GET UP!

Mark 2:11 (NIV) “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

In our text for today, we find JESUS CHRIST in a large house teaching the people about the kingdom of God. We find Him emphasizing about God’s authority to heal. He was encouraging people to trust God. He wanted to give them new expectation and confidence in life. He wanted to bring them closer to God. However, he had difficulty getting through to their hearts because there were some Pharisees present at that time that came not to learn but to criticize him. Their hearts were not teachable. Their hearts were bitter. They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity.

When suddenly, four men brought down a paralytic from the roof of the house. Jesus was disrupted in his teaching, but he did not mind. He knew that this was important. Every disruption in life has a purpose. Every disruption in life is an opportunity to learn. Every disruption in life is a good break to gain new knowledge from a different perspective. He realized that this man needed help. This can be an object lesson to teach them a lesson of the heart.

And so, looking closely at the man, Jesus knew that the paralytic has been invalid for many years. He could not stand. He could not walk. He was so dependent to the four men for help. Many times he tried to stand up but probably he failed. He failed several times. Because of this, he did not try again. He lost all hope. He lost all faith. He lost his self-esteem. He thought that this is what life is all about. There is nothing more that he could do. He does not want to exert any more effort to improve himself because he does not want to fail again.

After all, he has become so comfortable lying in his own bed that he thought that this is his destiny. He thought that his end was near. It was like the sunset in his life. There was gloom and doom in the horizon. But you and I know that this is not what life is all about. There is beauty in the sunset. After the sunset comes the sunrise. There is much more to life than just lying in bed and being dependent to others for help. There is much more to life than being bitter to your present situation. This man must stand up and overcome his failures of the past. That is why Jesus looked at the man and said in the hearing of them all, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (vs. 11).

Jesus told him to stand up. He wanted him to build his faith back in his heart. He wanted him to believe God for big things ahead. He wanted him to go beyond his limited thinking of the past. He wanted him to set his eyes on the supernatural God. To keep a positive faith. That he will never give up. That ultimately, God will give him a fresh new start in life even if he failed several times in the past.

Jesus is speaking the same message to each one of us. Probably you had been like the paralytic for so long. You might be lying there in your bed of depression for so long. You might have been raised in an unhealthy family environment. You might have experienced the pains of rejection. You have lost your self-esteem. You blamed the past for your bad attitudes. You blamed the past for your poor choices. You blamed the past for your hot temper. But Jesus is saying to each of us: “GET UP. Take up your mat and go home.”