Saviour

John 5:¹⁴ “But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” (emphasis added).

This man had been crippled for thirty-eight years, so what sin was he committing?  Lust, greed, anger maybe; bitterness against the people that were supposed to help him but did not help him. Maybe jealousy against the people that got into the water first. So, it cannot be the sins that we think. When we read, ‘sin no more’ there is a particular sin or two, that comes to our mind, right? Interestingly, Jesus was talking about the sin nature and Jesus actually gave him an opportunity to follow Him, the Messiah. Jesus had not come to simply give healing; He had come to give Himself. Which was what He said to the Samaritan woman, ‘I will give you water and you will not thirst anymore’ [John 4:14 paraphrased]. Jesus found him; without Jesus, your sin remains. Without Jesus, sin persists. But with Christ, it is hung on and nailed to the cross.

We have studied the first five chapters of the Book of John and we see water featured in all five. Which brings us to the question of Jesus’ affiliation with water. The truth is that Jesus did not mince words, He said, “I am the water of life.’ Therefore, everything that water represented in all those situations is who Jesus has come to be to us. John 2, Jesus is the one who turns water to wine. So He has come to bring joy to every dry situation, boring situation, and to every unhappy situation. John 3, Nicodemus – water and the Spirit – eternal life is in Christ Jesus. John 4, the woman by the well. Jesus is saying not only will He give you eternal life, but it also becomes a well in you that you will not even thirst anymore. John 5, water – healing of the man that had been crippled for years. Jesus says, ‘I am your healer; the Lord that heals you.’ John 1, water baptism.

Back to our opening question, what sin did this man actually commit? Sometimes when details like this are not there, it makes people feel that the Bible is incomplete. John 21:²⁵ “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” This means that the Bible does not have all the stories of what Jesus did. But guess what? Deut.29:²⁹ “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us…” In one case Jesus says, sin is not the cause of the illness, it is for the glory of God. In another case, Jesus says, be careful of sin. It just tells us that no two situations have the same root cause. Some are a result of sin, but some are purely for God’s glory. When somebody has a problem, some Christians assume that he or she has done something. But not every problem is a result of a misdeed. Jesus is the answer to all our questions, and I pray that He will answer all the questions in our hearts in Jesus Name. Jesus the water of life; for you is a change in direction [baptism], or to bring brightness and sweetness into your life, or to become born again. Open your heart to Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus, I open my heart to you, fill me, save me, cleanse me, have mercy on me, and reveal Yourself to me, in Jesus Name. Amen!