Something Worse

"Afterward Jesus found him [the severely crippled man that He healed at the Pool of Bethesda], and said to him, 'Listen! You have been healed! Stop sinning, lest a worse thing happen to you'" (John 5:14).

Would you rather have your son be tortured or be a torturer? It's an old ethical question first posed by Augustine, as I recall.

The answer is simple for those who understand the nature of sin, for while no true parent would wish to see his son tortured, to be a torturer would be a "worse thing," for while suffering imperils the body, sin imperils our immortal souls.

David Roper

5.7.18