The Bible says:
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
— John 9: 1-3
We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We know that there are consequences for sin.
The greatest consequence is separation from God in this life and separation from God in Hell for all eternity as a consequence of rejecting Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Things happen in this life that are so catastrophic that we believe it had to come directly from the hand of God as punishment for sin and we want to know who is responsible; who sinned?
Job’s friends believed his troubles were a direct result of him sinning. But they were wrong.
Job’s conscience was clear and his integrity was intact. And God said he was innocent. (Job 2: 3) Some thought those that Pilate slew and those that perished when the tower of Siloam fell were the worse sinners in Jerusalem (Luke. 13: 15) or they would not have suffered so. But Jesus said if we do not repent we will all perish.
In the Christian community we want to know who sinned and brought the failure or setback to us all. Who can we point the finger at and blame?
Of course if the church tolerates sin among its members then the church is to blame when God steps in and deals with her disobedience.
Ancient pagan civilizations blamed Christians when disaster struck their country because they thought the Christians had made their gods angry and that led to them being persecuted.
Jesus’ disciples thought that the blind man was blind due to his parents or him sinning. They like everyone else were sinners but his blindness was not the judgment for some sin. Jesus used His healing the blind man to manifest the mighty works of God.
Sin does have its consequences. And God does chasten His children when they sin. (1 Corinthians 11: 27-32) So suffering may be punitive. But it can also be disciplinary, (Proverbs 3: 11, 12; Hebrews 12: 6-11) or testimonial as with Job, or transformational.
(James 1: 2-4; 1 Peter 1: 6-9) There is always a purpose for our suffering but it may not be because of sin.
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at [email protected]
