Get Up and Walk John 5:1-17

“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk” (Jn. 5:8, NASB)>

When I read this text I am reminded of the conditions that many people live in today. In this text we have one of many examples in the Holy Scriptures that tell us that God is concerned about the life of people. We learn that God wants us to be healthy individuals in every aspect of our lives. There is a relationship between our physical health and our spiritual health. Our mental health and our emotional health are not entirely separate from our physical health and our spiritual health. If we want people to be whole we must address all the categories of health. In this article I want to cause the Christian church to think about its role and its efforts in how it seeks to help those that are unhealthy.

When John writes this gospel his main purpose is to be a witness that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. He writes, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30-31, NASB). The miraculous signs and the words of Jesus that John records demonstrate that Jesus is the way to God. God loves the world (3:16) and the works that Jesus does are done because of God’s love for humanity.

Previously, Moses had given the people the Law. The Law tells us what God requires of us if we are to live in a holy relationship with Him. However, humanity cannot meet all the requirements that the Law commands. So, Jesus comes to restore us to God even though humanity is unable to live according to the Law. John records two particular sayings that set forth this truth. John writes, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17, NASB). John also writes, “‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life’” (Jn 3:16, NASB). Thus in our text we see a demonstration of God’s love to restore us as whole human beings back into relationship with the Father.

As we look at our text we see Jesus in Jerusalem. There is a pool named Bethesda. The name Bethesda means “house of kindness.” The pool has five porticoes (Porches, KJV). John writes, “In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted]” (Vv. 3-4, NASB). What can we see in these two verses?

First, we can see that human resources and efforts are limited. It is a kind act on the part of people when a person is laid at the pool. Society, however, is unable to do anything more. People have their own life to live. They don’t have time to sit with the sick and diseased. They can only bring a person to an institution designed to offer comfort. We have hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and long term care facilities that are designed to meet people’s needs; howbeit these facilities are not necessarily designed to cure diseases and restore full health. At best they can restore a measure of health that will allow the sick to return home.

Secondly, we can see that people with sickness and disease are powerless to do anything for themselves. They are dependent upon the institutions that have been created to meet their needs. In this case the pool represents the institutions. Those that are sick must depend upon the institution to get well. However, the institution itself has limited resources. The pool has no healing properties and power of its own. The institution is dependent on the aid of outside resources. In this case the outside source is the angel that comes at certain seasons with supplies and resources. John represents this limited resource when he tells us that the angel comes intermittently, “at certain seasons” to stir the water. The angel stirs the water and only the first person in the pool is cured from their disease.

The hope for the sick and diseased is an encounter with Jesus. I am not just talking about a person going to church and becoming a member of the church. Churches are institutions with limited resources and power. I believe that churches should be involved in their communities. However, churches must accept the fact that they too are limited in their ability to help people. The answer is not churches that partner with secular organizations, because everyone involved is limited in what it can do for people. The church must be the conduit that gives people access to Christ.

Jesus sees the man, and He talks with the man. Jesus learns that the man has been at the pool for thirty-eight years. The number thirty-eight is significant. In Deuteronomy 2:14 we learn that the Hebrews wander in the wilderness for thirty-eight years after they refused to take possession of the Promised Land. Together with the two years in the wilderness before they reached Kadesh-barnea equals to forty years that the people wander in the wilderness before God opens the waters of the Jordan River and the people enter into the Promised Land. Now you might ask how these two events are related. When Jesus talks with the man He learns the man’s story. Jesus learns that the man was not born with his disability. He learns that something takes place in the man’s life that causes his sickness. Jesus is here, and Jesus is about to help the man cross his Jordan River. Jesus is about to cure the man of his disease. The man is about to enter into his Promised Land.

Jesus hears the man as he tells his story. Jesus tells the man that there is help that the world cannot give to him. Jesus says to the man: Do not be limited because of what the world says about you. Do not be limited by your own negative opinions of yourself. You have power and abilities of your own that you have not tapped into. You can walk. The sickness is not permanent, but you have been led to believe that there is no other hope for you. Now, if you truly want to walk you will take matters into your own hands. “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’” Jesus tells the man to get up because Jesus has the power to make the man well. The man gets up because he believes the words that Jesus says to him.

Three days ago I received a letter from “Cru.” Cru is the name of Campus Crusade for Christ International. The letter tells the story of three young women that have been abused, battered, and broken. In each case these women are told about the love of God in Jesus Christ. These women received Christ and they are empowered by His love to have hope and faith for a better future. They get up from their beds and begin to walk in the power of Jesus. They receive power and motivation to do things that they need to do to escape the abuse and oppression that their communities do nothing about. Having experienced freedom in Christ they are determined to be a resource of help for other women that are still suffering as they suffered. You see, the song is right. “There is power in the name of Jesus.” Jesus not only gives us the power to get up from our beds of affliction; He gives us the power to resist the things (sins) that has the potential to make us sick again. John writes, “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘Behold you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you’” (v. 14, NASB).

The church ought to be involved in the community. However, the primary focus that the church must have is that of telling the people that they seek to help about the love of God found in Jesus Christ. The church must tell the people that it helps that Jesus wants them to change their lives. If the church provides assistance to people but fails to tell those that they serve about Jesus, the church fails to bring about health in every area in their lives. If the church fails to give credit to God where credit is due the church is a thief that comes to steal the glory that belongs to Jesus alone. The church becomes a thief that kills and destroys (10:10).