Jesus first followers saw a man who had been born blind and asked, For whose sin is he being punished? His own? His parents? Jesus answered, Hes not being punished for anyones sin. Hes just an opportunity to demonstrate Gods healing power. Then Jesus healed him. Later, the religious leaders demanded that this formerly blind man either slag Jesus off or be excluded from their precious religion altogether, saying, Youve been sinful from birth. How dare you try to teach us! So the sin they were so caught up in castigating and apportioning blame that they didnt even acknowledge that he had been healed. (This story is in John chapter 9.) So, when you see someone down and out, suffering, in pain, its tempting to say that its their fault. They wouldnt be in dire straits if they hadnt worked harder or if they hadnt been imprudent or whatever. Its also tempting to blame the culture, society, global economic systems or someone else who did something evil to them. It might in fact be true that hardship is the fault of the sufferers themselves or it might be someone elses fault, but according to Jesus thats by the by. If we dont primarily treat them with compassion and seek their restoration and healing, our prejudice blinds us to the healing power of God as well as to our own culpability.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:41:08 +0000
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