“Stand Up. Pick Up Your Mat and Walk.”
Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.”
And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk.
(John 05: 08, 09a)
A man's thirty-eight years of struggle with sickness miraculously comes to an end in Bethesda. Even though he had been near the pool for healing for these many years, he couldn't make it to the exact spot at the exact time for healing. The atmosphere around him was too competitive. No one was able to help him out to reach this healing destination. He was left alone to manage for himself. And one day, Jesus came near him. The sole ambition of his life took a new dimension.
Looking back and imagining this miraculous event that took place in the time of Jesus's ministry on earth reminds us of an important aspect of faith. Based on the descriptions given in the gospel of John, we learn that Jesus had been to Jerusalem for a special feast. In Jerusalem, there was a pool with five covered porches, which is called "Bethesda" in the Hebrew language. This pool was near the Sheep Gate.
Many sick people, with all different kinds of disease, were lying on the porches beside this pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed, and they waited for the water to move. Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had. Yes, the first person to make it into this pool soon after the angel of the Lord came down and stirred it up was healed. Whatever the sickness it could be, it would be healed if they could get into this pool first soon after it was stirred. Such a miraculous environment. So much suspense in the air. Hope and despair were equally mixed in the atmosphere. Years of disappointments and hundreds of renewed beliefs could be filtered.
In the midst of such a competitive, hopeful and disappointments-filled environment, a man was lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. The mere thought of this condition of despair itself raises our compassion towards this man. He had been there near the pool that was known for its miraculous healing but couldn't make it to the right place at the right time. He had almost made it near to the place with the help of someone, but there was no one for him to help with this important and life-changing final step. Imagine the physically-challenged condition this man was in. Even though his heart was strong and hopeful of a miraculous moment for nearly the last four decades, his physical condition never allowed him to make it in this world of competition.
The man had come across everything towards his healing and all that he needed was a miracle! According to this man, he would have been hoping for a miraculous moment when the angel of the Lord would come and stir the water in the pool and no one else would be near. He would have been dreaming of a moment when only he would be awake at night while the others were fast asleep. His long-awaiting heart would have yearned for a miraculous moment within human failures and limits. But something that he had never thought of for the last thirty-eight years was awaiting him. And that was the presence of Jesus in that place on that miraculous and life-changing day.
When Jesus came near the pool of Bethesda, saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?” Either this question would have made that man think for once his entire purpose of waiting there for the last thirty-eight years, or he would have started recollecting the faces of those who spoke to him in solidarity of his condition. And the man had a ready-made answer which was the only thing that he lacked in this miserable condition. The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me.” All that he wanted was someone to help him get into this pool immediately when a small movement is observed in the calm surface of the water. He needed someone who could stand by him patiently, enduring the suspense with a hope-filled heart that may prolong for many days and would help him achieve this crucial part of his long journey towards miraculous healing. All that this man could ever want for in this pathetic condition was limited by human boundaries and capabilities. But then, Jesus says something powerful and these words brought that much-awaited change in this man's life.
Jesus said to him, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” Wow! Something not at all expected. These words of healing were never even near to this man's imagination. His mind never went this far to imagine something that was humanly impossible. And what was the result of these powerful words spoken by the loving and compassionate Lord Jesus? The Bible says, "immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk" (John 05: 09). It was not the mere human help of getting this man into the pool that was offered by Jesus, but this was something beyond. This was something that this man would have never ever imagined about. Thirty-eight years of despair changed into a celebration of hope and faith forever!
Today, as you read this devotion, I want to especially encourage you to look at the conditions around you. We know that the world we are living in is very competitive. We also know that there are so many of us, who have kept the steps of faith and have almost made it to the levels that we hoped for in with the grace and guidance of our God. And today, as we are seated near the pool, waiting and hoping for that miraculous moment for a long period of time, we may be in despair. Our hope and imaginations, and the longing for the miracle, may be limited by human boundaries and capabilities. We may be longing for things that are only humanly possible and would have forgotten that we have our Lord our God with whom all things are possible. And today, we are invited to give ourselves totally into the hands of Jesus. His words of power and miracle would change conditions that are otherwise not possible. Jesus is inviting us today to keep our little step of faith. He is asking us to "stand up" in faith from our miserable conditions, "pick up our mat" in total belief because our new life is not going to need it anymore and to "walk" away from this atmosphere of despair. All in faith! As we keep these steps, trusting in God's mighty power, we would see things changing in our conditions miraculously.
I pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will help each of us to stand up in faith, pick up our mats of the old life and walk into the newness of the miraculous life-changing power of God.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
