“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
John 9:1-3 NLT
The disciples asked a question that has perplexed generations of people – why are some people born with a physical problem? Jesus was walking somewhere with His disciples, and they asked Him for an explanation for the poor blind man’s disability. In those days it was common to think that a disability was a judgement for sin. Therefore it followed that the man who had been born blind was guilty of some terrible sin or other, and, if not him, perhaps his parents were at fault. But in their limited understanding and fuelled by a natural curiosity and desire to solve a mystery, the disciples asked the Master. Surely He would know what the problem was and why it happened.
But that was all very well for the disciples, journeying as they were with the Fount of all knowledge, but what about today, as we read about babies being born with a physical problem. A hole in a heart. Debilitating conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Missing limbs, or deafness. Or blindness like the man in the account we are reading. The list is endless and anguished cries of pain from distressed parents must often reach the heavens and beyond. The sad situation when a new life with so much potential is born struggling even to make a start in this world of ours. And some mums do feel guilt. They rack their minds to try and make some sense of it all, in case they had done something they shouldn’t have done during those formative weeks and months with the new born baby in their wombs. Some parents even shake their fist at God in a frustrated and angry attempt to focus blame.
We pilgrims look at someone with a disability, and wonder about the cause. But we forget that disabilities are a matter of degree. We all have, to some extent, a disability. Poor vision needing correcting glasses. Insulin for type 1 diabetics. Many suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. It is thought that over ten million people in the UK have arthritis. So a disability is just a matter of degree. With the man born blind, we read that his disability “happened so the power of God could be seen in him”. Another reason for having a disability could perhaps be for the outworking of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.” But in it all, we know that no disability appeared in God’s plan for mankind. He created perfection, but sin destroyed what God intended. The consequence of living in this fallen world is before us every time we experience the aches and pains and sicknesses that so commonly afflict us.
In 1 Corinthians 15:53 we read, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.” One day God will transform our human bodies, complete with all the imperfections we know so much about and many of us have to live with, into a resurrected body, a perfect body just like Christ’s. And we will join together in the worship of our wonderful Creator, enjoying Him and our new bodies.
Dear God. We understand the impact sin has had on this world, and we thank You for Jesus, who came to overcome the works of the being who has brought so much distress to this world. We believe in Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 