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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.”

 

14 Afterward

Later Jesus found the paralyzed man in the temple. Jesus did not hide from the man but sought him out.

Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well.

Jesus did not forget about this man. He took the initiative to find the healed paralytic man. He did not reproach the healed man but simply reminded him of his healing and the cause for his paralysis. Jesus could have rebuked the man for betraying Him to the Jews but did not take this approach.

“Have been made well” is in a tense in the Greek that means the healing of this man was permanent (perfect tense). His healing lasted, not like many temporary healings of today.

Sin no more,

This statement clearly indicates that this man had sinned and continued to sin as a lifestyle. Jesus indicated that this man’s sin brought on his paralysis. Continued sin may bring on a much worse condition. Evidently this sickness was connected to his sinful life.

lest a worse thing come upon you.”

In many places the Bible does not relate a given sin to suffering because of that sin. Sickness is not always the result of sin in the Bible, but sometimes it is (Ac 5:1-11; 1 Co 11:30). Here, however, Jesus said that the man’s lameness was due to sin.

The “worse thing” here is eternal suffering for sin. That is far “worse” than this man’s 38 years of paralysis.

PRINCIPLE:

The issue of heaven and hell is a sobering thought.

APPLICATION:

It is important that we give a sober warning to those who are heading to a Christless eternity. There is no comparison between suffering in time to suffering in eternity.

The Word of God generally does not connect specific sins to physical problems; however, at times it does. There are some situations where the Bible ties a specific sin to particular suffering.

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