This is from one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I've worked on this for several days because there is so much in this chapter but I knew there was no way to cover everything in this chapter. So I chose a little bit to look at. The questions are Who is at Fault? and Can this be used for God's glory? I think you'll understand more at the end.
John 9
John 9
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Too often, when something bad happens, people ask "Who is at fault for this?" They wonder what has a person, family, group, etc. done to have bad things happen to them. The disciples were the same way. When they saw the man who had been blind from birth, they wanted to know who was at fault. Did this man do something before he was born to cause his blindness? Did his parents do something that led to their son being born blind? Remember, the disciples were just plain men, just like we are, so it was just out of their unknowing that they would ask. We do the same thing. We don't know all there is to know about God's plans for our lives or the lives of others. We don't know why some people who are God's children seem to face trial after trial. We, like the disciples, ask out of ignorance-out of unknowing.
Matthew Henry states: "We must take heed of judging any to be great sinners merely because they are great sufferers, lest we be found, not only persecuting those whom God has smitten, but accusing those whom he has justified, and condemning those for whom Christ died, which is daring and dangerous."
We need to be careful when we put forth our condemnations of others saying that everything that has happened was brought upon them by themselves. We don't know that. We only know what God allows us to know at any point. The disciples were the same way.
But then Jesus gave them some important information.
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
It is not this man's fault. It is not his parents' fault. It is for GOD to be able to show His strength and His mercy to the people. Many times we each face hardships because God will use it to His glory!
Jesus went on to say:
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
And then Jesus gave the blind man his sight. Imagine the joy that man must have felt! He wanted to tell everyone about what had happened! Just as we should want to tell everyone about what happened to us. Though not physically blind, we are all spiritually blind until Jesus gives us sight. Of course, no one believed this man. Sometimes we also have trouble believing when God has worked the great work of salvation in someone. But just like this man now could physically see, when we accept Jesus as our Savior now we can spiritually see. And what a change that sight should bring to all of our lives!
The Pharisees didn't want to believe that Jesus had given the man his sight and questioned him over and over. I can almost hear the frustration in the man's voice when he said in verse 27 "...I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?" He had already told them what had happened and Who had healed him--more than once. But they just didn't want to believe. Remember they hated Jesus and never wanted Him to be glorified. Yet, this man, blind from birth who now could see, just kept saying Glory to God! In verse 33 he said "If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." And they cast the man out. But this was not the end of his story.
35-38 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
I am so thankful to serve a God who can give us our sight. I'm even more thankful to know that when we face trials and tribulations they can be used to bring glory to God. So that others can see His work in and through us. Through our faith, our perserversance, our knowledge that He and He alone will see us though every situation. Let's be careful as we see suffering that we don't do like the disciples and ask whose fault this is. Let us instead pray to be able to see God's work. Let us look at trials and heartaches in our lives and the lives of others as a way for God to be glorified. Let us, like the blind man, trust in Jesus and let His light shine through us so that others might see.
So now, when faced with trials will you ask, Whose fault is this? or "Can this be used for God's glory?
