"Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

Jesus asks a paralytic man a strange question: "Do you want to get well?" The answer plays out in how the man responds to Jesus.

He does not say "Yes" immediately, but complains about how he cannot enter a pool in the Temple which he thinks will heal him. His hope for restoration lies in this pool, probably used for some sort of ceremonial cleansing. Someone else always gets there first.

John paints this invalid man's plight as hopeless - he's been there 38 years - and as helpless - he can't make it to the water by himself and someone else always gets in first. To this hopelessness and helplessness, Jesus simply tells the man to get up and walk. John records no indication of thanks or belief from the invalid man. He doesn't even remember who Jesus is.

The lack of mention may seem an oversight, except that the Pharisees stop the man and accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. The accusation brings out the man's defensiveness and not his praise. He wants to get out of this small matter by blaming Jesus. This stinks of ingratitude on his part. After being healed from a 38-year malady the man can only point fingers and say, "He did it!"

Finally Jesus wraps up this lesson by finding the man and telling him to "stop sinning or something worse may happen." The man seems guilty of ingratitude and seems to prove it since right after Jesus warns him, he goes to tell the Pharisees who has made him well instead of leaving everything behind and following Jesus.

The real lesson lies a little deeper, however. Jesus talks about "something worse." What could possibly be worse than being unable to move yourself for 38 years with no help toward any healing at all? Certainly Jesus alludes to Hell. But more than that, he alludes to this Death that begins in this present existence, just as Life can being in this existence. "Hell" or "Heaven" begin now.

Sinning brings me into a hopeless, helpless mode of existence. It enslaves me and makes me do what I do not want to do. It takes my best intentions and turns them into a self-righteousness that corrupts me even more quickly. "The wages of sin is death," death in this life.

Jesus came so that we could stop sinning. He does not want us to live in hopelessness and helplessness. He sets us free from sinning. Like that invalid before Jesus, I have hope in healing from this self-induced sickness; I have help to break the debilitating habits I cannot break myself. My hope is based on God's kindness in Jesus, not on any ceremony (like the Pool of Siloam) that might heal me.

I also see my easy ingratitude, like this man. In the face of small accusations, I quickly forget the years of sin and brokenness that Jesus frees me from. I quickly abandon God and try to justify myself at his expense rather than giving him the praise. How can I forget so quickly that I was like that invalid man, 38 years in the hole without help from anyone, especially these accusers, who don't praise God for my healing, but look for reasons to accuse me anyway? How can I join them in looking for Jesus to accuse him?

Lord, I know my sins. I know your forgiveness. I know how quickly I forget your goodness and join others in making less of you. Let me overlook such condemnation and remember to praise you for your great pity on me. Something worse might happen. I may forget your goodness and live my life ignorant of it, thinking somehow I helped myself. Then I would become hopeless and helpless, because I cannot save myself. Save me from the twin sins of ingratitude and forgetfulness. Amen.