Who Sinned?

 

I’ve always been fascinated with the story in John 9 when Jesus was presented with a man who had been blind since birth. The big question was “Who sinned – that this man was born blind?”  Did his parents sin? Are they being punished?

We ask similar questions when we fall ill or someone close to us falls ill. Or it may not be a sickness but a hardship – like a job loss or a big financial bill.  What did I do to deserve this?  What am I being punished for?

Jesus’s response was great “It’s not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed through him.

I’ve wrestled, as I’m sure you have, as to why God allows bad things to happen to good people.  But sometimes, may more often than we know, God just wants to display His works through us.

Now that may be hard to accept sometimes.  I mean who does God think he is to cause us to go through all this hardship just so He can be exalted?  But if you know the character of God, He is not like that at all.  All that He does is also meant for our good.

Remember the situation in Mark 2 (or Matthew 9) when a paralytic’s friends lifted the paralytic to the roof top and then lowered him through the roof so that he could be healed by Jesus?  And Jesus first words were “Your sins are forgiven”.    Wait…what?  That is not why we went through all this trouble.  We want healing!  And healing they got.  But Jesus wanted them to understand that their primary need was not physical, but spiritual.  Jesus came to save us from our sins.  Jesus is first and foremost concerned with our spiritual conditions.  God loved us so much He sent His Son (Jesus) to die for our sins.  He wants us to spend eternity with Him, not to just be comforted, happy, and healthy in this life.

So in John 9, Jesus heals the blind man – who now has a testimony.  “I was blind, but now can see!” More importantly – the works of God were displayed through him so that others were blind spiritually might also see.

So, I still wonder why I am going through what I’ve been going through.  What did I do to deserve a brain tumor? Why does healing take so long? What does God want to teach me or prepare me for? Or maybe how does He want to display His works through me?  In any case I need to yield to His will and trust in Him that He is doing a great work in and through me.  How about you?  Maybe what you are going through is simply because God wants to display His works in your life and help bring you and others closer to Him.

Update:  This week I have an MRI to make sure that the residual tumor that was left is behaving itself and not growing back.  I also have a “swallow test to see if my swallow function is in fact getting better and if I’ll be able to expand my diet (what I can eat by mouth).  I also see if my vocal cords are waking up or if I’ll need another injection so I can continue to be able to talk (and be understood and heard).