Anchor My Faith

Question About the Man Born Blind

Scripture: John 9:1-3

We ended the previous lesson and section with Jesus escaping from the temple where those who had picked up stones were intending to kill him. As we begin this lesson, we find Jesus and his disciples traveling together and as they do his disciples raise an interesting question.

^{Jn 9:1} As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

I believe the phrase “As he passed by” is a connection to the preceding verse, “and went out of the temple.” We might say, “As he and his disciples were leaving the temple to escape the fury of his enemies, who had picked up stones to cast at him, they passed by the place where a blind man, who had been blind since birth, was located. As they were passing by, his disciples asked whose sin caused his blindness.

Their question reflects the assumption, customary in ancient Judaism, that suffering was the result of someone’s sin. This was made clear in Job when the friends of Job tried to get him to confess his sin that they believed caused his suffering. The intent of this belief is to not charge God with perpetrating evil on innocent people. Consider Numbers 14:18 ESV: “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Verses like this were being interrupted to mean that all suffering was the result of someone’s sin, either past or present.

In the New Testament this notion is corrected to show that suffering is not always a direct result of a person’s sin. God may allow, or even inflict, a level of suffering for a purpose in a person’s life. For example, in 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. The best example is the crucifixion of Jesus. He never sinned, yet he was inflicted on the cross with our sin for our benefit. He didn’t have to suffer for us, but he chose to for our benefit.

^{Jn 9:3} “Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”’

There are times when God in his mysterious and wise providence allows his children to experience hardships and suffering so that they can experience his mercy and power in their lives. For example, in Romans 5:4, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”; in James 1:2 – 4 trials of various kinds test our faith for the purpose of producing steadfastness, which results in us growing toward perfection of character; and in 1 Peter 4:12 where we learn about those fiery trials that come upon us to test us.

Conclusion

When being persecuted for our faith, it is not the sin of others that causes us to suffer, but our willingness to remain steadfast in our faith. Our western culture stands against this steadfastness of faith as it promotes comfort at the expense of growing in Christ-like character and in doing kingdom work.