Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s an age old question. We joke about God striking people with lightning when they make a seemingly inappropriate joke that has to do with the Almighty. But the truth is, for some reason, when bad things happen we think that it is the result of something that we did which was wrong. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that this story is so striking. The story of Jesus healing a man who has been blind from birth and his ensuing confrontation with the Pharisees seems to suggest that God may have a different purpose for our struggles.    

    Let’s start by dealing with the essence of the story and then drawing out some thoughts and implications for our lives today. The story begins with Jesus simply happening upon a man who cannot see. His disciples at this point ask what to us would be a shocking and perhaps even offensive question. “Who’s fault is it that this man is blind? Did his parents do something wrong or was it this man’s fault?” The other teachers of Jesus’ day would have speculated that it was one or perhaps both parties that were at fault and perhaps would even suggest why. Jesus however, saw a totally different reason for this man's affliction. He simply told them that his blindness wasn’t punishment at all but instead an opportunity for God to show his power and love through this man. Jesus gives him instructions as to how he can receive his sight for the first time and then simply slips away. The man, who can now see cannot identify the one who did this wonderful thing for him.

    It is the Sabbath, and the tradition says that you aren’t supposed to work on the Sabbath. Surely giving a man his eyesight is work. So this man whoever he is broke the rules. After interrogating the formerly blind man and his family they threw him out. Jesus went to the man and introduced himself as to who he truly was, God’s Son, the one who was sent that all may come to God and be forgiven. The man shows no hesitation in his reaction, he worships Jesus. The story concludes with Jesus saying that those who wish to see will find their answer in him and that those who believe that they already have all the answers and do not need nor want the Son of God will continue in their blindness. This story begs the question, “Which are you?”

    The biggest indictment in this story is of the people who should recognize when God is at work. We’re talking about the Pharisees. They were the religious elite, the scholars of their day. But Jesus makes it very clear that they didn’t get it. Instead the man who was thought to be “sinful” and as a result was blind was the one who recognized Jesus for who he really was.

• Have you ever had a time in your life when God brought you through a really difficult time? How did you feel?
• How would your life be different if you saw the events in people’s lives (including your own) not as punishment for something you did wrong but as an opportunity for God to show himself to you and to others?
• The man in the story who could see (both literally and spiritually) when he realized that it was Jesus who healed him began to worship him. Does remembering the ways that God has intervened in your life lead you to want to worship him as well?

 Almighty God,
     Help us to see you working in our lives and the lives of others and may we worship you alone.                
                                                                                        Amen.