Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Today's Scripture
John 9:1–17

As he walked 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?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed 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.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” (NRSV)

Reflection

It strikes me as surprising that the disciples assumed that someone must have sinned for the man to be born blind. When they asked Jesus which of the two had sinned — the man who was blind or his parents — Jesus said none of them sinned; this happened so that God’s work might be revealed in him and that we must work the works of God while it is day.

How would this play out today? If someone is born with a physical disability, would we think that they had done something to cause it? Surely not — but their parents might be a different story. Was it their fault? Did they do something or fail to do something that caused the disability? It can be difficult to resist passing judgment on the lives of others.

I wonder — what about someone born into poverty or a family with no support or parenting skills? What about someone who is abandoned at birth and has no family? Who is at fault — who sinned?

I believe Jesus’ answer might well be the same: rather than assign fault, I imagine that Jesus would say this happened so that God’s work might be revealed in them. What does it mean for God’s work to be revealed in such a person? Does it always mean the person with the disability or the one born into unfortunate circumstances is the one who reveals God’s work? Or could it also be that this person presents an opportunity for others to do so?

I imagine that after the blind man has the incredible experience of washing his eyes in the pond and seeing himself reflected in the water, he spreads the word and reveals God’s work wherever he goes. I also can’t help but think that for many people born with a physical disability or into circumstances immersed in misfortune, there is an opportunity for good Christians to seek ways of making their lives easier and, rather than pass judgment, to seek solutions to the problems that caused their misfortune.

God’s work revealed in persons born with disabilities, whether physical or circumstantial, can be revealed in the work of the whole community into which they are born.

Prayer
Loving God, I pray for the grace to avoid passing judgment on the lives of others, for the courage to seek solutions to the problems that caused their disabilities and misfortunes, and for the compassion to do what I can to make their lives easier. Amen.

Written by Janet Love, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer© Fourth Presbyterian Church

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