Read John 9:1-3 NLT
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.
Humans are a curious bunch. At about 2 years old the question “why” forms in our brains and we never really stop asking it the rest of our lives. We have an innate desire to make sense of the world around us and have an explanation for why things are the way they are.
We see this played out in the Scripture today. Jesus meets a man who has been blind since birth. His disciples’ natural assumption is that surely there is a reason why he is blind and it must be connected to sin…but whose sin?
These same thoughts and questions float through our brains today, too, when we look at our own world or our own lives – especially when things aren’t what we think they should be. We should be able to point to a cause for all the trouble. Someone has to be to blame, right? It feels like that is the only way it makes sense. But Jesus flips things for his disciples and doesn’t place blame on anyone. Instead, He teaches that the blindness was allowed so God’s power could be seen in the man’s life and eventual healing.
Certainly our actions have consequences and sin is a real thing that leads to brokenness and pain. Sin should cause us to examine our lives. But sometimes there isn’t a nice, neat way to make sense of or explain the hurting and pain we experience, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes placing the blame on ourselves or others can actually do more harm than good.
The reality is, our world is a pretty broken place. The fact that sin fractured our world so long ago is often the only explanation there is. But, there are moments when God redeems the difficulties we face and His power and His love show up front and center, bringing healing and hope to a world that desperately needs Him.
