Sinning and sickness (John 5.14)
μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν σοί τι γένηται.
“Sin no longer, so that nothing worse might befall you” (NAS) The easy interpretation of this verse is that at least sometimes sickness can be a direct result of sin. The urgency of Jesus’ command in this verse indicates that the man must, in the future, stop sinning, and he should have the purpose of his not sinning in mind: that nothing worse would befall him. (ἵνα purpose subjunctive). “Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries generally held that suffering was a direct result of sin” which adds some clarification to this difficult passage. (Murray, 182). Perhaps this verse is better understood in the context of the next pericope, (vv 17-30): It is Jesus who “carries out the work of God in deliverance from sin and death for eternal life.” (B-M 74). The “something worse that might befall” the man should not be seen as a more tragic illness than being paralyzed, but have a broader view of judgement and hell for those who do not believe. This is the fundamental premise of the passage: that while Jesus healed temporary, though significant, earthly sicknesses, his main purpose was to heal the soul from sin to bring about eternal life.
