Read John 9:1-2. Circle the words that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Digging Deeper
What question would we ask God if our loved one was in a terrible car accident, had cancer in her body, or was in the hospital on a ventilator slowly dying because of Covid? We would want to know why. We would ask God, “Why did You allow this to happen to our family, our dearest friend; those we love?” At times, the answer we receive is like no answer at all, it’s just silence from Heaven.
When my son texted me that his wife has cancer. I couldn’t believe what I read. I discovered later that it was stage 4 colon cancer that had extensively metastasized in her liver. The pathology report was truly bad. I read online that she was in the 2-5% of survival rate with an average longevity of 7-9 months. I didn’t say it out loud, but in my heart I said, “Why, Lord?”
Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth. It is likely that this man was begging. As Jesus and the disciples approached that man, Jesus shared an insight into this man’s life-He was born blind. The disciples had no way of knowing whether this man was born blind or became blind. Visually they could only see with their eyes that the man was blind, begging for coins or for food.
The disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” It was a great question, but what were the implications and assumptions of that question? Did the disciples believe that this unborn baby committed an overt sin that deserved a punishment of being born blind? I don’t think so. The implication was that it was one or both of his parents that committed some sin in their lives that affected their child. The disciples were laying the cause of this person’s blindness on the parents, not to baby who was born blind.
Guilt. Did the parents wonder why God allowed their son to be born blind? Did they seek to find if they committed some hidden sin or had some unconfessed sin? That maybe if they found it out and address it, God would be gracious and heal their son. Perhaps their neighbors thought these things, though they probably didn’t say so. They felt sorry for that child, but did anyone feel empathy for the parents?
Caring for someone who is disabled or very sick is not easy. There is the physical exhaustion and the emotional-spiritual toll of wondering why this horrible situation has happened to him or her. It is not enough for us to ask why to ourselves when we see someone suffering, even their parents. The parents and that person who is disabled or critically ill needs your help. Don’t just ask why. Lend a helping hand.
-Kingston