Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
14. Afterward ] Literally, after these things, as in Joh 5:1. Probably the same day; we may suppose that one of his first acts after his cure would be to offer his thanks in the Temple. On Joh 5:13-14 Augustine writes, ‘It is difficult in a crowd to see Christ; a certain solitude is necessary for our mind; it is by a certain solitude of contemplation that God is seen He did not see Jesus in the crowd, he saw Him in the Temple. The Lord Jesus indeed saw him both in the crowd and in the Temple. The impotent man, however, does not know Jesus in the crowd; but he knows Him in the Temple.’
sin no more ] Or perhaps, continue no longer in sin. Comp. [Joh 8:11,] Joh 20:17. The man’s conscience would tell him what sin. Comp. [Joh 8:7 ]. What follows shews plainly not merely that physical suffering in the aggregate is the result of sin in the aggregate, but that this man’s 38 years of sickness were the result of his own sin. This was known to Christ’s heart-searching eye (Joh 2:24-25), but it is a conclusion which we may not draw without the clearest evidence in any given case. Suffering serves other ends than being a punishment for sin: ‘whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth;’ and comp. Joh 9:3.
a worse thing ] Not necessarily hell: even in this life there might be a worse thing than the sickness which had consumed more than half man’s threescore and ten. So terrible are God’s judgments; so awful is our responsibity. Comp. Mat 12:45 ; 2Pe 2:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Findeth him – Fell in with him, or saw him.
In the temple – The man seems to have gone at once to the temple – perhaps a privilege of which he had been long deprived. They who are healed from sickness should seek the sanctuary of God and give him thanks for his mercy. Compare the notes at Isa 38:20. There is nothing more improper, when we are raised up from a bed of pain, than to forget God our benefactor, and neglect to praise him for his mercies.
Thou art made whole – Jesus calls to his remembrance the fact that he was healed, in order that he might admonish him not to sin again.
Sin no more – By this expression it was implied that the infirmity of this man was caused by sin – perhaps by vice in his youth. His crime or dissipation had brought on him this long and distressing affliction. Jesus shows him that he knew the cause of his sickness, and takes occasion to warn him not to repeat it. No man who indulges in vice can tell what may be its consequences. It must always end in evil, and not unfrequently it results in loss of health, and in long and painful disease. This is always the case with intemperance and all gross pleasures. Sooner or later, sin will always result in misery.
Sin no more – Do not repeat the vice. You have had dear-bought experience, and if repeated it will be worse. When a man has been restored from the effects of sin, he should learn to avoid the very appearance of evil. He should shun the place of temptation; he should not mingle again with his old companions; he should touch not, taste not, handle not. God visits with heavier judgment those who have been once restored from the ways of sin and who return again to it. The drunkard that has been reformed, and that returns to his habits of drinking, becomes more beastly; the man that professes to have experienced a change of heart, and who then indulges in sin, sinks deeper into pollution, and is seldom restored. The only way of safety in all such cases is to sin no more; not to be in the way of temptation; not to expose ourselves; not to touch or approach that which came near to working our ruin. The man who has been intemperate and is reformed, if he tastes the poison at all, may expect to sink deeper than ever into drunkenness and pollution.
A worse thing – A more grievous disease, or the pains of hell. The doom of apostates is a worse thing than thirty-eight years lameness (Henry).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. Jesus findeth him in the temple] The man being conscious that it was through the mercy of God that he was restored, (though he did not as yet know distinctly who Christ was,) went to the temple to return thanks to God for his cure. Whether this was on the same day, or some other, does not distinctly appear: it was probably the same day, after he had carried home his couch. How many, when they are made well, forget the hand that has healed them, and, instead of gratitude and obedience to God, use their renewed health and strength in the service of sin! Those who make this use of God’s mercies may consider their restoration as a respite only from perdition.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.] Our Lord, intending to discover to this man who he was, gave him two proofs of the perfection of his knowledge.
1. He showed him that he knew the secret of the past-sin no more: thereby intimating that his former sins were the cause of his long affliction.
2. He showed him that he knew the future-lest a worse thing come unto thee: if thy iniquity be repeated, thy punishment will be increased.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jesus findeth him in the temple; walking in the outward court of the temple, or some part of it, where people ordinarily walked. He charges him to
sin no more, lest a worse thing betided him; hereby letting him and us know that sin is the usual cause of diseases, and a holy walking the best preservative of health; and that God hath further revelations of his wrath against sin and sinners, than what do or can befall them in this life.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. findeth him in thetemplesaying, perhaps, “I will go into Thy house withburnt offerings, I will pay my vows which my lips have uttered and mymouth hath spoken when I was in trouble” (Psa 66:13;Psa 66:14). Jesus, there Himselffor His own ends, “findeth him there”not allaccidentally, be assured.
sin no more, &c.aglimpse this of the reckless life he had probably led beforehis thirty-eight years’ infirmity had come upon him, and which notimprobably had brought on, in the just judgment of God, his chroniccomplaint. Fearful illustration this of “the severity of God,”but glorious manifestation of our Lord’s insight into “what wasin man.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple,…. Perhaps on the same day; for as soon as he had been at home, and laid down his bed, it is very likely he went directly to the temple, there to show himself, attend the worship of the place, and return thanks to God for the great mercy bestowed on him:
and said unto him, behold thou art made whole; cured of the disease that had attended him so many years; and a wonderful cure it was; well may a “behold” be prefixed; though this is here not only a note of admiration, but of attention, to what he was about to say to him: sin is a disease, which is original, natural, and hereditary to men; it is an epidemical one, all are affected with it, and all the powers and faculties of the soul; and it is a nauseous and loathsome one; and what is mortal and incurable in itself, and only to be cured by the great physician, Jesus Christ: God’s elect are attended with it as others, and being made sensible thereof, they come to Christ for a cure, and receive one, as this man did, to whom he said,
sin no more; intimating, that as all diseases of the body spring from sin, so had his; and that the time past of his life should suffice, for a course of sinning; and that the mercy he had received, laid him under an obligation to guard against it, to which there would still be a proneness in him; nor did our Lord imagine, that he could hereafter live without sin, but that he should not indulge himself in it, and give up himself unto it, and live in it: so all the diseases of the soul arise from sin; and when a person is converted, he ought not to walk as others do, or he himself has done; and though there is a propensity to sin and backslide from God after conversion, yet the grace of God teaches men to deny sin, and to live righteously; and though it cannot be thought that they should be, and act without sin, yet it becomes them not to live in sin, or go on in a course of it, as heretofore:
lest a worse thing come unto thee; for God could send a worse disease, or a sorer affliction, than he had yet done; an heavier punishment, either in this world, or that to come: and apply this to a good man, a converted man, one called by grace and cured by Christ, and a worse thing through sin may come unto him than a bodily disorder, namely, the hidings of God’s face; for as his presence is life, his absence is death, to such persons; and as for such who only make a profession of religion, and are externally reformed only, such, if they sin and fall away, their latter end is worse than the beginning.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Findeth him ( ). Dramatic present as in 1:45, possibly after search as in 9:35.
Sin no more ( ). “No longer go on sinning.” Present active imperative with , a clear implication that disease was due to personal sin as is so often the case. Jesus used the same words to the woman taken in adultery in the spurious passage (Joh 8:11). He had suffered for 38 years. All sickness is not due to personal sin (9:3), but much is and nature is a hard paymaster. Jesus is here living up to his name (Mt 1:21).
Lest a worse thing befall thee ( ). Negative final clause with second aorist middle subjunctive of . is comparative of , bad. Worse than the illness of 38 years, bad as that is. He will now be sinning against knowledge.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Findeth – said. Note the lively interchange of the tenses, as in ver. 13.
Sin no more [ ] . No longer continue to sin. See on Mt 1:21. Jesus thus shows His knowledge that the sickness was the result of sin.
A worse thing. Than even those thirty – eight years of suffering.
Come unto thee [ ] . Rev., better, befall thee. Literally, come to pass.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple,” (meta tauta heuriskei auton ho lesous en to hiero) “After these things Jesus finds him (who was cured) in the temple; Jesus looked for him in order to teach and help him more. How many people God blesses in their trials and afflictions, who afterward, do not so much as go to His sanctuary to worship and thank Him and receive even greater blessings, Heb 10:24-25.
2) “And said to him, Behold, thou art made whole: (kai eipen auto ide hugies gegonas) “And said to him, personally, just look, you have become whole,” or well, after 38 years of infirmity, Joh 5:5; Joh 5:9.
3) “Sin no more,” (meketi hamartane) “Sin no longer,” or continue no longer in sin, as a willful moral and ethical law-breaker. His affliction appears to have been as a consequence of sin, direct sin of himself or his parents, as God forewarned, Exo 20:5.
4) “Lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (hina me cheiron soi ti genetai) “In order that a worse thing not happen to you.” The implication is that sins bear bad fruit, that comes to the sower in some form of judgement, judgement set in order by natural law, by Divine decree, Lev 26:27-28; Num 32:23; Gal 6:7-8.
Future punishment for unbelief is a worse punishment than suffering by nature of a broken natural law, for it dooms the soul in hell, Joh 3:18; Joh 8:24; Rev 21:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. After these things Jesus found him. These words show still more clearly that, when Christ concealed himself for a time, it was not in order that the remembrance of the kindness which he had conferred might perish, for he now appears in public of his own accord; only he intended that the work should first be known, and that he should afterwards be declared to be the Author of it. This passage contains a highly useful doctrine; for when Christ says, lo, thou art made whole, his meaning is, that we make an improper use of the gifts of God, if we are not excited to gratitude. Christ does not reproach the man with what he had given him, but only reminds him that he had been cured in order that, remembering the favor which he had received, he might all his life serve God his Deliverer. Thus, as God by stripes instructs and spurs us on to repentance, so he invites us to it by his goodness and forbearance; and, indeed, it is the universal design both of our redemption and of all the gifts of God, to keep us entirely devoted to Him. Now this cannot be done, unless the remembrance of the past punishment remain impressed on the mind, and unless he who has obtained pardon be employed in this meditation throughout his whole life.
This admonition teaches us also, that all the evils which we endure ought to be imputed to our sins; for the afflictions of men are not accidental, but are so many stripes for our chastisement. First, then, we ought to acknowledge the hand of God which strikes us, and not to imagine that our distresses arise from a blind impetuosity of fortune; and next we ascribe this honor to God, that, since He is a Father full of goodness, He does not take pleasure in our sufferings, and therefore does not treat us more harshly than he has been offended by our sins. When he charges him, sin no more, he does not enjoin him to be free from all sin, but speaks comparatively as to his former life; for Christ exhorts him henceforth to repent, and not to do as he had done before.
Lest something worse befall thee. If God does not succeed in doing us good by the stripes with which he gently chastises us, as the kindest father would chastise his tender and delicate children, He is constrained to assume a new character, and a character which, so to speak, is not natural to Him. He therefore seizes the whip to subdue our obstinacy, as He threatens in the Law, (Lev 26:14; Deu 28:15; Psa 32:9😉 and indeed throughout the Scriptures passages of the same kind are to be found. Thus, when we are incessantly pressed down by new afflictions, we ought to trace this to our obstinacy; for not only do we resemble restive horses and mules, but we are like wild beasts that cannot be tamed. There is no reason to wonder, therefore, if God make use of severer punishment to bruise us, as it were, by mallets, when moderate punishment is of no avail; for it is proper that they who will not endure to be corrected should be bruised by strokes. In short, the use of punishments is, to render us more cautious for the future. If, after the first and second strokes, we maintain obstinate hardness of heart, he will strike us seven times more severely. If, after having showed signs of repentance for a time, we immediately return to our natural disposition, he chastises more sharply this levity which proves us to be forgetful, and which is full of sloth.
Again, in the person of this man it is of importance for us to observe with what gentleness and condescension the Lord bears with us. Let us suppose that the man was approaching old age, in which case he must have been visited by disease in the very prime of life, and perhaps had been attacked by it from his earliest infancy; and now let us consider how grievous to him must have been this punishment continued through so many years. It is certain that we cannot reproach God with excessive severity in causing this man to languish, and to be half-dead, for so long a period; and, therefore, when we are punished more lightly, let us learn that it is because the Lord, in his infinite goodness, moderates the extreme rigour of the punishments which we would have well deserved. (97) Let us also learn that no punishments are so rigorous and severe, that the Lord cannot make additions to them whenever he pleases. Nor can it be doubted that wretched men by their wicked complaints, often draw down upon themselves dreadful and shocking tortures, when they assert that it is not possible to endure heavier distresses, and that God cannot send them any thing more. (98) Are not these things hidden among my treasures ? saith the Lord, (Deu 32:34.) We ought also to observe how slow we are in deriving benefit from God’s chastisements; for if Christ’s exhortation was not superfluous, we may learn from it that the soul of this man was not yet fully purified from every vice. Indeed, the roots of vices are too deep in us to be capable of being torn out in a single day, or in a few days; and the cure of the diseases of the soul is too difficult to be effected by remedies applied for a short time.
(97) “ Que nous aurions bien meritee.”
(98) “ Quand ils disent qu’il n’est pas possible d’endurer plus grand mal, et que Dieu ne leur en scauroit envoyer davantage.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Afterward.There is no mark of time. Probably it was on the same day. Perhaps the first use of his restored power was to go to the Temple and pay his thank-offering to God.
Sin no more.These words connect his past sufferings with individual sin. He has been freed from the effects, but if they have been truly remedial he has been freed from the cause too. He is in Gods house. Let him accept restored powers as Gods gift, and let their devotion be the true thank-offering. The imperative is present, and points to a permanent condition of lifeBe not any more a sinner.
A worse thing.There is, then, something worse than a life of unmoving helplessness. There is a sadness of tone even as He says, Behold, thou art made whole; just as there is a sigh when He says, Ephphatha: Be opened! (Mar. 7:34). There are men for whom it had been good never to have been born (Mat. 26:24). There are limbs that had better never have moved. There are lives that had better have sunk in the negative inaction of death, than have cursed themselves and others in positive deed and speech and thought of life. The power of existence is of infinite grandeur, but it is also of infinite responsibility. It has within its reach the highest good for self and for mankind; but if the God-given power is sacrificed to sin there is within its reach an unutterable depth of woe.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Afterward A day or so.
In the temple A fit place to offer thanks to Jehovah for his cure. He knew not that Jehovah incarnate was present in that temple.
And said A recognition of Jesus by the man took place and converse ensued, from which the man was enabled to identify Jesus as the celebrated prophet of the day.
Sin no more Blessed and Christ-like advice! How should the forgiven soul dread the sin by which it has once been exposed to eternal death!
A worse thing A paralysis from which no pool can restore, and no Saviour will deliver; the most terrible catastrophe of the soul’s eternal history.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Afterward Jesus finds him in the Temple and said to him, “Look, you are made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you”.’
Jesus later sought the man out in the Temple area. He did not just want the incident to stop with healing, He was concerned for the whole man. ‘Do not sin any more in case worse things happen to you’. This might suggest that the illness was associated directly with the way he had lived, but the exhortation is in the present. ‘Do not go on sinning’. He has not only sinned in the past but continues to the present day. As always with Jesus, the man must face up to his sinfulness. The Judge of the world is here and the light is shone on the man’s heart and conscience.
The story has similarities to that of the Paralytic man in Mar 2:1-12 in that his disability is connected with his having sinned, and that he picks up his mattress and walks at Jesus’ command. But there are no other similarities. It may be in both cases that their physical problems were the result of a psychological reaction to some particular question of guilt, which Jesus released, but in this case no mention is made of sin being forgiven. However, it is clear that Jesus did wish to get over the message that he needed to turn from sin, for He specifically seeks him out to tell him so. Like him many people have found through life that certain types of sin lead on to sickness and disease. But the main purpose of the story is to reveal that Jesus is the One Who has come to make God’s lame people walk again, thus revealing Him as the Messiah, and to lead on to what follows, His controversy with the ‘Judaisers’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.”. Jesus, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.’
This incident is once again described as a ‘sign’. Its significance will come out later. And it is immediately connected with the Messiah, or coming King. The people, always living in hope of the coming of some kind of deliverer, seem to have been divided between seeing Him as the great prophet like Moses, and as the expected King and Messiah. Thus this sign precipitated them into action. A prophet who could produce food at will would make a very suitable king, as well as having the makings of a powerful warrior.
As we will shortly learn the event had clearly reminded some of the people of how Moses had fed the people in the wilderness, while to others it probably brought home the idea of the coming Messianic Feast, which was often in their tradition associated with the prospective appearing of the Messiah (compare Isa 25:8). When Messiah came there would be good times coming. Either way they wanted that time to come, and in view of what they had witnessed they were hoping for action. They knew what it meant to go hungry and be in need, but here was clearly someone who could solve all their problems. He could provide food for all! John brings out their attitude to remind his readers that Jesus is the King, but not the kind that these people wanted.
‘Take him by force to make him king.’ That is, they wanted to arrange a kind of coronation there and then, with Jesus being carried along and unable to escape. They were indicating their readiness to follow Him against the Romans. This brings out the height of expectation in some of the people in Galilee, and their religious zeal. Their expectations were so stirred up by what had happened, possibly egged on by Zealots in the crowd, that they were being carried along on their own emotions and ready to begin the fight against the Romans without thought of the consequences. Surely if Jesus could do this He could do anything. Such risings occurred now and again and that was why the Roman authorities looked on Palestine as a hotbed of trouble and put a military governor over Judea. In their eyes the people were too volatile.
But that was not what Jesus intended. Certainly what He had done was a Messianic revelation and evidence that here was a greater than Moses, but His aim had been to bring them together for a covenant meal and to demonstrate to them that He, as the God of the covenant, could feed their souls with the bread of life. There are few sadder pictures than this in chapter 6 where the people, having been miraculously fed by the power of God (Joh 6:5-14), miss the fact that the sign given is really pointing to the spiritual bread which is available from Jesus, which is far more important than their daily bread supply, and instead seek physical bread. They have missed the point (Joh 5:26). They are so concerned for more bread to be offered to them (Joh 5:26) that Jesus will have to warn them not to yearn so much for physical bread, but for the “bread” which “endures to eternal life” which “the Son of Man will give you” (Joh 5:37).
We in turn also need to ask ourselves, which is more important to us also? Spiritual bread or material benefits? The question faces us as well as them, not just as a momentary question, but as determining the principles which will fashion our futures. On what will we lay our emphasis as we go into the future?
Meanwhile He withdrew again into the hills, saddened at heart. They had failed to understand His teaching and were seeking Him for the wrong reason, and He wanted nothing to do with their worldly objectives (they would have argued that they were spiritual objectives, but that was because of their false traditions).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 5:14. Jesus findeth him in the temple, Jesus found the man in the temple, whither probably he repaired, to return thanks to God for his signal recovery; when, to render the mercy that he had bestowed upon him complete, our Lord took that opportunityto put him in mindof his having brought the distemper upon himself by his wicked courses; for he exhorts him to abstain from sinning for the future, lest some heavier judgment should be inflicted on him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 5:14-15 . ] whether or not on the same day does not appear. But it is psychologically probable that the new feeling of restored health led the man at once into the sanctuary.
.] Jesus therefore knew (by direct intuition) that the sickness of this sufferer had been brought about (see on Mat 9:2-3 ) by special sin (of what kind does not appear); and this particular form of sin is what He refers to, not generally to the universal connection between sin and physical evil (Neander, following the early expositors), or between sin and sickness (Hengstenberg), which would not be in keeping with the character of this private interview, the design of which was the good of the man’s soul. The man’s own conscience would necessarily give an individual application to the . Comp. Joh 8:11 .
] to be left indefinite; for if the recurred, it might bring with it a worse sickness (so Nonnus), and other divine punishment, even the loss of eternal salvation. See generally Mat 12:45 ; 2Pe 2:20 .
Joh 5:15 . , . . .] The motive was neither malice (Schleiermacher, Paulus, comp. Ammon), nor gratitude , to bring Jesus into notice and recognition among the Jews (Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Grotius, and many early writers; also Maier and Hengstenberg), nor obedience to the rulers (Bengel, Lcke, de Wette, Luthardt), under the influence of stupidity (Tholuck) or fear (Lange), but, in keeping with Joh 5:11 , and the designation (comp. Joh 5:11 ): the supplementary vindication of the authority in obedience to which he had acted, though it was the Sabbath (Joh 5:9-10 ), and which he was unable to name to the Jews. This authority is with him decidedly higher than that of the Sanhedrim; and he not only employs it for his own acquittal, but even defies them with it. Comp. the man born blind, Joh 9:17 ; Joh 9:31 ff. But for this purpose how easily could he ascertain the name of Jesus!
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1624
THE MAN HEALED AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA
Joh 5:14. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
MOST men will make good resolutions in a season of affliction; but few carry them into execution when they have obtained deliverance. They, however, to whom troubles are sanctified will remember the vows that are upon them. They will repair as soon as possible, not to houses of dissipation or amusement, but to the temple of God; and, while others are only hardened by their mercies, these will be favoured with fresh manifestations of Gods love. The man whom our Lord addressed in the text, experienced this. When he was returning thanks for the cure he had received in his body, Jesus instructed him for the good of his soul. We shall consider,
I.
The mercy vouchsafed to him.
Bethesda was a pool that possessed very singular qualities
[The name Bethesda signifies a house of mercy. The pool so called had the property of healing all manner of disorders: its healing operations, however, were confined to certain seasons; they depended also on the agency of a superior power [Note: To ascribe them to the blood of the sacrifices stirred up in the water by a messenger from the temple, only shews to what wretched shifts infidelity is often driven by its desire to explain away the miracles of Christ.], and were limited to the first person that went into it after its waters were agitated by an angel. Multitudes of diseased persons constantly attended there; and five porches were built for their accommodation. When that healing power was first given to it cannot be ascertained; probably God had but a few years before endued it with those qualities, in order to prepare the people for their Messiah, and to typify his works.]
In the porches around this pool an impotent man had long waited in vain
[He had laboured under an infirmity thirty-eight years, and had long attended there in hopes of a cure; but he had no friend to help him with sufficient speed; nor had the people charity enough to let him take his turn. Every one consulted his own good in preference to his; and thus his efforts were daily frustrated, and his hopes continually deferred.]
But Jesus seeing him, wrought a miracle in his favour
[Jesus needed no solicitations to excite his pity. Though unasked, he tendered the man effectual relief. Little indeed did the man understand the import of our Lords question [Note: ver. 6, 7.]; but Jesus uttered the irresistible command, and instantly was health restored to this diseased man; yea, he, who but the moment before could not get into the pool for want of help, now easily took up his bed and walked: nor was he intimidated by those who accused him of violating the Sabbath. He rightly judged that the person who had power to heal him thus miraculously, had also authority to direct his conduct.]
For a short season the man knew not the name of his benefactor, but soon after enjoyed an interview with him in the temple. On this occasion the Evangelist relates,
II.
The admonition given him
It was sin which had brought this infirmity upon him
[God often punishes transgressors even in this life [Note: Psa 107:17-18.]. This was extremely common under the Jewish economy; nor are there wanting instances under the Christian dispensation [Note: 1Co 11:30.]. If we could dive into the secrets of the Most High, it is probable we should trace many of our troubles to sin as their proper source.]
Nevertheless this did not preclude the exercise of mercy towards him
[Jesus was full of compassion even to the most unworthy. He often selected such to be the chief objects of his mercy [Note: 1Ti 1:13-16.]. Indeed, the displaying of his sovereignty, and grace, is a principal end of all his dispensations [Note: Eph 2:7.].]
But he solemnly cautioned him against sin in future
[Though Jesus pities sinners, he abhors their sin; nor will he accept the persons of those who live in it [Note: Luk 6:46.]. He reminded the man of the deliverance he had experienced, and guarded him against the cause of his past calamities. This admonition too he enforced with a most weighty argument. The years of misery that the cripple had endured were nothing in comparison of hell-torments: these will hereafter be the recompence of sin; nor will any feel them so bitterly as backsliders and apostates.]
To make a right improvement of these events; we must yet further consider,
III.
The instruction to be derived from both.
1.
To us divine ordinances are what the pool of Bethesda was to the Jews
[Here, my brethren, is healing for every disorder of the soul But the waters have no healing virtue in themselves: If Paul plant, or Apollos water, it is God alone that can give the increase But Jesus is present here, as he has said, Wherever two or three are met together, there am I in the midst of them. And his address to every individual amongst us is, Wilt thou be made whole? Nor should any one have reason to complain that others run away with the blessing, provided that he himself were really desirous to obtain it. It is not the most active, but the most humble, that shall succeed here. O that we were all as sensible of our wants, and as anxious to obtain relief, as were the people that frequented that pool! Verily, not one should depart without obtaining the desired benefit. Dear brethren, you are too apt to be satisfied with attending upon ordinances, and to think that the mere attendance is sufficient, though you reap no solid benefit from them. But it is not in this way that you can hope to receive any blessing from the Lord. You must be sensible of your urgent and pressing wants: you must come to Gods house, expecting to receive benefit to your souls: you must implore of him to give effect to his word, and so to accompany it with his blessing that it may prove the power of God to your salvation. Then shall you find the word quick and powerful as in the days of old; and being renewed in the spirit of your minds, become happy monuments of Gods power and grace to all around you.]
2.
If we have derived benefit from them, we must manifest it by a holy and consistent walk
[Every man that has received the grace of God in truth, will revolt at the idea of continuing in sin, as the Apostle did; Shall I continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall I who am dead to sin, live any longer therein [Note: Rom 6:1-2.]? Nor must we be unwilling to listen to the motive suggested by our Lord to this favoured man; Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. It is quite a mistake to imagine that a fear of Gods judgments is legal It is often inculcated both in the Old Testament and the New [Note: Job 36:13. Heb 10:38. 2Pe 2:20-21. Rev 2:4-5.]. And, if Paul himself cherished this principle in his bosom as an incentive to watchfulness [Note: 1Co 9:27.], who are we, that we should conceive it to be unworthy of a place in our hearts? Doubtless the love of Christ is to influence us in the first place: but still we are never to forget our liability to fall; since it is expressly said, Be not high-minded, but fear; and, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. In a word, the grace of God that bringeth salvation to us, teaches us to deny sin of every kind, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world: and therefore, if, like this impotent man, we have received healing of the Lord, let us glorify him by a life of open, resolute, and unreserved obedience. And if the world raise a clamour against us, let it suffice us to reply, We are following the commands of our heavenly Benefactor.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Ver. 14. Findeth him in the temple ] Praising God, likely, for his unexpected recovery. So Hezekiah, the first work he did when off his sick bed, Isa 38:22 .
Behold, thou art made whole, &c. ] Here Isa 1:1-31 . Commemoratio beneficii. Remember kndnesses. 2. Commonitio officii. Admonish duties. 3. Comminatio supplicii. Ingentia beneficia, ingentia flagitia, ingentia supplicia. a Threaten punishment. Unnatural kindnesses, unnatural shame, unnatural punishment.
a Magdeburgens praef, ad cent. 5.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] The knowledge of our Lord extended even to the sin committed thirty-eight years ago, from which this long sickness had resulted, for so it is implied here. The , as Trench observes (Mir. 254, edn. 2), “gives us an awful glimpse of the severity of God’s judgments:” see Mat 12:45 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 5:14 . Though the healed man had failed to keep hold of Jesus, Jesus does not lose hold of him, but , “finds him,” as if He had been looking out for him, cf. Joh 1:44 ; Joh 1:46 , “in the temple,” where he may have gone to give God thanks. Jesus says to him . , present imperative, “continue no longer in sin”. . There is then some worse consequence of sin than thirty-eight years’ misery and uselessness. Apparently Jesus feared that health of body might only lead the man to further sin. His physical weakness was seemingly the result of sin, cf. Mar 2:5-10 . Jesus is not satisfied with giving him physical health. Oscar Holtzmann observes that we have here the two leading Pauline ideas, that the Saviour frees from many O.T. precepts, and yet that His emancipation is a call to strive against sin ( Johan. , p. 60).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Afterward =
After these things. See note on Joh 5:1.
findeth. Compare Joh 9:35. See App-176.
temple = the temple courts. See note on Mat 23:16.
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
art made = hast become.
sin, &c. = continue no longer (Greek. meketi) in sin.
sin. Greek. hamartano. App-128. See Joh 9:24, Joh 9:25, Joh 9:31, Joh 9:34. App-176.
lest = in order that . . . not Greek.
me. App-105.
come unto thee = happen to thee, or befall thee.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] The knowledge of our Lord extended even to the sin committed thirty-eight years ago, from which this long sickness had resulted, for so it is implied here. The , as Trench observes (Mir. 254, edn. 2), gives us an awful glimpse of the severity of Gods judgments:-see Mat 12:45.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 5:14. , afterwards) either on the same or another day, or a Sabbath.- , in the temple) The participation in public Divine worship more affects him, who had been a long time ill, than it does all the rest.-, do not hereafter) Therefore the man had been previously a sinner; nor was he free from great danger of falling into sin again. Comp. ch. Joh 8:11, [To the woman caught in adultery] Go and sin no more. This admonition, now that some interval bad elapsed since his healing, was the more necessary.- , something worse) some heavier calamity than the infirmity even of thirty-eight years standing.-, befall) owing to a new, and that a heavier visitation of Gods wrath.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 5:14
Joh 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee.-Jesus on meeting him in the temple warned him if he sinned again greater evil would come upon him. This seems to imply that this evil had come upon him as the result of his sin. The Jews believed this, yet Jesus told his disciples (Joh 9:2-3) that neither the blind man nor his parents had sinned to bring on his blindness.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sin
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
in the: Lev 7:12, Psa 9:13, Psa 27:6, Psa 66:13-15, Psa 107:20-22, Psa 116:12-19, Psa 118:18, Isa 38:20, Isa 38:22
sin: Joh 8:11, Ezr 9:13, Ezr 9:14, Neh 9:28, 1Pe 4:3
lest: Joh 5:5, Lev 26:23, Lev 26:24, Lev 26:27, 2Ch 28:22, Mat 12:45, Rev 2:21-23
Reciprocal: Lev 13:20 – in sight Num 16:48 – General 2Ki 20:5 – thou shalt go Job 13:26 – makest Psa 18:22 – For all Psa 25:7 – the sins Psa 85:8 – but Jon 3:2 – preach Mar 2:5 – sins Luk 5:20 – Man Luk 11:26 – and the Luk 17:15 – General Joh 5:9 – immediately Joh 7:14 – the temple Joh 7:23 – I have made Joh 9:35 – and when Act 3:8 – he 1Co 15:34 – sin not 2Th 1:9 – be Jam 5:15 – if he 1Jo 2:1 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE PARDON OF SIN
Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh 5:14
The pardon of sin is a parta very important partof the expulsion of sin. The power of sin is not gone because the sin is forgiven. On the contrary, it will continue to exist and trouble us long after we have had, and been quite conscious that we have had, forgiveness from the guilt of sinup to a certain period, when that sin shall be destroyed.
I. Pardon leads to conquest.The pardon of sin goes a great way to the conquest of sin; and we shall never do battle with sin very effectually until we have been, and feel that we have been, forgiven. Among other reasons for this I will mention three.
(a) The condemnation of sin cannot go without something of the sin going too.
(b) The man who has tasted the peace of Gods forgiveness is in a much better condition to encounter and overcome the corruptions of his own heart.
(c) A spring of action is set at work in the heart with which nothing else can compare.
II. Concerning the pardon of sin.
(a) From the confession of sin, it is a very short wayif it be any way at allto the forgiveness of sin.
(b) Go, and sin no more. It is a means to a further end. The pardon, the liberty, the peace, is only the date of new holiness. Be of good courage, attack the very strongholds of your besetting sin, fight to death. Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
4
Sin no more. We are not informed what sin the man had committed, that brought on him the chronic case of physical prostration. And it did not have to be a miraculous punishment, although God did sometimes send physical Judgments upon people in the days of miracles. But there are some sins of a moral nature, that can result in serious consequences to a man’s health. But if this man should be so ungrateful as to sin again, the Lord would not wait for nature to inflict a penalty upon him, but would send one Himself, that would be worse than the affliction he had this time.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 5:14. After these things Jesus findeth him in the temple courts. Some time afterwards, probably not on the same day, the man is found in the temple courts. There is no reason to doubt that he had gone there for purposes of devotion, having recognised the Divine deliverance. Throughout the narrative he stands in strong contrast with the Jews, resembling in this the blind man of whom we read in chap. 9.
And said unto him, Behold, thou hast been made whole: sin no longer, that some worse thing come not unto thee. The words of Jesus imply much more than the general connection of sin and suffering; they show that in this case the sickness had in some way been the result and the punishment of sin. Yet sorer judgment will follow a return to the life of sin (Mat 12:45).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
These words are our Saviour’s seasonable advice and counsel to the poor impotent cripple, whom he had miraculously restored to health and soundness.
Whence observe, 1. The person admonishing, Jesus; he that had been his physician before, is his monitor and teacher now: Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more. Oh, how much is it the duty, but seldom the practice, of those whom God makes instruments for recovering bodily health, to put their patients in mind of their obligations to thankfulness and new obedience! Thus did our Saviour. The recovered man’s physician gave him instruction: his healer became his monitor. Sin no more.
Observe, 2. The person admonished, the recovered cripple: Thou art made whole. But what was he? Not a disciple, not a believer; For he that was healed wist not who Jesus was, ver 13. he knew not Christ, therefore believed not on him, and yet was healed by him.
Thence learn, That there are many outward mercies and common blessings, which Christ bestows upon those that have no spiritual knowledge of him, or saving acquiantance with him. The man that was healed, wist not who he was that had healed him.
Observe, 3. The place where Christ meets this his recovered patient; not at the tavern, but in the temple, returning thanks to God for his recovered health: when God sends forth his word and healeth us, it is our duty to make our first visit to God’s house, and to pay our vows in the great congregation and sound forth the praises of our great and gracious deliverer.
Observe, 4. The circumstance of time when Christ found him in the temple soon after his recovery. Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple. We must not be clamorous and importunate to receive mercies, and dumb and tongue-tied in returning thanks: but make haste, and not delay the time to pay our acknowledgments to him that healeth.
Observe, 5. The admonition itself; Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee; where it is farther implied, that Almighty God has sorer plagues and severer judgments in store for those sinners who go on obstinately in a course of sin and rebellion against God, notwithstanding all the signal rebukes of his avenging anger.
From the whole note, That when the Lord doth greaciously heal a person or a people, it is a mercy to be much observed, and thankfully acknowledged.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 5:14-16. Afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple The same day, probably, in which he was healed, whither, it is likely, he had repaired to return thanks to God for his signal recovery. Thus, when God has, at any time, restored us to our health, we ought to attend him with solemn praises; and the sooner the better; while the sense of the mercy is fresh in our minds. Jesus, happening to be now in the temple, and meeting with the man, that he might render the mercy he had conferred on him complete, takes this opportunity to put him in mind of his having brought the distemper upon himself by his wicked courses; and said, Behold, thou art made whole By the singular mercy of God, thou art now restored to health and vigour; sin no more Guard against all known sin; lest a worse thing come unto thee Lest some heavier judgment should be inflicted on thee: for the deliverance thou hast now received would be a dreadful aggravation of any future guilt thou mightest contract. The man Having received information from those that stood by who it was that spoke to him, and knowing him to be the person to whom he was indebted for his cure; departed From the temple; and told the Jews Who had before examined him, that it was Jesus who had made him whole, expecting, no doubt, by this discovery, to have procured him that honour and respect which were due to so much power and goodness. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus One would have expected, that as soon as the man who had been thus miraculously healed had published the name of his benefactor, crowds would have immediately thronged about Jesus to have heard the words of his mouth, and to have received the blessings of his gospel. But, instead of this, behold the malignity of our fallen nature, and force of stubborn prejudice! They surround him with a hostile intent; they even conspire against his life; and, for an imagined transgression in point of ceremony, would have put out this Light of Israel. Let us not wonder, then, if our good be evil spoken of; if even candour, benevolence, and usefulness, do not disarm the enmity of those who have been taught to prefer sacrifice to mercy; and who, dis-relishing the genuine gospel, naturally seek to slander and persecute the professors, and especially the defenders of it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 14, 15. Afterward, Jesus finds him in the temple and said to him: Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee. 15.The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
The sick man had, undoubtedly, come into the temple to pray or offer a thank- offering. The warning which Jesus addresses to him certainly implies that his malady had been the effect of some particular sin; but we need not infer from this that every malady results from an individual and special sin; it may have as its cause, in many cases, the debasement of the collective life of humanity by means of sin (see on Joh 9:3). By something worse than thirty-eight years of suffering, Jesus can scarcely mean anything but damnation.
In the revelation which the impotent man gives to the Jews, we need not see either a communication dictated by thankfulness and the desire to bring the Jews to faith (Chrysostom, Grotius, etc.), nor an ill-disposed denunciation (Schleiermacher, Lange), nor an act of obedience to the Jewish authorities (Lucke, de Wette, Luthardt), nor, finally, the bold desire of making known to them a power superior to their own (Meyer). It is quite simply the reply which he was not able to give, at Joh 5:13, and which he now gives to discharge his own responsibility; for he remained himself under the complaint so long as he could not refer it to the author of the act, and this violation of the Sabbath might draw upon him the penalty of death (Joh 5:16; Joh 5:18); comp. Num 15:35.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Sometime shortly after that Jesus found the man in the temple precincts that stood south of the Bethesda Pool in Jerusalem. Evidently Jesus had been looking for him. He warned the man not to use his healing as an opportunity to participate in sin. If he did, worse consequences than his former ailment would befall him (cf. Act 5:1-11; 1Co 11:30; 1Jn 5:16). He may have had eternal damnation as well as immediate consequences in mind since the man showed no evidence of possessing eternal life. Certainly not everyone whom Jesus healed experienced regeneration. Jesus’ point was that the man should regard his new health as an opportunity to make a new break with sin (cf. Gal 5:13).