About Suffering and Sin
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” For the disciples, for the Jews of the time and for many others since, the answer is simple: suffering like this is due to personal sin; but whose? Since the man was ‘blind from birth’ it must be either the man himself when he was a baby in the womb (some Jewish leaders believed a baby could sin before birth), or his parents.
There is a general connection between suffering and sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12ff) and sometimes there can be a direct connection (5:14). Living an outrageously ungodly lifestyle can have serious consequences. But reasoning that says: “Suffering is always a punishment; you’re suffering right now; your suffering must be a punishment” doesn’t stand up biblically. The book of Job highlights this very point. Job suffered. His counsellors assumed personal sin was behind it, but God finally stepped in to vindicate Job. It wasn’t his sin that caused his suffering.
Some Christians ignore biblical truth and add Eastern-oriented reincarnation into their thinking. To them this solves the cause of suffering dilemma. The Bible completely rejects this understanding. We only ever have one life and in this single lifetime are given opportunity to believe on Christ or to continue rejecting His call to salvation. Every person will give account to God for the life they have lived (Hebrews 9:27).
Care needs to be taken when ministering to those who are sick. Repentance for sin, particularly unbelief, broken relationships, unforgiveness, lack of faith and a lack of thankfulness may or may not play a role in someone’s illness. Sometimes these are like debris around a car crash. Clearing it away is helpful but it doesn’t follow that it caused the accident.
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” There are two ways to translate this sentence. The first, as here in the NIV, implies God allowed the sickness so His power could be shown in this healing many years later. ‘This happened’ has been added to the NIV translation to reinforce this understanding. The gospel’s author, John, didn’t include these words. Another way of translating the same text that fits John’s original wording is, ‘Neither this man sinned or his parents. But that the works of God may be revealed in him it is necessary for us to work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one is able to work.’ Each approach fits both the text and context.
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The book of Genesis begins with God confronting black chaos. He spoke light into that chaos and of it formed a whole new world. Paralleling this, Jesus is doing ‘the work of him who sent me.’ A darkness was coming, a darkness when Jesus would be killed and the world momentarily plunged into darkness again. But Good Friday would give way to Easter Sunday and with it the new creation would begin.
We are part of that new creation. We are now the light of the world. God has given us daylight to shine His light. Ask the Lord for opportunities to share Jesus in your world, to create “God moments” when you can show others the power of Christ.
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