John 5:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So Christ also acted with the paralytic. He Himself expresses this when He says, "See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you."

What do we learn from this? First, that his sickness came from sins. Second, that the teaching about Gehenna is true. Third, that the punishment there will be long-lasting and endless.

Where are those who say: I committed murder in one hour, I committed adultery for a short time, and shall I be punished forever?

Here the paralytic did not sin for as many years as he endured punishment. He spent almost a whole human lifetime in uninterrupted torment.

Sins are judged not by time, but by the very nature of the transgressions.

One must also consider this: even if we endure heavy punishment for our former sins, we shall undergo another and still heavier punishment if we fall again into the same vices.

This is entirely just. He who is not made better even by punishment is delivered to a greater penalty, as one insensible and contemptuous.

One punishment by itself ought to be enough to restrain and admonish the man who has once fallen. But if, not instructed by the punishment he has borne, he again dares the same thing, he is justly subjected again to punishment.

He brings this punishment upon himself. If even here we fall again into the same sins after punishment for sins and are subjected to a heavier penalty, how much more should we fear and tremble?

We should fear while awaiting the future unbearable torments, especially when we sin here and suffer no punishment.

Why, you will say, are not all punished in this way? We see many vicious people who have good health, are strong in body, and enjoy prosperity.

But we must not rely on this. For this very reason we must lament such people all the more. The fact that they suffer nothing here is itself a pledge of a heavier punishment there.

Explaining this, Paul says, "When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Cor 11:32). Here there is admonition only; there, punishment.

What then, you say? Are all illnesses from sins? Not all, but the greater part. Some come from carelessness. Gluttony, drunkenness, and inactivity also produce illnesses.

One thing only must always be observed: every blow must be borne with thanksgiving.

There are illnesses because of sins. In the books of Kings we see that a certain man suffered disease of the feet for this very reason.

Illnesses also occur for our testing in what is good, as God says to Job, "Do you think I have dealt with you for any other reason than that you might appear righteous?" (Job 40:3).

But why does Christ bring their sins into view for these paralytics? To the one mentioned by Matthew He says, "Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven you" (Mt 9:2).

To this man He says, "See, you have been made well; sin no more." I know that some speak in condemnation of this paralytic, saying that he was later among the accusers of Jesus Christ.

They say that for this reason he heard such words from Him. But what shall we say about the man who, according to Matthew’s testimony, heard almost the same words?

To him also it was said, "Your sins are forgiven you." But he heard this not for the same reason, as can be seen most clearly from what follows.

The Evangelist says that after the healing "Jesus found him in the temple." This is a sign of great piety.

He did not go to the marketplace or to amusements. He did not give himself to overeating and carelessness, but spent his time in the temple.

Although he had to endure violence and persecution from everyone there, this did not at all move him to withdraw from the temple.

Therefore Christ, finding him after the conversation with the Jews, made no hint of any such thing. If He had wished to accuse him, He would have said, "You are taking up the former things again.

After being healed, you have not become better." But He said nothing of the sort. He only warns him concerning the future.

Why, then, when healing the lame and maimed, did He not remind them of this? It seems to me that the illnesses of the paralytics came from sins, while the illnesses of the others came from natural weakness.

If this is not so, then through them, and through what was said to them, it was said also to the others. Since this illness is heavier than all others, the lesser illnesses are healed through the greater.

When Christ healed another man, He commanded him to give glory to God. He impressed this not on him alone, but through him on all the others.

So also here, through the paralytics, He exhorts all the rest and impresses on them the same thing that He said to those men.

We must add this as well: He saw great patience in the soul of the paralytic. Therefore He gives him instruction as to a man able to receive exhortation.

He secures his health both by the benefit and by fear of future evils.

And see how far Christ was from vainglory. He did not say, "See, I have made you well." He said, "See, you are now well; sin no more."

Nor does He say, "Do not sin, lest I punish you." He says only, "lest something worse happen to you." He expresses both things impersonally.

At the same time, He shows that health was restored to him more by grace than by merit. He does not give the impression that the man was delivered from punishment according to worthiness.

Rather, He expresses that he was saved through love for mankind. Otherwise He would have said, "See, you have already borne sufficient punishment for your sins. Be careful in the future."

But He did not speak so. How did He speak? "See, you have been made well; sin no more."

We should repeat this often to ourselves. When we have been punished and delivered from punishment, let each one say to himself, "See, you have been made well; sin no more."

But if we continue to sin and are not subjected to punishment, let us repeat the following apostolic saying: "The goodness of God leads you to repentance.

But according to your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself" (Rom 2:4-5).

Christ manifested an important proof of His Godhead to the paralytic not only by strengthening his body, but also in another way.

By the words "sin no more," He showed that He knew all his former transgressions. Therefore the man ought also to believe Him concerning the future.

And this is most just. For the one who did not become better through the first punishment is subjected to greater torments because he is insensible and negligent.

You will say, "Why are not all punished in this way? We see many wicked people enjoying health and prosperity."

But the fact that they suffered nothing here will become the occasion for greater punishment there.

Pointing to this, Paul says, "When we are judged by the Lord," that is, here, "we are chastened, so that we may not be condemned with the world," that is, there; 1 Cor 11:32.

For sufferings here are corrections, while those there are punishments.

Are all illnesses, then, from sins? Not all, but the greater part.

Some occur because of sins, as happened with this paralytic. In the book of Kings we see that one man fell into leprosy because of sins; 2 Kgs 5:27; 2 Kgs 15:5.

Others occur for glorification and manifestation, as happened with Job, so that his virtue might be revealed.

Others arise from dissipation, such as from intemperance and drunkenness.

Some infer from the Lord's words, "sin no more," that the Lord knew this paralytic would tell the Jews about Him and point Him out after meeting Him in the temple. They suppose He says this concerning that.

But it is not so. This man proves to be pious. For Jesus finds him in the temple.

If he had not been pious, he would have returned home and given himself to rest and pleasure. He would have fled the fury and dispute of the Jews.

But nothing of the kind drew him away from the temple.

If punishment for sins here lasted thirty-eight years, what can anyone say about the punishment to come? Without doubt, it is endless and eternal.

Of course, not all illnesses come from sins, and not all sinners fall ill.

The paralytic mentioned in Matthew was ill because of sins, as was explained to us. Therefore Jesus Christ said to him, "Your sins are forgiven" (Mt 9:2).

In their persons Jesus Christ exhorts all who have not yet been ill to fear illness and amend themselves.

He exhorts those who have already been ill to fear an even worse illness and to be cautious for the future.

If any one of us is already ill, let him say to himself, "See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you."

If he is not yet ill, let him sing to himself the apostolic saying: "The goodness of God leads you to repentance."

And again: "By your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself" (Rom 2:4-5).

Jesus Christ showed the paralytic proof of His Godhead not only by strengthening his body, but also by the words, "sin no more." By them He showed that He knows all things, even secret things.

It is also beyond doubt that returning after recovery to the former way of life, and repeating former deeds, often brings back the illness in a still stronger degree.

However, it may well be that by the words, "lest something worse happen to you," Jesus makes him understand the punishment that may follow in this very life if he begins to sin again.

"See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you."

If we heard a skilled physician say to one healed, or to one sick, "Do not use such and such food henceforth," what would we think?

Of course, we would think that the healed man had formerly used this food. It had evidently been the cause of his illness.

The physician evidently foresees that it will again cause illness, if the healed man does not cease using it.

Similarly, what should we think when we hear the Lord's word to the healed man: "See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you"?

Clearly the healed man had sinned before. Clearly his sins had been the cause of his illness.

Clearly the divine Physician foresees that renewed sins will renew the evil in one form or another, but with still greater force.

Here one may ask whether the Gospel narrative of the paralytic presents the lot of one man alone.

Or does it also reveal a general law of judgment upon sin, partly impressed in nature and partly put into action by Providence?

This law is not always evident, not always swift, and not always the same, according to the kinds, degrees, and circumstances of sin.

Who can measure the depth or search out the paths of God's judgments? Who would dare declare every sick person condemned, or every illness a placard of guilt?

Righteous Job also suffered illness, and a very grievous one.

Yet one cannot say that the severity of judgment for the sins of youth was directed exclusively at one sinner of Jerusalem.

It confined him for thirty-eight years in the bonds of illness, and prepared for possible sins of old age an even heavier lot.

The trace of a similar judgment is visible in the fate of another paralytic. When healing him, the Lord said, "Your sins are forgiven you" (Mk 2:5).

It is evident that, like a physician of profound wisdom, He heals the illness by acting upon the cause of the illness.

What we see in these examples is expressed as a law in the apostolic word: "Sin entered the world, and death through sin"; and, "The wages of sin is death."

For what is illness if not a branch of the tree of death, or a lesser and incomplete draught of the poison of death?

Consequently, together with death, illness also came along the road paved by sin. Therefore it is very natural if even now it comes by the same road.