Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." – John 5:14

Today's Scripture Reading (December 16, 2023): John 5

I have a bad habit, although I don't think I am alone in the habit; you probably suffer from it, too. My habit is that in a world that seems to preach that the best way to learn is to experience something, I don't always remember the lessons that experience is supposed to teach me. First, let me attack the concept itself. If we are going to survive, we need to be able to learn from the things that people like Mom or Dad try to teach us. We don't want to learn some dangerous actions from experience. Jumping off a cliff is dangerous; I don't need to experience it to understand that. Some drugs are highly addictive; one experiment with the substance, and we are hooked. We need to be able to learn some things without experiencing it. Just don't do it. We need to be able to learn from the experiences of others, or this life will be much shorter than it was intended to be.

But when we do experience something, we need to be open to the lessons that the experience should teach us, but we often aren't receptive to the lesson, or at least, I am not. Somehow, I keep returning to the same horse like a lunatic (politically incorrect?), expecting to do the same thing and get a different solution.

There is a misconception that every time Jesus healed someone, he told them to "go and sin no more." The message is that Jesus told the people to go and learn from the experience that had been provided to them. In actuality, not only did Jesus not always issue the command, but Jesus rarely said it. In the Gospel of John, Jesus issued the command or one related to it only twice. This incident is the first time and the intent is communicated rather than the exact phrase. The other, and the only time that the precise words "go and sin no more" are used, is in the disputed passage in John 8 and the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.

Here, we have no explanation for the phrase, just that Jesus seemed to know more than we do. Sometimes, we need healing because of our sins, but not always. This incident appears to be one of the former; his illness had something to do with his behavior and the lessons he should have learned. Jesus indicates that the results could have been worse than it was. We also need to notice that the man never thanks Jesus or affirms him in any way other than to report him to the officials. It is safe to assume that he is among those who did not seek out a life of discipleship. Jesus recognized his potential, but that potential was not realized because of his muted response. Something is off about this man, and yet Jesus healed him anyway. All of which just deepens the mystery.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 12