(a) "See, you are well! Sin no more that nothing worse befall you". Trace the events that led to this statement in John's Gospel. (b) What two lessons can b...

(a) The events that led to the statement "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you" (John 5:1-15)

Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. By the Sheep Gate there was a pool called Bethesda, having five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame and paralysed, waiting for the moving of the water, for it was believed that an angel troubled the water at certain seasons and whoever stepped in first was healed.

One man had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in that condition a long time, He asked, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered that he had no one to put him into the pool when the water was stirred, and while he was making his way another stepped down before him. Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." At once the man was healed, took up his bed and walked.

That day was the Sabbath, so the Jews accused the healed man of breaking the law by carrying his bed. He replied that the one who healed him had told him to do so, but he did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn in the crowd. Afterwards Jesus found the man in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." The man then went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

(b) Two lessons from the story

• Faith and obedience bring healing and wholeness. The man was restored when he obeyed Jesus' command to rise and walk, showing the power of Christ over long-standing affliction.
• Sin has consequences, and gratitude should lead to holy living. Jesus warned the healed man to sin no more, teaching that those whom God restores must turn from sin lest a worse condition come upon them.