JOHN 5:11-16 NKJV

He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

JOHN 5:11-16 NKJV

John 5:11–13 This man was healed without exercising faith. He did not know who Jesus was when he was healed (compare Acts 3:1–10) nor does he later express any thankfulness (v. 14). Perhaps we have here an illustration of the legitimacy of meeting a social need simply because there is a need, without any other purpose in view. This is pre-evangelism. Jesus had withdrawn: John records Jesus quietly withdrawing from a crowd on four occasions (8:59; 10:39; 12:36). However, Jesus caught up with the man later (v. 14).

John 5:14, 15 Sin (Gk. hamartanō) no more (literally, “stop sinning”) implies that this man’s sickness was the result of sin, but this is not always so (9:1–3). The worst thing probably does not refer to hell. In this life, there are worse things than this man’s sickness.

John 5:16 This is the first recorded declaration of open hostility toward Jesus in the Gospel of John.