“I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go to your home.”
This word is full of authority, simplicity, and mercy. Christ addresses the sick man personally and commands him to do what he could not do by his natural ability. Yet at the moment the Lord speaks, He also gives power to carry out what is said. This is the deep pattern of the Gospel: when God commands, He also gives grace to obey that command. The words “Go to your home” also carry a note of peace: the healed man is returned to his ordinary life, to his surroundings, to his joy. The mat, which before was the sign of his inability, now becomes a testimony of healing.