The Blame Game 2 March 2008

John 9:1-41
Lent 4
Sunday, 2 March 2008

We have a need for things to make sense to us. Even when we do not agree with an idea or an outcome, it makes us feel better if we can understand the reason or logic behind it. Even when we confront the difficulties in our own lives, we feel better if we can discern some deeper meaning for our suffering and struggle. We always grasp after a reason for the bad things that happen to good people.

In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus and his disciples encounter a man who was born blind. His disciples see an opportunity to query Jesus about this most difficult issue of who to blame for the bad things that happen. Whose fault is it? Was there some discernible sin in the unborn child? Was there some parental sin? There is no reason to think that they know anything more about the man than that he was blind from birth. They have no more information than that about the man or his parents. Thus, they are really asking a larger question about the cause of suffering and misfortune. If sin is the culprit, then whose sin is it? Jesus answers, Neither the man nor his parents are to blame. He then heals the man to the glory of God.

While the healing of the man certainly glorifies God, Jesus' answer to the disciples' question leaves us without a definitive statement about why bad things happen. The truth is that life does not always make sense to us. Things are not always fair or just. Sometimes the "bad guys" seem to get away with it, and the "good guys" lose or fail. I'm not sure that asking Jesus face to face will yield the answer that we crave. So, we'll simply have to keep trusting. And I guess we will understand it better by and by.

Sing, "We'll Understand it Better By and By"