“Do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you” (Jn 5:14) : a contribution to the notion of sin in the fourth gospel

Abstract

The Fourth Gospel is a narrative about the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with a number of gaps that elicit interpretation. What appears to be so simple on the surface level of the narrative is, in reality, enigmatic. To complicate matters, some parts of the Fourth Gospel exhibit apparent inconsistencies in relation to other parts. A case in point can be found in John 5:14 and John 9:1-3. While the Johannine Jesus sounds as if he is approving the connection between sin and illness in John 5:14, he denies any of this connection in John 9:1-3. This study aims to examine the possible meaning of Jesus’ words in John 5:14 in terms of what he says in John 9:1-3. By means of the narrative, the medium used by the Fourth Evangelist to convey his message, we will examine the notion of “sin” as a rejection of the person of Jesus Christ without any link with illness, as part of the theology of this gospel which “evolves as an effort to bring out the meaning of everything in terms of the Incarnate Logos.” This is not the first attempt in this direction, and the results of this study do not presuppose to have the final say. “No single interpretation can claim to have said the last word on the meaning of the Fourth Gospel’s use of language.” Yet, we do hope to present another contribution in this scholarly debate about one of the important themes in Johannine theology. [excerpt]