John 5:11-15
Jesus the Lamb of God was about to enter Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate but has taken a detour to the house of Mercy, the Pool of Bethesda to heal a man who has been crippled for 38 years. Jesus has commanded him to take up his bed and walk. Indeed, the man did take up his bed and walked. Now Jesus is about to see him again in the temple. Let’s see what Jesus says to this man.
We pick up the story again in verse 11. In verse 11, the healed man shifts the blame for his actions from himself by responding to the accusation of his breaking the law by saying, “It is the man that healed me who said, take up your bed and walk.
Verses 12 and 13, “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 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.”
Verse 14 and 15, “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “see you have been made well. “Sin no more.” We need to hit the pause button and unpack what Jesus just said. “See, you have been made well. Sin no more.”
The gospel writer wants us to understand that this man, like those who wandered in the wilderness for 38 years, was in their present condition because of sin. And that sin is crippling, and that crippling condition can only be healed by the power of God.
However, the Jews believed that sickness was the result of sin. Job’s friends want Job to understand this in the book of Job. Also, in John 9, we will again see a person healed, and the disciples want to know whose sin caused the blindness. Jesus responded to the disciple’s question that neither this man nor his parent’s sin caused his blindness.
The Jews are upset at this miracle for two reasons. The first is the breaking of the Sabbath. The second reason is Jesus’s response to their questioning him. In his response, He reminded them what God was doing for them. But he used the terminology, My Father. For whatever the Father does, the Son has been doing also. Note what Jesus said, “My Father (God) and by calling God His Father, Jesus made Himself equal to God.
Therefore, the Jews are upset because Jesus broke the sabbath by healing this man. Why? Because healing on the Sabbath was considered work. But He also had another man work because he commanded that man to take up his bed and carry it on the Sabbath.
But, let’s go back and finish the verse we were looking at in John 5:14. “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.’” In this statement, “Sin no more,” Jesus makes two separate statements. The first is that Jesus has forgiven this man’s sins. They are as if they had never happened. The second statement is this, “Go sin less.”
I can hear some of you saying, the passage said, “Sin no more.” What do you mean by “Go sin less?” That doesn’t even make sense. How do you sin less? When Jesus healed him, Jesus forgave his past sins. Now Jesus is saying, “Go sin less.”
At the point when the crippled man took up his bed and walked, he had faith, and his faith resulted in him being made whole. Jesus’ saying, “Sin no more,” meant that at the time of his healing, he received physical and spiritual healing. His faith was counted to him as righteousness as if he had never sinned. The formally crippled man can now walk with Jesus spiritually. Meaning his physical and spiritual healing allows him to walk physically and spiritually. Thus, when one is described as walking with another, it is a metaphor to describe their close personal relationship. If the person you are walking with is Jesus, then your heart should be changed by the association with Jesus. Therefore, each day spent together should result in a person sinning less than the day before. Not because we are doing it, but by association with Jesus, He is changing us into His likeness. Therefore, we are becoming the image of God.
So, the passage says, continue to walk together with Jesus, and by so doing, you will be less selfish and more other-centered in your love over the rest of your life. In the spiritual world, the instant, whole, and complete healing the man received is called justification by faith. Being changed daily by a relationship or walking with Christ is called sanctification. Justification and Sanctification are two words we don’t use very often. When we, by faith, accept Christ’s offered forgiveness for our sins, we are instantly made whole spiritually, and our sins are forgiven. Sanctification describes the process within a person as they continue having a relationship with Christ in which their association and relationship change them into being Christ-like. Therefore, because of our relationship with Christ, I should sin less today than yesterday and less tomorrow than I did today.
The last part of the verse has caused a little confusion over the years. The verse says, “Lest something worse happen to you.” What could be worse? In the Midnight Visit with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “Just because you are a son of Abraham does not ensure your entrance into the kingdom of heaven.” This statement tells the same thing. “If you continue to live your life as you were before you were healed, then you will miss out on everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is something far worse than being physically crippled.”
The man, possibly to shift some heat away from himself, tells the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him. John’s 5th chapter follows the discussion that arises between Jesus and the religious leaders. It is the second recorded significant disagreement between Jesus and the religious leaders in John’s gospel.
We must stop now and consider what the miracle implies in our lives today. Each of us would love to receive healing from what cripples us from having a rich and rewarding relationship with God. Who doesn’t want to be healed? Who doesn’t want to be made whole and have their sins forgiven? This is something we all want. This happens when we rest in Christ and, by faith, accept His healing power. His power to heal us from sin. His power spiritually restores us to walk with Him. This happens when we realize we cannot achieve this on our own and that Christ came to do for us what the law could never do because He fulfills the law by saving us from ourselves. Then, when we walk with him daily, he changes us into his likeness to be an image of the living God to the world, reflecting God’s love, mercy, kindness, and fair sense of justice to the world so they can receive rest in Christ.
So, reach out by faith and accept Christ as your Saviour today. He wants to heal you of what ails you, but first, you must have belief in Him and his healing and saving power.
The Bible In Your Hand 