After the healing

After thirty-eight years of illness, the man at the pool of Bethesda has been healed. In the crowd he didn't even know who had done it. Later Jesus finds him again in the temple. He doesn't let go of him after the miracle. But his words are sharp: stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.

Does Jesus mean the illness was a punishment? He doesn't say so. With a man who was blind from birth, he even rejects that link. What could be worse than years of lying ill, he leaves open. What is clear: a healthy body is not the finish line.