

How often do we do the same thing. We find ourselves in a pit and can only see one possible way out. And then the door shuts on that option we find ourselves wallowing in despair when the real answer is actually Jesus. Most of us know what that’s like. We say to ourselves or maybe even out loud to another, “As soon as this or that happens everything will be better. I’ll be happy. My problems will go away. I’ll be satisfied. All will be well.” That’s the pool of Bethesda answer. But the real answer is Jesus. And He shows up in our despair. In our sin. And He asks us the same question. “Do you want to be healed?” He invites us into a relationship with Him. And when we lay down whatever it is that burdens us at His feet, He says to us, “Get up.” And those words are what assures us that the sin that keeps us down is washed away with His blood.

But it’s not just the command to “Get up” that Jesus gives. He then says, “take up your bed.” For the man who sat by the Sheep’s Gate all those years, this is a literal phrase. His “bed” is the mat that he uses to lay on all day long as he waits and watches and hopes that things will change for him. None of us have a literal bed as this man does, but we all have plenty of crutches that we use to provide us comfort in the times when our eyes are fixed on all the things that we think will make our lives better. These are the things we hold most dear because we think they’re providing us something of value. When in reality, they’re just distractions from the One who will provide everything that we need. For you these might be material things or they might just as well be ways of thinking that keep you from fully relying on God for all the things you need.

Over the course of this past year, I have realized how much stock I put in reputation and the way that others view me. In the same way that we can idolize material things to the point that we raise them up above God Himself, we can do the same thing with things like reputation and security. Focusing to too great a degree on these things can turn into a mindset that doesn’t trust in the Lord to guard that reputation, or to provide that security. And through this realization, I’ve heard God saying to me, “Take up your bed.” Ask yourself what bed He’s asking you to take up.

Because when Jesus says to you, “take up your bed,” what He’s saying is that there’s nothing more important that you can cling to than Him. And whatever it is you’re clinging to for comfort other than Him needs to be set aside as you fully rely on Him for your healing.

I’m not suggesting that the circumstances of our lives are irrelevant or have no effect. That’s just not true. They do affect us. We are, however, more than the circumstances of our life. Life isn’t found outside our various situations or circumstances. Each contributes to what our life is. To believe something other than this is to live constantly looking for the next pool of Bethesda, the quick fix, or the easy out.

Jesus doesn’t help this man get into the water. He comes to him on his mat, the same mat and situation the man so desperately wants to escape, and speaks words of life and resurrection. “Get up.” This is a word of life to a man who has never been able to do what Jesus is commanding. And then He invites him to “take up your bed.” While that command might mean to get rid of this no longer useful item, it could also be seen as a recognition that the circumstances of our lives are still going to come along with us, even after we turn to the One who actually has the answers and can do the healing. The man doesn’t leave his mat behind. It goes with him. His circumstances are real. The difference is he now carries them with the aid of Jesus, whose yoke is easy, and whose burden is light.

Our outward circumstances might not change, but Jesus does change us. He calls us into a new way of being, seeing, acting, speaking, thinking. When we stand and rise to that new life we discover the circumstances have somehow changed. That doesn’t necessarily make life easy or mean we no longer have to deal with the circumstances of life. It makes our circumstances more manageable, and we engage them from a different place and position. There’s freedom where there was once imprisonment. That’s exactly what Jesus means when He says “the truth will set you free.”

And the truth is that we have a Savior who not only tells us to “Get up, take up your bed,” but who makes that possible through the forgiveness of sins and restoration to life that He offers through His once and for all sacrifice for us. And then after saying and doing all that, He says, “and walk.” He tells this man to do something that he’s never done before. Something he could never have done on his own. And that’s the command He gives to us as well. Walk. And not just in any random direction. Walk in the newness of life you’ve been given. Only prayer and heartfelt seeking will help you to know what direction that is, but there is one thing that’s for sure. Your walking must be led by the Lord.

When this man at the pool of Bethesda was healed by Jesus “At once…he took up his bed and walked.” He didn’t wait for confirmation that his legs were strong or that he wouldn’t fall over. He got up and walked. Now, where did he go? It’s pretty clear that he went to the temple because the next interaction he has is with the Jewish leaders. I’d imagine his first thought is the same as so many who have received such a marvelous gift…Give thanks to God. And then once he’s done that, what he does next is very telling. He looks for Jesus who had slipped away in the midst of the crowds at the Sheep’s Gate. This man is walking and what he does with that newfound freedom is to seek his Lord. To go where He goes.

What a model for us. This man teaches us that we shouldn’t be seeking healing in places where no healing is to be found. Look to Jesus, the great Healer. He teaches us that the circumstances of our lives may not ever fully be gone, but that the one who tells us to take up our mat will help us bear them. And he shows us that Jesus’ command to walk means that we’re to walk in His ways, following the One who heals and saves us every step of the way. Remember all that as you face this day and this week and continually hear Jesus saying to you,

“GET UP, TAKE UP YOUR BED, AND WALK.”

Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.