Are Physical Ailments the Result of Personal Sin?

A person asked last night about a particular verse in the fifth chapter of John. Does John 5:14 teach that physical ailments come because of our sin and unfaithfulness? Is this the correct interpretation?

Let’s first look at the verse and then establish something of an immediate context and a broader, biblical context in which to interpret the passage.

the immediate context: the physical ailments of a friend

The first verse informs us that Jesus was attending a feast of the Jews, so He went up to Jerusalem. John says there was a feast of the Jews. The phrase probably means it was a pilgrimage feast that needed to be celebrated in Jerusalem. In John 2:13 and John 6:4, John mentions the Passover by name. This could be either Pentecost, seven weeks after Passover, or Tabernacles, which would be in October. The actual feast is not important to either the miracle or what transpires.

As a side note, no matter where you are, you are always going “up” to Jerusalem.

At the pool, there were many who had serious physical ailments – blind, deaf and lame. Jesus passed by a lame man who was just lying by the pool and asked him if he wanted to be healed.

Sabbath traditions

The tradition of the day was there was healing powers in the pool waters. Some believed that each day angels stirred the waters, providing a time when healing could be experienced by being in the pool. The man answered that he was never able to get into the water.

Jesus told the man to take up his mat and walk.

Several interesting dynamics are revealed in the next handful of verses that follow the healing in verse nine. We are told the day of the healing was the Sabbath. Oral traditions – how the laws were to be kept and carried out in real life practice – permeated the teachings of the Pharisees. They cherished the fact that they were the ones who knew how the Law was to be kept.

Regarding the Sabbath’s rest, traditions identified 39 categories of work which had to be avoided on the Sabbath. Although exceptions were made for acts of compassion, the Pharisees did not know how to categorize “healing” physical ailments, since no one had been able to do so. The Pharisees did not understand how to classify what Jesus did, but they felt He must be up to something that was in violation of the Law. Some believed that His power to heal must have come from the devil.

But carrying anything on the Sabbath was a sin, and the man had picked up his cot and carried it away. When they confronted the man, the Pharisees did not show any reaction to the fact he was healed. They would not allow the miracle to be a sign indicating who Jesus really was. They focused immediately upon conformity to their understanding of the Law. The Law had become an end to itself.

healing more than physical ailments

The healing itself is an unusual one. Most of the time, people came to Jesus because they knew the kinds of miracles that He had been performing throughout the area. Since this was in Jerusalem, away from the Galilean region where many of the miracles took place, perhaps people were just not aware. It could also speak to the personal limitations of the lame man. Regardless, the lame man does not appear to know who Jesus was or what He was capable of doing.

a larger context

Afterward Jesus finds the man in the temple and speaks to him. It is good that the man is in the Temple. He is either there to thank God, or to offer sacrifice recognizing the blessing that has come upon him. First Jesus affirms the healing, “See, you are well!”

Jesus’ next words elevates the situation from a man having an ailment that went away to a man who had the ailment of sin taken away. Jesus adds, “Sin no more.” Jesus often took the opportunity to connect healing physical ailments with spiritual healing (see John 4:13-14 and John 8:11).

sin causes physical ailments and death

Are physical ailments the result of sin? In a very universal sense, all problems are the result of sin in this world. Following the first sin in the Garden, the pathway of life would be filled with thorns and thistles. Even death itself is the result of sin.

But the consequences of sin in the world are not always because of personal sin. When the disciples saw a blind man, they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:2-3).

Jesus made the same point to the disciples when He mentioned, “those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think they were worse offenders than all the others in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will also perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

Sickness and problems, even death, are in the world because of sin, but not necessarily because of personal sin. Could God punish man in that way? Of course, but that is not normally the case. Jesus uses this question to remind the disciples that we cannot jump to the conclusion that people suffer in direct proportion to the degree of their personal sin.

The Bible teaches this point throughout. The wicked sometimes prosper and the righteous sometimes suffer intensely. Job teaches us this lesson clearly.

When Jesus said, “See you are well. Sin no more,” was He talking about being well physically or being well spiritually? The fact that He mentions not sinning may indicate that Jesus was pardoning this man’s sin. Jesus knew the man’s heart and knew what type of faith was developing.

a fate worse than

“Sin no more, unless something worse may happen to you!” What could be worse than 38 years of pain and suffering, of being unable to walk?

Edwyn Clement Hoskyns, Oxford and Cambridge theologian, writes, “There is a more serious disease than lameness or paralysis, there is a more serious possibility of judgment, and there is a righteousness that sets men free.” Understand John 5:14 in light of John 5:17-30. Jesus carries out the work of the Father as He delivers us from sin and a punishment of eternal death and damnation.

It is impossible to know from this story whether the man had any gratitude toward Jesus or developed a faith in Him. The man is quick to identify Jesus as the source of his healing, but beyond that we do not know. Being healed from physical ailments is no guarantee that a spiritual healing is inevitable. This account is a reminder to all of us about the gracious nature of God’s blessings. God’s goodness is for sinners, not saints.