A Tender Yet Watchful Word (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.’” (John 5:14 NKJV)

What a tender word Jesus spoke to the invalid man who was healed and yet faced the tough test by the religious leaders of the nation! The man was sick thirty-eight years almost four decades. He was one of the people who were waiting for the stirring moment of water in the pool of Bethesda. Jesus visited there and found the man and asked whether he wanted to be healed. Seeing that there was an eager desire to be healed Jesus said to him, “Get up, take your mat, and walk!”

What a sensational command that was to the man who hadn’t walked such a long years! Nevertheless, the man responded to the command of the King and Lord of all and obeyed Him, even the almost unbelievable word. Then, he got strength to rise in the knees, took the mat, and walked. Jesus says to His disciples, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” (Mark 11:23 NKJV) It is a faith in action!

The day Jesus healed Him was the Sabbath and thereafter it irritated the religious leaders so much who didn’t pay any attention to the pathetic man healed now marvelously but increased their grudges against Jesus, assuming that He violated the Law of Sabbath. So, they examined the man quite extensively with full force of harshness and hostility. The man was absolutely in trouble. 

At the moment of the tough test of his faith, Jesus found him in the temple. It is significant that Jesus found him when the man was in trouble, not the other way around. When we are in trouble, we usually think that God is far away remote, not taking care of us. But it is not true. Jesus is right there where and when we’re in the test of faith. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV)

Do not miss the last phrase of Jesus’ promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” What a promise, what a confidence, and what an encouragement we have! He is in our midst always. In fact, Christ is in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Jesus says to the man the most tender and yet the most watchful word, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” Jesus made him a whole new man, healing physically and spiritually. Physically he was made to walk again and spiritually he was made whole by breaking up the chain of bondage to the devil. In Christ Jesus, he was made to be a member of the family of God in heaven. Even death couldn’t prevail him any longer because he was made new by the power of God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)

“Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you,” says Jesus. Jesus didn’t condemn or rebuked him when he didn’t even know by whom he was healed. The word of truth thunders and shakes the heavens and the earth that we all listen carefully to Him. The man was on the verge of collapse in the faith and Jesus found him to strengthen him to keep the faith in Him just as he acted by faith at the command of King and Lord.

No wonder the author of Hebrews exhorts the saints in Christ, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV)