Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
How do we respond to misfortunes of those who are around us? Do we feel compassion on them, and sympathize their pains? Then do we offer our heart and care to comfort those who are suffering in the name of Jesus?
During the time of Jesus, there was a tower in Siloam, which fell. As a result, eighteen people were died. If we were there, what would be our response to them? Did they die because of their sins? If so, were their sins were greater than those of the others who were not killed including us?
What was the Jesus’s response to the disaster? “And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13 4-5)
The eighteen people killed by the collapsing tower were not the worst sinners in Jerusalem. If we don’t repent sins, we will perish like them. In other word, we are all sinners, but God’s mercy sustains us without being involved in such a disaster. Disasters around us are a spiritual wakeup call for us to see who we really are and how sinful we are. Without such a wakeup call, we tend to deviate from our Father God, and we walk a path that we love by following the wave of the world. Initially, such a deviation is so subtle that our eyes and minds cannot see. Thus, we still firmly believe we are following God. Our egos make us feel good by comparing us with those who are suffering in a disaster. In fact, this kind of logic itself is a sin. We measure our righteousness by comparing with others suffering while believing that their sufferings are caused by their sins. The danger of this logic is that makes us feel more righteous than them. How self-centered and self-righteous we are! We measure ourselves with our own measure, which is not of God.
“Then they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12b)
As Jesus was walking along, He and His disciples saw a blind man. The blind man looked being blind for a long time. Perhaps he had never been seen because he did not know how to respond to the people passing by as normal people would do. He was facing at a completely wrong direction, although Jesus and the disciples were pretty close to the blind man. Thus, the disciples concluded that he must have had been blind for his entire life. Soon one of the disciples questioned why he was born blind. His logic was as follows: his blindness must have had caused by a sin. However, he could not sin before he was born. Then his blindness could not be caused by his own sin although he might have sinned after his birth. Then where did the sin come from, which made him born blind? Another disciple responded, “Then his blindness must come from his parents’ sin or sins.” Another said how the parents’ sin inherited to the man before he was born. They continued arguing each other. Soon they had realized that there was no way to figure out this hard question by themselves. Then they decided to ask Jesus, and together questioned, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”Jesus looked them silently and mercifully for a while. All disciples became silent before Jesus, and looked at the lips of Jesus carefully.
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. (John 9:3a)
It was a shocking statement from Jesus. It made all of His disciples completely confused because they believed that bad things came into one’s life due to one’s sin or sins. For the specific case of the man’s blindness, it was very difficult to pinpoint because he was born blind. Thus, the blind man cannot cause his blindness because he could not sin before his was born. They expected to hear an answer from Jesus, but Jesus told them neither of his sins nor his parents’ sins made him blind! Jesus said there was no causality relationship between his blindness and the sin that they were looking for.
How easy do we think that one persons’ misfortune is caused by one’s own sin? Jesus clearly told to the disciples that it was not the case. Then why do we tend to make a direct connection between someone’s misfortune and his/her own sin(s)? By making such a connection, it automatically makes us more righteous than the person suffering. We don’t suffer because we are less sinners than the person suffering. Once making this connection, we immediately feel good and more righteous so that we can stand tall over those people suffering. However, it is not true as Jesus said. Then how should we respond? First, we must be humble before God. Then as we see misfortunes, disasters and sufferings, we’d better remind how sinful we are. In fact, all misfortunes, disasters and sufferings around us are God’s spiritual wakeup call specifically designed for us. It is time to confess our sins to our God, and ask His mercy and forgiveness. Our Father God who dearly loves us hears our confession and forgives our sins, no matter how sinful our sins are, through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the truth and our hope and faith. Yes, the God is our Ever-Loving Father.
Jesus continues,
“but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3b)
If the blindness was not caused by neither his own sins (which cannot be committed before his birth) nor his parents’ sins (yes, his parents were sinners like us, but inheriting his parents’ sins on the blind man before his birth did not make sense), then why was he born blind? Here is another truth, perhaps even bigger than the first answer of Jesus. Jesus answered that in his blindness, the works of God would be displayed. In other words, through his blindness, God’s power and His works would be magnified, and His name be glorified through the lips of His people.
After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” Jesus told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing!
God’s miracle happened right before the eyes of the disciples. All of the augments that were heavily influenced by earthly wisdom were suddenly nullified. Before Jesus, all of the articulative theological arguments ceased, and the truth of God was revealed. As a result, God’s power, mercy, grace, glory and love were magnified.
God loves His children, and He pours His love on His children, and especially more so when His children are suffering. The blind man who had suffered for his entire life gained sight. How joyful he was! He became possessing what he had been missing throughout his whole life without seeing. He was always curious about what would look like if he could see. He really wanted to see his loving parents, his house, his friends, his town people, trees, flowers, sky, clouds, the sun during daytime, and stars and the moon at night. Suddenly, he received gain his sight which he had never had before although he truly wanted to have so many years. Of course, he knew it was impossible. It was a true miracle that he received his own sight. He joyfully went home in God’s mercy and love. He remembered what his life used to be. He had to beg not because he wanted, but because he could not work like other due to his blindness. The very center of all of the curses in his life was his blindness, which was suddenly gone. He could work like other. He no longer had to beg in the corner of the street where he had to come everyday although he hated to come. He remembered some of the bad people who took advantage of him because he was blind. Some treated him badly because he could not see them. People did not include him because he was blind. He was always alone and mistreated, but he could not do anything because he was blind.
Through Jesus, all these bondages had been removed and he was freed in Him. The miracle of healing of his blindness immediately changed his life to a degree that he could not imagine before. Those who saw him joyfully walking home by himself could see his face filled with a radiant joy that only came from Jesus.
His neighbors saw him returning home joyfully, and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
The neighbors were divided. He was looked like the one used to blind, but he was whole without blindness, which was impossible. Thus, most of them thought that he was another person, just looked like the blind man.
Once we meet Jesus in our life, we are truly changed. We were blind before, but now we see. We were deaf, but now we hear. We had no hope, but now we have hope. We did not have faith, but now we have faith. We destined to an eternal death due to our sins, but now we have an eternal life. All these were beyond imagination, but now we possess them all possible through Jesus. Indeed, Jesus is the one and only one way that allows us to have all good things. Through Him, we receive all that are beyond miracles in our life. How can we compare these eternal blessings through Jesus with things on earth?
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Again, Jesus is the only way. Through Him, we have received the gift from the above — faith, hope and eternal salvation, which cannot be compared with anything on earth. In fact, the gift of God through Jesus is far greater than anything on earth. We praise His name. Then the next question is, “What should we do with this precious gift from God? “
What should we do when we see those who are suffering? First, we should reach out and touch them by providing our love, care and comfort in Jesus Christ. Then, we look into ourselves, and confess our sins to God. Then we hold up their hands with our spiritual hands in Him and walk with them through the valley of their misfortune. If we see a big disaster that hurts many people, we humbly implore ourselves before God for His mercy on those who are suffering so that they receive the same mercy and love that we received from God. Then we stretch our hands and hold them up high with hope and faith in the power of God, who is love.
Let’s not forget the reason why the man was born blind. The blindness was not because of sins of neither the man and his parents, but because the works of God might be displayed in his blindness. Yes, after all, all things work together to magnify His works and glorify His name. Our God is always faithful and full of mercy and love. We completely and fully lean on Him with faith and hope in a time of trouble. Give praise to God, who is Our Ever-Loving Father!
so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, (Colossian 1:10)