It's Not Proof They Lack (7 Apr 25)

“The Jews saw a beggar; Christ saw a vessel of glory. They saw sin; He saw opportunity for divine power. They cast him out; Christ took him in.” - Saint John Chrysostom

“Let them alone; they are blind guides.”

Prayer: “Lord, as I start a new week, please strengthen my faith, give me a clear mind, and give me boldness to speak to those around me of Your goodness and love. Please keep me from loving the things of this world and from the distractions that continually pull me away from You, Your Word, and my ability to meditate on the matters of obedience, faith, and salvation. Wake me up from my slumber, and help me to live with a sense of urgency, knowing Christ’s return draws nearer each day. Prepare me for eternity with You, and sanctify me in Your truth. In Christ’s name, Amen.”

Today’s Reading: John 9 (Chapter 9 of 21)

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There was a widespread, ancient belief that every disadvantage or misfortune in one’s life was the result of that person’s sin, hence why the disciples ask Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus responds: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him,” though elsewhere in Scripture, we do read that God chastises individuals for particular sins which then affect their posterity (God’s judgment on David for adultery and murder which leads to the death of his infant son in 2 Samuel 12-21). Further, all sin is in a sense a “punishment” for (or consequence of) our collective status as sinners due to the failures of our first parents in the Garden.

The disciples give Jesus two options for why the man is blind. Christ, as He so often does, gives a third option that the disciples hadn’t considered:

1. (Disciples Reason 1) As a result of the man’s sin

2. (Disciples Reason 2) As a result of the man’s parents’ sin

3. (Jesus’ Reason) That the works of God might be displayed

What is this meant to teach us?

That not all misfortune, trial, or suffering can be clearly traced to a shortcoming or fault in ourselves. Some must be attributed to the mysterious providence and will of God. But to what end? The Apostle Peter lays it out nicely in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In other words, through our trials, one of a few different things happens, all of which are meant to bring glory to God:

• We are tested, refined, and strengthened through trials, like that of Job (1 Peter 1:6-7)

• We are sustained by His grace as His strength is shown in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9-11)

• We are miraculously healed (John 9)

God’s purposes in our trials are not always immediately evident, nor is immediate remediation guaranteed; but if we are in Christ, we can know with full certainty, per Romans 8:28, that He is working it all together for our good:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

This is why Christians walking through immense trials must resist the temptation to fall into self-pity, and learn to see hardship as a part of God’s good and glorious plan to draw His people to Himself. We are tools in His hands; even the most crippling, debilitating afflictions in this life are temporary, and they serve a purpose.

Because of the work of Christ, we look forward to the day that our resurrected bodies are finally free from all illness, pain, and deterioration, knowing full well that all we endure between now and then will certainly show forth His glory in one way or another, whether or not He gives temporal healing. Rather than spend our days complaining, we must ask God to show us what He is doing through our trials.

We also see three groups of people in today’s account:

1. The blind man who experiences healing and has his eyesight restored, who acknowledges the truth and confesses Christ before the Pharisees

2. His parents, who fear the judgment of the Pharisees and so deny and deflect their questions so that they might not have to make a clear confession about Jesus

3. The Pharisees who, in their bitterness and spite, stubbornly deny and reject the truth standing right in front of them in exchange for their own traditions

In these three groups, we see the various ways men react when confronted with the truth of Christ’s divinity, power, and authority. Some see the truth and are unable to deny it; others suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Others still fail to confess it as truth for fear of man.

The Pharisees continue in their interrogation, asking endless questions to try and find fault in the man’s account or cast doubt on the identity and work of the Healer.

The man’s reply is simple and clear:

“One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

The man is not a classical philosopher, a skilled orator, or an esteemed theologian. He is simply a sinner who experienced the grace and mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so it is for all believers today.

The world in all of its false wisdom and self-importance will continually subject God’s people to endless questioning, a never-ending interrogation about the historical reliability and logical possibility of that which we claim to believe.