Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
John 5:2-9
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Matthew 14:28-29
GET OUT OF THE BOAT
Jesus is always calling us to more. In his book The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis calls humans “half-hearted creatures” who are too easily pleased. We are content with our lives, such as they are. But what if we thought differently? What if we realized that what we want for ourselves is far less than what God wants for us?
The paralytic in the passage above from the Gospel of John is a lot like most of us. Jesus comes upon him and asks if he wants more out of life—change, healing, maybe even a miracle. Jesus asks the man a yes-or-no question. It’s not a middle school note (check one: yes, no, maybe so). There is no “maybe” on the list of answers when Jesus calls him. But the man responds with an excuse for why he can’t get healing.
Jesus wasn’t offering the paralytic man help to do what he was already doing. He was offering the miraculous—something only the Son of God could provide. The man had to change his mindset about what was being offered to him. And he does change, because when Jesus says, “Take up your bed,” the man quickly obeys. If he hadn’t, he would never have experienced the healing Jesus had for him.
Peter, on the other hand, is looking for the miraculous. He sees what Jesus is doing and thinks, “I want to get some of that!” So he asks Jesus if he can join Him on the water, and when Jesus says, “Come,” Peter gets up and moves!
Take a moment to reflect on your current stage in your Christian journey. Are you sitting by, making excuses for why your life is what it is? Then you should know—Jesus is calling you to more. Take a moment to pray today and ask Him to reveal what He has in store for you.
Or maybe you’re looking at something you know God is calling you to. It’s big, miraculous, beyond your ability—and you’re a little nervous about it. Just remember: when Jesus says, “Come,” get out of the boat!
Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.
