"Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'" (John 5:8, NKJ).
I once heard a parable that said the Christian journey is like driving in a car on the way to heaven. As I'm traveling along, I pick up a hitchhiker who ends up being Jesus. But as we journey on together, I'm still at the wheel and He's in the passenger seat. Now He offers to drive for me, but the car is new and I'm not sure about letting this 'stranger' take over. As a result, I'm almost run over by a semi-truck, and shooting across several lines of traffic, I end up in a ditch.
Several more mishaps later, I find myself banged up, bewildered and exhausted. Then Jesus places a comforting hand on my shoulder and asks again, "Can I drive?" The parable ends with Jesus at the wheel and blissfully we coast into heaven.
But is that what the Christian journey is really like? Is this parable a safe description of the Living Way? Why not turn from this man-made parable to follow Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem and see how He delivers us from our sins.
It was a quiet Sabbath afternoon when Jesus found a paralytic. He laid listlessly on a mat, a helpless cripple, waiting to be healed. "At certain seasons the waters of [Bethesda] were agitated, and it was commonly believed that this was the result of supernatural power, and that whoever first after the troubling of the pool stepped into the waters, would be healed of whatever disease he had. Hundreds of sufferers visited the place; but so great was the crowd when the water was troubled that they rushed forward, trampling underfoot men, women, and children, weaker than themselves. Many could not get near the pool. Many who had succeeded in reaching it died upon its brink. Shelters had been erected about the place, that the sick might be protected from the heat by day and the chilliness of the night. There were some who spent the night in these porches, creeping to the edge of the pool day after day, in the vain hope of relief" (Desire of Ages, pg. 201). The paralytic was one of them.
And he was the worst case that Jesus saw. For 38 years he had been crippled, largely due to his own lifestyle and poor decisions. Most people back then looked upon disease as a judgment of God, so he was more than just a common paralytic. He was considered a very great sinner. As you might expect, he was all alone, bearing his misery of both physical and spiritual disease. And yet, for 38 years, he hoped and prayed that he would find relief in the waters of Bethesda. But how could he reach the pool when he was paralyzed and he had no friend to help him? In spite of it all, he pressed on, trying his utmost to reach the water's edge. But it was always in vain. Someone stronger would always get there before him and he would somehow drag himself back to his shelter, undoubtedly in great despair.
But one day, he looked into the eyes of Jesus and saw compassion written there. And then he heard a most amazing question. Jesus said, "Do you want to be made well?" Why would Jesus ask such a ludicrous question? It sounds so strange to ask a paralytic if he wanted to get better. But before Jesus can do anything for us, He must have our permission. He will not force His way into our lives. So He gently asked, "Do you want to be made well?"
But his answer didn't stop Jesus. He simply said, "Rise, take up your bed and walk" (John 5:8). Now with just a word or a thought, Jesus might have said, "Be well" or "Be healed." And it could have happened in a moment or a blink of the eye. But Jesus does nothing without our cooperation. As Christ traveled from town to town, many never knew His healing power because they never exercised faith in Him. He could do nothing in Nazareth because they looked at him and saw only a man, the son of Joseph. So the Savior did not heal the paralytic by some kind of cruise control--where Jesus did all the work and the man did nothing.
Jesus told the paralytic, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Now the man might have reasoned, "If you will heal me, then I will get up." But he didn't. There was no struggle in his mind. He heard the words of Christ and immediately chose to act on them. He trusted in what Jesus would do.
God's part in this miracle was infinitely greater than the paralytic's part. But Jesus would not do for the paralytic what God expected him to do. Jesus says, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). But He won't do the choosing for us. We must make up our own mind to turn away from sin or to say no to temptation. And Jesus will not stand for us anymore than He could stand for the paralytic. No, we must choose for ourselves to do what God says, believing He will provide the power that brings us life and victory.
And that is what happened to the paralytic. His faith grabbed hold of the Savior's words. And he chose to do exactly what Jesus said. And as he made that choice, as he made an effort to rise up and walk, God poured life into every nerve and muscle. And that crippled man stood up on his own two feet!
"Jesus had given him no assurance of divine help. The man might have stopped to doubt, and lost his one chance of healing. But he believed Christ's word, and in acting upon it he received strength" (Desire of Ages, pg. 203). God worked and man worked, and because they worked together, the paralytic was restored to perfect health.
The same is true on our journey with Jesus. We can no more live a Christian life on our own than the paralytic could jump into the pool of Bethesda. We are paralyzed by the sin that lies deep in our hearts. It is an enslaving power! So we have no strength to be like Jesus or follow Him in the Living Way. We need to be healed just as much as the paralytic did.
And Jesus is standing over us, telling us in the same way, "Rise up and follow Me. Don't wait for Me to do it for you. You must grab a hold of My Word in faith. You must believe that I make you whole. And then, move forward, doing exactly what I tell you to do. You must use your will to obey just as much as when you chose Me as Savior and Lord." And just like the paralytic, as you begin to move, as you decide to follow Jesus, He will give you His Holy Spirit and you'll have all the strength you need to obey. All His biddings will be your enablings. But you must do your part for God to do His.
"To make God's grace our own, we must act our part. The Lord does not propose to perform for us either the willing or the doing. His grace is given to work in us to will and to do [i.e. to choose and obey], but never as a substitute for our effort. Our souls are to be aroused to cooperate" (God's Amazing Grace, pg. 111).
Temptations will come our way as we walk on this journey with Jesus, but we can resist every one; we can say 'no' whenever the devil comes knocking at our door. We can say as Jesus did, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" For Christ has promised, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:8). Christ is ready to send his army of angels to fight the battle with you, to empower you to use the whole armor of God so that you may withstand every onslaught of the hosts of darkness. But He can't give you victory unless you're engaged in the battle.
There's no 'cruise control' in the warfare between good and evil. Christ says, strap on your armor. Take the sword of the Spirit and move forward in My name, for I am with you. "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus wants us to know that we are in the fight together!
"The work of gaining salvation is one of co-partnership, a joint operation [between you and Christ Jesus]" (Acts of the Apostles, pg. 482). We can't do it alone. But Jesus won't' do it by Himself. "God works and man works. Resistance of temptation must come from man, who must draw his power from God" (ibid). And as we work together, uniting our effort with Christ, we will have the victory. And we'll march into the heavenly city, not through cruise control or coasting in neutral, but controlled by the Holy Spirit and working in full cooperation with Him.
GOD'S PART is to draw me by love and kindness (John 12:32).
MY PART is to respond to His love and seek to know Him by Bible study and prayer (Matthew 11:28; John 5:39; Jeremiah 29:13).
GOD'S PART is to convict me of my sin (John 16:8)
MY PART is to admit I am a sinner in need of God's grace (Luke 18:13).
GOD'S PART is to give me the gift of repentance (Acts 5:31).
MY PART is to confess my sins, without blaming others (1 John 1:9).
GOD'S PART is to forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
MY PART is to accept His forgiveness and believe that I am clean and whole (John 20:31).
GOD'S PART is to give me power to obey and to keep His holy Law (Philippians 4:13).
MY PART is to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
GOD'S PART is to give me the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
MY PART is to bear fruit by putting God's Word into action (John 15:4,8).
GOD'S PART is to alert me when I am tempted so I can turn to Him for help (1 Corinthians 10:13).
MY PART is to submit to God and resist the devil through His power, thus gaining the victory (James 4:7,8).
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