Why Was The Guy Born Blind?

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John 9:1-12

9 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?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

 
 

From the beginning of John’s Gospel, light has been a key theme:

  • Jesus is the light of the world;

  • The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it;

  • He is the true light that gives light to everyone in the world;

  • And yet the world, through its spiritual blindness, did not know Him;

  • But to all who did receive Him, Jesus gave the right to become children of God.

Now, with the man born blind, these themes come together. It’s a fantastic story, and also quite funny, as we will see. Note that the disciples assume that the reason the man was born blind was because of someone’s sin. Jesus rejects that idea and implies that blindness just occurred and that no one “caused” the blindness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
There is a human tendency to want to assign specific blame when things go wrong. But, in this imperfect world—made imperfect because of human rebellion against God—sometimes things just go wrong.