This week we’re privileged to hear from Jennifer Epperson! If you’d like to learn more about here, you can stop by the contributors page.
When Jesus and his disciples passed by the man who had been blind from birth, the disciples’ automatic assumption was that his blindness was a consequence of sin. Jesus was quick to set the record straight. The man’s blindness wasn’t some punishment for sin. He was blind so “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
I wonder if, throughout the years, others had assumed the man, or his parents, were being punished. As the blind man sat and begged year after year, was he bitter about his state? Did he wonder what his parents must have done to cause God to give them a blind child? Was he secretly judged even by those who pitied him and gave him money?
We can’t know the answers to these questions, but we can know definitively that this man was born blind for a purpose. His blindness wasn’t random or pointless. God knew before He created him that one day His Son would heal him and make God’s works known to mankind.
Instead of rejoicing with the former blind man over his miracle healing, the Pharisees are mostly perturbed that Jesus healed him on the sabbath day. Obviously, since Jesus healed someone on the sabbath, He couldn’t possibly be of God (v. 16). But others point out that He would only be able to do this miracle if He were of God (v. 16).
The Pharisees tell the healed man, “Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (v. 24, 25). He also tells them in verse 33: “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.”
Their response is to accuse the former blind man of being “altogether born in sins” and to “cast him out” (v. 34). Jesus finds him after this and reveals his identity to the healed man—He is the Son of God. The man believes and worships Jesus. That blindness that had been a source of difficulty, lead to his meeting the Son of God face-to-face and gaining firsthand knowledge of the works of God.
Perhaps you or someone you love is afflicted like this blind man. And you may be questioning why God has allowed this suffering. You may be asking yourself what you could have done differently or what sin you may have neglected to confess. But not every struggle or affliction is a direct consequence of some specific sin. Perhaps some are. Only God knows. Instead of assuming that your sufferings are God’s punishment, ask God to help you see that He is using these afflictions to make His works manifest.
How we react to suffering makes a huge difference in how we cope, and it also is a testimony to those around us. When we share with fellow strugglers about God’s grace amidst our suffering, they are encouraged. When we ask fellow believers to pray for us, we promote Christian unity. When we give God glory for how He is working through our trials, He is lifted up and draws others to Himself.
In the case of the blind man, Jesus healing him lead to his salvation. And the story of what Jesus had done lead to others coming to know Christ. Even today, we can read about this miracle in God’s Word and learn about Who God is and what He can do. God’s works were made manifest in this man’s life, and they are in our lives, too.
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