John 5:13-14

Now, I said that the man was not thirty-eight years old, but that he had an infirmity thirty-eight years. Jesus telling him to "sin no more" gives the indication that the man was in the condition that he was because of sin. The implication is that it was his sins that made him infirm. Jesus was saying something like, "Don't you go back sinning, or it is going to be worse than it was before." Worse? What could be worse than thirty-eight years of misery and pain? Something was worse. Because once he had been swept clean, the rules of the game changed somewhat. Now there had to be a new dynamic to his life.