See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you

 

Healing of the Paralytic at the Sheep Gate Pool, 12th/13th century, mosaic, Cathedral of the Assumption, Monreale, Sicily 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  

 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  

 

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  

 

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  

 

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,  because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

- John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that after two days staying with the Samaritans Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 

  After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  My study Bible informs us that this is a double-basin pool that was believed to have curative powers, and that it has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate, as the text says.  The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  In the understanding of the Church, the pool functions as a "type" of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, my study Bible explains, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But that grace was limited to the first person to enter.  Under the new covenant, on the other hand, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Therefore, Holy Baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is inexhaustible.  

 

 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, Jesus singled out this man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a much shorter time.  Christ's question to this man is relevant for several reasons, which are given by my study Bible.  First, He made public the fact that this sick man had kept his faith even in a seemingly hopeless circumstance -- for how could a paralytic ever be the first in the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  Of course, this is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became Man to heal all.  Third, not everybody who is ill truly desires healing.  Very sadly, some may prefer to remain unwell in order to freely complain, to avoid responsibility, or to continue to evoke the pity of others.  This miraculous healing of the paralytic is the third sign of seven given in St. John's Gospel.  According to my study Bible, it exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  In patristic commentary, this feast is understood to be the Old Testament Pentecost (also called the "Feast of Weeks").  It celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later on in the chapter there are references to the Law which confirm this understanding.  

 

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.   The Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, my study Bible tells us, but this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  Christ makes clear, however, that He is Lord over the Sabbath, first by His command ("Take up your bed and walk") and also by the man's obedience.  As is frequently true in St. John's Gospel, the term Jews here refers to the leaders, and not to the people in general (it may also be translated "Judeans" meaning those who ruled in the Jerusalem Council).  My study Bible asks us to notice the malice of these leaders, in that they focus only on the Sabbath violation when they ask, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?"  But they ignore completely this man's miraculous healing.  

 

 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   According to my study Bible, the fact that this man was found in the temple shows his great faith, as he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than departing to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, "Sin no more . . . "  My study Bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, as the innocent often suffer, and the guilty frequently are spared earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But nevertheless, sometimes our sins lead directly to our own suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom suggests that this was the case with the paralytic.  But Christ's warning here is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether. 

 

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible claims that the man does not report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to Christ's goodness.  Although the leaders are surely only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well -- and says nothing about carrying his bed.  

 

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,  because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making Himself equal with God.   Here Jesus' declaration regarding "My Father" is clearly understood by the Jewish religious leaders to imply absolute equality.  Jesus' discourse and response to the religious leaders will continue in the following reading.

 

 In patristic and traditional understanding paralysis has often been linked to sin.  Habitual sin keeps us stuck someplace; it doesn't allow us to go forward toward our hopeful goal of union with Christ.  So, when Jesus tells the healed paralytic "sin no more," there is a lot we can learn from this.  Jesus doesn't simply say this with the intention of telling him not to become paralyzed again, either physically or spiritually,  rather, He tells the man, ". . . lest a worse thing come upon you."  This is telling us about repentance, and the trajectory of our faith as we seek a deeper union with, and dependency upon Christ.  Repentance for sins is a good thing, of course.  But to then persist in something for which we've repented may likely leave us in a worse state than we were before.  Jesus seems to clearly indicate this to the healed man.  So, as we observed in yesterday's commentary, remarking on both the Samaritan woman and the nobleman whose son was healed, persistence is a great key to our faith and its development.  So much so, that backsliding can give us a "worse thing come upon us."  This is the nature of spiritual problems, for once we have experienced a kind of transition in Christ, we are no longer ignorant of what we are doing.  So, in fact, going back on our repentance has the effect of taking us backwards, not simply in a static paralyzed state, but into a worse one than we knew previously.  This is linked to Jesus' teaching about exorcism, found in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke.  In St. Matthew's text, Jesus teaches, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation" (Matthew 12:43-45).  That state of being "worse than the first" comes about when a person makes no effort to sustain the healing or exorcism, to live a life dedicated to pursuing the holiness of God.  So this is consistent with Christ's warning to the paralytic about continuing to sin, and not responding properly to the grace he's been shown.  This is not a question of punishment, but rather the way that evil works in our world, and our need for persistence in pursuing our own part of loving obedience to God, filling ourselves by receiving the grace offered to us in whatever ways we can, and cooperating with that grace in the ways that we are called.  So, yet again, as my study Bible indicated, in this man we find an example of a person with a character of persistence, so necessary to the process of our own spiritual growth, and the growth of faith Christ asks of us, the cooperative response to grace we offer in response.  Let us take heed to Christ's warning, and consider the extraordinary blessing with which it has been given.