Have you ever wondered why bad things happen? A story found in John 9 goes right to where the “rubber meets the road” regarding the reason that bad things happen. Is it because God is punishing us for our sin? We know that there are natural consequences for foolish actions, but Jesus simply points out a truth in this story that reveals His primary focus when dealing with the problems that people face.
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1-2) 1
First of all, if the man was born blind, how would it be possible that HIS sin caused him to be blind? That makes no sense. It’s just the illogical reasoning of religious thinking. Our focus when we are sin-conscious is always going to be blame oriented. Our preoccupation with sin distracts us from seeing the needs of people.
Jesus’ answer is amazing. His answer teaches us something about the mind of Christ and His way of seeing people because as believers we have been given the mind of Christ and the ability to see what He sees. 2
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:3)
That word “revealed” literally means “manifested.” 3 His healing was the manifestation of God’s glorious work in him, and his healing was the focus of Jesus’s attention.
Often our default setting is to be conscious of sin, but rather than focusing on “Whose sin caused this problem?”, let’s just begin asking, “Was this problem covered in Jesus’ blood at the cross?” Blame games don’t do anything to fix problems! Remember: needs exist to be met, and therefore, to manifest the glory of God!
(from pages 71-72 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1 All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2 1 Corinthians 2:16
3 G5319 (phaneroō), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G5319&t=KJV, accessed 5-18-14
