A Far Worse Thing

"Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 'Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.'"1

Jesus...says to him, 'Consider (See; Take note), you have come to be sound and healthy! No longer continue in error (or: Do not further make it a habit to stray from the goal), so that something worse may not happen to you (or: to the end that something worse should not come to be in you).'2

This always seemed to be a threat. "Sin got you into this mess. Stop sinning or you'll get leprosy." I've never seen disability as a prerequisite for sin, so this statement has always puzzled me.

A paralyzed man was once lowered into Jesus' presence through a destroyed ceiling. Before Jesus healed him, He said, "Your sins are forgiven." Only after He spoke these blasphemous words did He say, "Pick up your mat and walk."3 For Jesus, there is no difference between physical and spiritual healing. Within this, then, I find the answer to my question.

Jesus was not threatening a worse disease. He was saying, "I've forgiven you. Go now, freed of disease, living in My forgiveness. If you return to your sins, you will not live in Me," which is a far worse thing than being paralyzed. Let me turn that around. Living in Him is a far better thing than not living in Him. He is life and He is Life. Outside of Him, life is ordinary, humdrum, sterile. Within Him, all is light. The drudgery of the daily grind is electric with potential. We see Him in every petal, blade and stick. We recognize Him in every encounter, every homeless, every banker. We know Him intimately as he works within us moment by moment.

6/7/18

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