10/29/08: John 8-9
Ted: Jesus claimed, in several places, "I am" (John 8:24,28,58), which was a claim to be God (the name God used for Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14). When He explained to the Jews that "before Abraham was, I am!" they picked up stones to stone Him (John 8:58,59), because they understood that this was a claim by Him to be God, and they felt that He was guilty of blasphemy, the penalty of which was being stoned.
Just before Jesus healed a man blind from birth, His disciples asked Him if the man had been born blind because the man had sinned or because his parents had sinned (John 9:1,2). Jesus indicated that neither of these was the reason, but rather so that God's work (i.e., the man's miraculous healing) could be displayed (9:3). Because of this, many have assumed that sin, of any type, never is a factor in anyone's being born with a physical disability or ailment. Some even go so far as to insist that nothing bad that happens to any of us is ever a result of sin.
I disagree with all of that. Jesus, very specifically, answered questions addressed to Him. For this particular man, to whom Jesus was going to give sight that he'd never had before, sin evidently was not a reason why he was born blind. However, we cannot automatically assume that sin never is involved in anyone's infirmities, ill-health, or bad things that happen to them/us. In fact, the Bible is full of examples of bad things that happened to people because they sinned, which probably is what prompted the disciples to ask Jesus what they did in the first place, about the blind man.
Just before Jesus healed a man blind from birth, His disciples asked Him if the man had been born blind because the man had sinned or because his parents had sinned (John 9:1,2). Jesus indicated that neither of these was the reason, but rather so that God's work (i.e., the man's miraculous healing) could be displayed (9:3). Because of this, many have assumed that sin, of any type, never is a factor in anyone's being born with a physical disability or ailment. Some even go so far as to insist that nothing bad that happens to any of us is ever a result of sin.
I disagree with all of that. Jesus, very specifically, answered questions addressed to Him. For this particular man, to whom Jesus was going to give sight that he'd never had before, sin evidently was not a reason why he was born blind. However, we cannot automatically assume that sin never is involved in anyone's infirmities, ill-health, or bad things that happen to them/us. In fact, the Bible is full of examples of bad things that happened to people because they sinned, which probably is what prompted the disciples to ask Jesus what they did in the first place, about the blind man.
