Is That In The Bible? - Week 1: Getting Off The Ground - Pastor Jasmine Mayek

Devotional

Day 1: The mat that became a testimony

Jesus transforms what once defined us into evidence of His power. For 38 years, a man’s mat symbolized limitation, but after encountering Christ, it became proof of liberation. Our past struggles, when surrendered to Jesus, shift from anchors of shame to banners of grace. What the enemy meant to silence us becomes a megaphone for God’s faithfulness. Every scar, every healed wound, every broken chain tells a story: Jesus still redeems. [34:15]

“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” (John 5:8–9, ESV)

Reflection: What “mat” have you been tempted to hide that Jesus wants to use as a testimony? How might sharing your story of freedom impact someone else’s journey?

Day 2: Jesus sees the invisible

In a crowd of brokenness, Jesus fixed His gaze on one man others overlooked. His vision penetrates facades, reaching the hidden ache no prayer group hears. Being seen by Christ dismantles the lie that our pain is insignificant. His attention isn’t limited by our visibility—He notices the quiet tears, the unvoiced doubts, the prayers whispered in shadows. Where human eyes see only a statistic, Jesus sees a son or daughter. [16:09]

“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?’” (John 5:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you felt invisible in your struggle? How does Jesus’ specific awareness of your situation reshape your understanding of His care?

Day 3: Obedience before understanding

The healed man didn’t debate theology before standing—he simply risked movement. Faith often requires acting on Christ’s word before seeing the outcome. Jesus’ commands aren’t riddles to solve but invitations to trust. Like Peter stepping onto waves or Joshua circling walls, miracles begin when we respond to divine instruction rather than human logic. Our “rise” moment waits where obedience outweighs explanation. [25:21]

“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’” (John 5:8, ESV)

Reflection: What step of obedience have you delayed because you wanted more clarity? How might taking that step today position you to experience Jesus’ power?

Day 4: From victim to disciple

Thirty-eight years of paralysis could have defined the man forever. Jesus healed his body but also rewrote his identity. Our past pain doesn’t get the final word—Christ’s declaration does. When we trade “I am broken” for “I am His,” we stop building shrines to our wounds and start following the Healer. Discipleship means walking forward, not staring backward. [31:31]

“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14, ESV)

Reflection: What identity rooted in pain do you need to release? How would living as Christ’s disciple rather than a victim change your daily choices?

Day 5: The pool isn’t the answer

For decades, the man fixated on water he couldn’t reach. Jesus shifted his focus from a superstition to the Savior. We often exhaust ourselves chasing lesser solutions—relationships, achievements, distractions—while ignoring the Living Water beside us. Freedom comes not by reaching our false pools but by receiving the One who stands ready to heal. [23:11]

“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.’” (John 5:7, ESV)

Reflection: What “pool” have you been staring at instead of fixing your eyes on Jesus? How might turning toward Him today alter your perspective on breakthrough?

Sermon Summary

John 5 walks into the house of mercy and lays out a crowd of the stuck, the blind, the lame, and a man who has been on the ground for thirty‑eight years. Bethesda names God as the one who moves toward the broken, not away, and sets the stage for what happens when Jesus shows up. Jesus sees the man before He speaks to him, and His first move is not technique but attention. Jesus knows the long road this man has walked, then asks the disruptive question, Do you want to be made well.

The question exposes desire, not just condition. The man answers with reasons, not readiness, because resignation has trained his hope to stare at the pool. The pool becomes the false solution, a stand‑in for the many pools people trust, money, success, approval, even religion. Jesus stands in front of all that and makes clear that the answer is not in the water. The answer has a name. The answer is Jesus.

The command rises with authority. Rise, take up your bed, and walk. Jesus calls for movement before muscle memory exists, because faith responds before outcomes are visible. Jesus does not hand him a five‑step plan. Jesus speaks a word that requires trust, and obedience meets it. Faith is almost always uncomfortable before it is beautiful, and delayed obedience is still disobedience. Immediately the body answers the voice that created it. Strength returns. Thirty‑eight years of no becomes a first step of yes.

The voices arrive as soon as the miracle lands. Religion nitpicks the Sabbath. Shame questions whether change can last. The Holy Spirit answers with sonship and a new name, and the loudest voice must become the voice of Jesus. Jesus finds the man again and says, Sin no more. Freedom is a gift, and freedom must be guarded. A miracle moment must become a discipleship journey, new habits, new priorities, a new way of walking.

The mat stays in the man’s hands on purpose. What once carried him now becomes what he carries. The symbol of weakness turns into a testimony of God’s power. Every disciple has a mat like that, a redeemed story that points to Jesus. The gospel undergirds the whole scene. The man did not go searching for Jesus. Jesus came searching for him. The miracle cost Jesus nothing, but the cross secured the greater rising. Because Jesus got up, those on the ground can get up, not to manage bondage, but to live, and to live abundantly.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus sees before He heals Jesus notices the person before He addresses the problem, and that seeing restores dignity before strength. The eye of Christ lands on hidden burdens and private tears long before change is visible. When Jesus sees, hope stops being theory and starts becoming future. Nothing is invisible to Him, so nothing is hopeless. [16:09]
2. The pool is not the answer False solutions train the heart to wait on the wrong water, whether money, success, approval, or even religious performance. Jesus interrupts that stare and relocates trust from methods to a Person. Peace, identity, and freedom are not found in access or timing but in Christ Himself. The Living Water stands where superstition and striving once stood. [23:46]
3. Obedience precedes courage and clarity Christ commands movement before explanations, because faith grows by stepping, not by scheming. Courage does not show up first, it grows as obedience walks into risk with Jesus. Delayed obedience quietly disciples the heart into disobedience, while prompt obedience positions the disciple under God’s action. Beauty follows the uncomfortable yes. [26:40]
4. Carry the mat, not the label Grace turns the symbol of bondage into evidence of God’s faithfulness. The redeemed story is not shame to hide but testimony to steward, a way to say, then Jesus came. Identity shifts from victim to son or daughter, and the past becomes a platform for witness. What once defined the person now points beyond the person to Christ. [34:33]
5. Guard freedom through discipleship Jesus cares about more than a moment, He cares about a future, so He weds grace to a new way of life. Freedom matures as habits, relationships, and priorities change under His voice. Staying close to Jesus and His people protects what grace has begun. The miracle becomes a walk, not a memory. [32:13]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:42] - Have you felt stuck
[03:52] - The danger of quiet resignation
[05:05] - The Chosen is not Scripture
[11:56] - A real encounter at Bethesda
[12:13] - House of mercy and the crowd
[13:59] - Thirty-eight years on the ground
[15:44] - Jesus sees and asks
[22:18] - The pool is not the answer
[24:09] - Rise, take up your bed
[27:35] - Immediately, strength returns
[28:37] - Competing voices and identity
[32:13] - Sin no more, guard freedom
[33:57] - Carry your mat as testimony
[39:38] - The gospel and the greater rising
[41:12] - Will you respond today

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 5:1-9, 14 (ESV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 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... 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Observation questions

What question did Jesus ask the man before healing him, and how did the man respond?
Why did Jesus tell the man to “take up your bed” after healing him, even though it was the Sabbath? [34:33]
How did the religious leaders react to the man carrying his mat, and what does this reveal about their priorities? [28:37]
What did Jesus emphasize when He later found the man in the temple?

Interpretation questions

Why might Jesus have asked, “Do you want to be healed?” instead of immediately healing the man? What does this reveal about the relationship between desire and faith? [20:32]
The man focused on the pool as his solution for 38 years. How do “false solutions” (like money, success, or religion) distract people from trusting Jesus today? [23:11]
Jesus commanded obedience (“Rise, take up your bed”) before the man had physical strength. Why does faith often require action before outcomes are visible? [26:40]
What does the mat symbolize before and after the healing? How does this reflect God’s purpose for our past struggles? [34:33]

Application questions

In what area of your life do you feel “stuck” or resigned, like the man at the pool? What excuses have you used to avoid confronting that area? [03:14]
What “pool” (false solution) have you been staring at for answers (e.g., approval, control, busyness)? How can you intentionally shift your focus to Jesus this week? [23:46]
Jesus told the man to “rise” before he had strength. What step of obedience is God asking you to take now, even if it feels uncomfortable or risky? [26:13]
The man carried his mat as a testimony. What part of your past (a struggle, failure, or wound) could God use to point others to His power if you shared it? [35:28]
Jesus later warned the man to “sin no more” to guard his freedom. What habits, relationships, or choices do you need to change to protect what God has done in your life? [32:13]
The man didn’t seek Jesus—Jesus sought him. Where have you seen God pursuing you recently, even when you weren’t looking for Him? [37:52]
What competing voices (shame, fear, culture) have been loudest in your life? How can you intentionally listen to Jesus’ voice this week? [30:30]

Sermon Clips

52s

#FeelingStuck

“``Have you ever felt stuck? Not just inconvenienced, not just frustrated, not just going through a difficult season, but stuck. Like you've been carrying the same burden for so long that you've forgotten what freedom feels like. The same fear, the same addiction, the same wound, the same disappointment, the same struggle, the same cycle. Maybe you've prayed about it. Maybe you've cried about it. Maybe you've begged God to change it. Maybe you've tried to fix it yourself. Guilty. Maybe you've learned how to hide it. Maybe you've learned how to smile when people ask how you're doing.”

42s

#QuitSettling

“Church, one of the most dangerous places we can find ourselves is not outright rebellion. It's quiet resignation. When we stop believing, things can change. When we stop expecting God to move. We when we stop asking, we stop dreaming, we stop hoping, when we settle. And I believe there are people here today who have settled into places that Jesus has never intended for you to say. And I can tell you that Jesus did not die so that you can learn to manage your bondage. Jesus died so that you could walk in freedom.”

50s

#FromBurdenToTestimony

“I've often wondered why take up your bed. Why the mat? Why not leave it there? Why not walk away from it completely? Why carry around the thing that represented thirty eight years of pain, of frustration, of limitation, of disappointment? Why carry that? Because what once carried him was now being carried by him. That mat used to define him, and now it's become his testimony. That mat used to represent bondage, and now it represents his freedom. It used to represent his weaken weakness, and now it represents God's power. Every believer has a mat, every one of us.”

44s

#OnlyJesusSaves

“And just like the man at Bethesda couldn't get himself up, we couldn't save ourselves. Religion couldn't save us. Good works can't save us. Trying harder couldn't save us. Being a good person couldn't save us. We needed Jesus, and that's exactly why Jesus came. He left heaven. He stepped into our brokenness. He walked among us, healed the sick, opened blind eyes, and raised the dead. He preached the kingdom and then willingly went to the cross, not because he deserved it, because we did. The miracle at Bethesda cost Jesus nothing, but your salvation cost him everything.”

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Is That In The Bible? - Week 1: Getting Off The Ground - Pastor Jasmine Mayek - June 28, 2026