1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" 3-5Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light." (The Message)
Jesus confronts his disciples as they are pondering what they think is a cause and effect situation. The disciples think that because the man is blind someone must have done something wrong. They wanted Jesus to answer the wrong question and Jesus knew that the answer they were looking for was not going to help them understand the world and the way in which God was at work in the midst of it all. Jesus attempts to recast the question and have them instead look at how God might be able to work because of the current situation. This is a very different perspective than they were used to and one that the religious leaders didn't want to have to deal with. The truth is that we still don't want to deal with the reality of Jesus' answer to the question.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- In Jesus day physical limitations were seen as a sign of God withholding favor from someone, is this any different today?
- Have you ever felt like God was punishing you because of the things you had to live with?
- Does it make a difference if you live your life looking for someone / something to blame for your misfortunes or if you look for what God might do in the midst of your misfortunes? In what ways?
- Where in your life can you begin looking for what God might do because of your life circumstances rather than having to change those circumstances first?
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