Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the 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 these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. (John 9:1-7, NKJV)
This story could be any city in the world. Jesus saw this full-grown man who had never been able to see because He was born blind. And this is when the problem starts. First of all the disciples of Jesus asked, “Who sinned? Why was he born blind?” People always want to know WHY. WHY was the baby born blind? WHY was the child disabled? WHY did the accident happen? Then the disciples started to attribute blame and responsibility - somebody must have sinned! Was it this man? No, he was born like it, how could he have sinned before he was born? Was it his parents? Jesus quickly gave the answer - it was neither the sin of the man nor his parents. How could He say that? I will give you a very simple answer: the Bible says all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23).
It was not always like this. When God created man, He made him perfect, as all that God creates is perfect. Until sin came into the Garden of Eden. What was the first sin? That is another simple question - it was disobedience to the command of God who had said to Adam and Eve, you can do anything - you can eat what you want - you can do what you want, but only one thing is forbidden. What led to that sin? It was when the devil came and tempted the woman by sowing the seed of doubt, destroying her simple faith and making her doubt God’s Word. Doubt came when absolute faith and trust was broken, which led to disobedience.
Do you see how simple this was? The devil destroyed faith by replacing absolute trust with doubt. This is still today the biggest problem in peoples lives - faith cannot exist without absolute trust in God and in His Word. That is where reason, philosophy, even religion can be used by the devil to remove the ‘absolute’ from our relationship with God.
The reason why Jesus said that it was not this man or his parents who sinned, was because He knew sin exists, we all live in sin. If there were no sin, there was no need for Christ to have died for us. The message of Jesus Christ is not death but life, not suffering but healing. The Bible says Jesus came to preach the Gospel to the poor, to the open the eyes of the blind, to set captives free. His message is life, forgiveness, freedom - removing the doubt - restoring faith in God’s Word as it was in the beginning!
In this Bible story, Jesus is not looking at the sin or the problem, He wants to find the solution! Jesus went to the man and did something a little unusual, He spat on the ground, made clay, and put it on the man’s eyes and told him to wash in the pool. The Bible says that the blind man, still without sight, went to the pool, and the moment he washed he was healed! Here the Bible is beginning to show us something - according to the Word of God, there is a washing, a water that can heal and make you clean today! This water will not only open your eyes, heal your sickness, it’s a washing of forgiveness that will cleanse you from your sin and your past. The secret is that the healing was not in the clay, it came through obedience.
I want to tell you that this Jesus is still the same today - He is the Son of God - He still opens blind eyes and heals the sick. I believe like the Bible says, God created us. He not only made the world, but He became our Father. If you say there is no God, where did you come from? Who but God could create somebody so wonderful as you?
There is a solution to every problem! Whatever situation you are facing today, God will use it for His Glory. Just as this man’s blindness was so that the Glory of God could be made manifest, so God will take your problem: sickness; financial struggle; loneliness; whatever it is, He will use it to reveal His Glory in and through you. Your responsibility is not to figure out the how of the miracle, all you need to do is believe and be obedient to His Word, God will solve the how and when of the miracle.
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40, NKJV)