AP

John 9:1-5  As [Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

It seems surprising to me that John is the only one of the four Gospel writers who records this incident when we have so much to learn from it.

I find these opening verses a great source of encouragement on the many occasions when I really struggle with the very strange  and confusing Providence of our loving, sovereign God in the affairs of this messy world in which we live.  An unexpected and inexplicable tragedy happens in our own circumstances, or in the circumstances of someone close to us or just known to us, and we instinctively find ourselves prayerfully asking our God the very same question the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Whose sin is to blame for this tragedy?’, or ‘What have I/he/she done to deserve this?’

And it is such a relief to hear the answer from the lips of Jesus, the Son of God, himself!  Sadly, there times when I don’t have to ask the question because the tragedy is clearly the result of my sinful behaviour, or someone else’s.  But so often this is not the case – a faithful good-living, God-serving family suffers the loss, or permanently disabling injury, of a precious loved one.  Why, Lord?.  How could an all-loving, all-powerful God allow, or worse still even cause, this to happen?

It is good to be reminded by the Master Teacher (‘Rabbi’) himself that there are things in the outworking of God’s Providence in our lives that just don’t ‘fit’ our logic because we can’t see the Big Picture.  For upwards of probably 40 years this poor, suffering blind man and his family, especially his parents, had been doing a lot of deep heart-searching and asking the question, ‘Why has this happened to us?’  In answer, Jesus not only exonerated their feeling of guilt and blame, but more importantly it gave him the opportunity to prove, beyond doubt, that he was God (30-33), that he had come to earth to bring true Light to our dark world, that the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders was a much more damning disease than the man’s physical blindness (39-41), and that we must trust God’s proven goodness and grace as he works out his higher purposes for his glory, even when we can’t understand.

“Whate’er my God ordains is right, his holy will abideth; I will be still whate’er he does and follow where he guideth; he is my God, though dark my road, he holds me that I shall not fall – and so to him, I leave it all; and so to him, I leave it all. … … … Whate’er my God ordains is right, though now this cup, in drinking, may bitter seem to my faint heart I take it all, unshrinking; my God is true, each morn anew, sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart and pain and sorrow shall depart, and pain and sorrow shall depart.  Whate’er my God ordains is right, here shall my stand be taken: though sorrow, need, or death be mine yet I am not forsaken; my Father’s care is ’round me there, he holds me that I shall not fall, and so to him, I leave it all, and so to him, I leave it all.”  (Samuel Rodigast)

– Bruce Christian