Seven Miracles - Pt 17

As he 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 ESV).

We come to the sixth miracle of Jesus with our reading today. The conversation at the beginning of this account is important to note. Jesus sees a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples ask about the cause of the blindness. Jesus turns the question around and says, in effect, human causes are not decisive in explaining things. Divine purposes are decisive. The reason causes are not the ultimate explanation for things is that God is not ultimately a responder but ultimately a planner. In other words, when God ordains that something happen, God is not, at the bottom, responding to human causes; rather He is, at bottom, planning a purpose. The implication of this is profound. No matter what mess we’re in or what pain we are experiencing, the causes are not decisive in explaining it. What is decisive in explaining it is God’s purpose. Jesus says, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (v. 3). And if you are born again, God’s purpose for our pain will be a good purpose. It will be worth everything we must endure (cf. Romans 8:28). Of course, none of this will make sense, or be helpful, if God himself, and the glory of his incomparable works, is not your greatest treasure. When Jesus says, the purpose of this blindness is “that the works of God might be displayed in him,” he assumes the manifestation of the works of God, has a value that outweighs years and years of blindness, both for the man and his parents. In order to embrace that, we have to value the manifestation of the works of God more than we value seeing. Indeed more than we value life itself. We see this in the Psalms: “Your steadfast love is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). And, later, Jesus said to the prisoners in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Being loved by God, and being with God forever, is better than having eyes and better than being alive in this world. If we don’t believe that, then saying that God has wise and good purposes in all our losses will not be much comfort. But if we do believe it, not only will God’s purposes comfort us and strengthen us, but they will make us able to patiently, and gently help others through their times of darkness.