The wrong question

“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” (John 9:2 NLT)

In the ninth chapter of John’s Gospel we find Jesus doing one of the things He does best. Healing. He heals blindness—two kinds of blindness. First and obvious, is the sight he gives to a blind man. But perhaps an even greater miracle happens as he exposes and begins to heal the blinding darkness of stigma woven by the man’s family and community.  In that day, illnesses were often attributed to sin. So the question the disciples asked of Jesus was not, “How did this happen?” because they had already figured that out. They knew the cause was sin. They just wanted Jesus to help them ascribe blame to the right party. Their question was, “Who sinned?”

 

But Christ would have none of it. “You are asking the wrong question,” he responded. He knew the question stemmed from wrong assumptions—presumptions that were based on ignorance and stigma.

 

In our day we often still ask the wrong questions about how some people find themselves in the situations they are in. How easy it is, for example, to look at those struggling with addictions, homelessness, mental illnesses, and make assumptions of why they are the way they are or how they got into the state they are in. Like the disciples, our assumptions are often based on ignorance or, worse, arrogance.

Perhaps the right question is revealed in Christ's reply to the wrong question: “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him." (John 9:3 NLT). Maybe what we should be asking is, "Do I see the power of God in this person?" If not, perhaps I am the one who is blind.