Bob Newhart has a great skit that you can find online called "Stop It" where a psychologist counsels a young lady to end her paranoia with the words, "Stop it!" When I read Jesus saying, "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you", I wondered if Jesus wasn't a proto-Newhart? Was he really just fussing at this guy to get him to be more spiritual? Was he saying that sin leads to physcial consequences like sickness?
The John 9 scene where Jesus bluntly states that the blind man did not get that way due to sin seems to shed some light; there Jesus was clear that sin and earthly suffering are not always directly related. Job can attest to the same.
I think in this case, the entire phrase Jesus speaks needs to be looked at. He actually said, " “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." Well again? Maybe this guy was not born a paralytic but had become such due to illegal or unethical activity. After all, it is odd that it does not say "he was born a paralytic" but gives the number of years. If so, then "stop it or else" might refer to his physical life. At the same time, Jesus knew there are things in life (this or the next) much worse than paralysis. Maybe Jesus was speaking to his spiritual health. He had just used physical situations to teach spiritual truths (John 2 temple clearing, John 3 birth and baptism, John 4 water and eternal life).
So I'm not superclear on whether Jesus was telling this particular guy to avoid a particular sin due to physcial or spiritual consequences. What I feel confident about is that in John 4 Jesus basically told the Samaritan woman to not miss her chance at getting to know the Messiah. Now in John 5 he gives one Jerusalem invalid a second chance and follows it up with "don't blow it." Jesus is the God of second chances; the question to me is will I be wise enough to take advantage of second chances or will I totally miss Jesus-given opportunities?
Maybe Jesus would not have made a "Stop It" video; maybe his would have been "Wake Up!"
1 comment:
Great, thoughtful post, my friend. I would never have thought to compare Newhart to Jesus but then you are an innovative guy.
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