“The Bible’s Children: a man born blind”
John 9:1-2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Born forty years ago, in December of 1982, Nick Vujicic is an Australian American, a Christian author, evangelist, and motivational speaker known all around the world. His goal is to share the gospel with one billion more people by the year 2028.
So what makes him different from most anyone else? He was born with no arms and no legs! According to his autobiography, when he was born, his mother refused to look at him, much less hold him. Later, when he was old enough and stable enough, he attended school where, unfortunately, his fellow classmates bullied him, causing him to become severely depressed. When he was eight years old, he tried to commit suicide. When he was ten, he tried to drown himself in his bathtub.
He even went so far as to say, “God, I know that I’m a sinner. I know that I won’t probably have peace until You’re in my heart. But I will not let You in my heart until You answer me, why? Why did you take my arms and legs? Why didn’t You give me what everybody else has? God, until You answer me that question, I will not serve You.”
But since his parents loved him and cared for him, his life began to turn around.
When he was seventeen, his mother showed him a newspaper article about a woman praying, in spite of her severe disability. So he decided to give a talk at his church’s prayer group, a talk that would be the first of many.
Since then, he’s visited and spoken in more than forty-five countries around the world and written books like Life Without Limits, Love Without Limits, and Stand Strong. In 2012, he married Kanae Miyahara and is the proud father of twin daughters and two sons.
He said, “Life isn’t about having, it’s about being. You could surround yourself with all that money can buy, and you’d still be as miserable as a human can be. I know people with perfect bodies who don’t have half the happiness I’ve found. On my journeys, I’ve seen more joy in the slums of Mumbai and the orphanages of Africa than in wealthy gated communities and on sprawling estates worth millions. Why is that? You’ll find contentment when your talents and passion are completely engaged, in full force. Recognize instant self-gratification for what it is. Resist the temptation to grab for material objects like the perfect house, the coolest clothes, or the hottest car. The ‘if I just had “X” I would be happy’ syndrome is a mass delusion. When you look for happiness in mere objects, they are never enough. Look around. Look within.”
And he said, “If God doesn’t give me the miracle, He’s going to make me the miracle for someone else.”
In the book of John, we meet a man who was very much like that--a man born blind. Let’s look at the words of John chapter 9: “As He, (that’s Jesus), passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 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 and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing” (John 9:1-7).
One of the reasons we love the Bible and believe the Bible is because it deals with the hard issues of life. It doesn’t sweep painful things under the rug, or complex things or confusing things or shocking things or controversial things. In fact, Jesus sometimes even seemed to go out of His way to create controversy, so that more truth about Himself and about unbelief would come out, so that we might better understand His plan and His purpose.
And one of the hardest things in life is the suffering of children and the suffering of those who love them, especially when that suffering turns into a lifetime of living with profound loss.
And call it whatever you will--autism or Down syndrome or spina bifida or hearing loss or any number of other rare and unpronounceable conditions--each one has its own peculiar symptoms and sorrows, its own particular way of turning decades into what you never dreamed or planned they would be. And just as soon as you realize that everything has been permanently and irrevocably changed, you know that your life will never be the same.
And you were never asked.
So it’s really no surprise then that the Bible, the book that deals with every human fear, grief, pain, and emotion is filled with suffering and sorrow.
As a psalmist once wrote: “My soul is full of troubles…I am counted among those who go down to the pit…But I, O Lord, cry to You; in the morning my prayer comes before You” (Psalm 88:3-4, 13).
And here in the book of John, we find just that--a man who was born blind.
The book of John, chapter 9, takes us to the end of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth. He had already walked on water and fed thousands with fish and bread. Now ahead of Him were the Garden of Gethsemane, Calvary, and the open tomb.
As far as we can tell, He was in a hurry that day. Just moments before, He had been involved in a major, serious confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. He had made bold claims about Himself and about His relationship with His Father in heaven. Not only did He claim to be greater than Abraham--one with God--He said they were sons of the Devil.
No wonder then that John wrote at the very end of chapter 8: “So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59).
And as He made His way out of the temple, the Bible says “He saw a man blind from birth” (John 9:1).
That’s interesting, if you think about it. Day after day, month after month, and year after year, this man sat in the very same place doing the very same thing--begging for money or food.
And do you know who saw him? No one, really. He was just another beggar sitting on the side of the road.
And why not? Obviously, he was, at least in their minds, a product of sin. I mean, why else would he be blind from birth?
Can you hear fathers or mothers walking by with their children and saying, “Don’t look at him. Don’t listen to him. Don’t pay any attention to him. Whatever he wants, he doesn’t deserve it, because he is a sinful man!”
But what does the Bible say? It says, “As Jesus passed by, He saw…” (John 9:1).
Is it any surprise? It shouldn’t be. Once He looked up in a sycamore tree and saw Zacchaeus, a tax collector who, in his bondage to greed, needed to be set free. As He walked through a bustling crowd, He felt a woman, desperate for healing, touch the hem of His robe. As Pharisees and Sadducees proudly offered their gifts of silver and gold, He saw a widow reach into her pocket to give her two, very last, copper coins.
And as He walked along the road, He saw a man born blind.
Can you put yourself into his shoes, for just a moment? When he was young, his parents, with all their heart, loved him and cared for him. But that was then. This was now. And there was little, if anything, they could do for him anymore.
Even more, he could hear water flowing and wind blowing, but what really was water and what was it like to see the wind blow?
And colors? What were they? He heard people talk about a blue sky, a yellow sun, and green leaves on brown trees, but what was blue and yellow and green and brown? He had never seen any of it, so none of it made any sense to him at all.
And worst of all, completely unable to work at home or in the fields, he had no choice but to sit by the road and beg.
But, as Jesus passed by, He saw.
And the disciples, never ones to miss an opportunity, couldn’t help but ask in verse 2: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2).
I mean, after all, God is good, isn’t He? And He’s all powerful, isn’t He? So since God is good and all powerful, then why would this man be cursed from the very beginning? Why was this man born blind?
So who’s at fault here, Jesus? Was it his parents or was it him? Obviously, someone must have done something terribly wrong!
And what did Jesus say? He could have said, yes, God is perfectly good and all powerful, but this world in which we live, which He made, has been corrupted by sin and now lives under His curse. It’s a fallen, bent, crooked, and broken world where there are many selfish and harmful people, in which there are millions of dangerous bacteria and viruses. And all these evils are always at work, making our lives completely miserable and putting us in constant danger.
Or He could have said that there are no simple answers, for not all suffering is alike. In the lives of certain people and certain situations, suffering like this has a place in God’s plan.
He could have said any of those things, but He didn’t. Instead, this is what He said: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3).
In other words, He said, “The only thing I’m going to tell you right now is that this situation is an opportunity--an opportunity for God to be glorified, an opportunity to show what only He can do.”
And as the Bible says, He spit on the ground, then made some mud. And after smearing it onto his eyes, He said, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” And as he went and washed, he could see.
So what does all this mean to teach us? I’ll leave you with this--whenever you face tragedy of any kind, whether it’s sickness or natural disaster, whatever it might be, you might be able to discern reasons why it’s happening or you may be able to blame someone or something.
But sometimes, the only answer you’ll ever get is this--though I may never really understand the how or the why of it, this has happened so that I can see God at work. And I know that when God is at work, always and only good will come.
His purpose. His design. His time. His plan.
As one author wrote, “God never has met a child for whom He had no plan.”
Born just over two hundred years ago, back in March of 1820, Fanny Crosby was an American mission worker, poet, and hymn writer. In fact, she wrote so many hymns, (more than 8,000 in all!), she used two hundred different pen names, instead of her real name, so not every hymn in the hymnal would say, “Written by Fanny Crosby”!
But she was born blind.
When she was talking to some friends in Chautauqua, New York, they asked her, “When you get to heaven, how will you recognize Jesus? You haven’t been able to see!”
She said, “I’ll be looking for His smile.”
“But Fanny,” they said, “everyone will be smiling in heaven.”
She said, “Then I’ll ask to see His hands.”
And she wrote a hymn. She said, “I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, for His smile will be the first to welcome me. I shall know Him, I shall know Him, and redeemed I shall stand. I shall know Him, I shall know Him, by the print of the nails in His hands.”
Does God love us? More than anyone ever could!
As Paul once wrote to the Romans: “All things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His plan” (Romans 8:28).
Sometimes, dear Father, things happen in our lives that we do not, and cannot, understand. Help us to lean on You. Help us to trust in You. Help us to rest in Your purpose and plan, for Jesus’ sake. Amen