Who’s Sin?
“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” John 9:1-3 NKJV
Throughout the Gospels, we see the heart of Jesus and the will of Jesus for all who are sick. Jesus healed all who came to Him. He did not only heal some that were worthy enough or those who were favored by Him. Jesus healed all that came to Him and believed. This is the same heart that Jesus has today as well. It is His heart for you in the area of sickness, Jesus heals plain and simple.
When we look at the healings in the Bible we usually see people coming to Him to be healed. They are seeking Him because they believe in Him. They trust that He can and will heal them. However in the story above we see the story of Jesus healing a man that was born blind. In verse 7, a few verses after those above, we see that the man is healed. But what stands out in this story is that the man does not appear to be coming to Jesus for healing. The first verse says that Jesus was passing by the man when His disciples (seeing the blind man) ask Jesus who sinned to cause this man to be born blind.
The disciples assumed the blindness was a direct result of someone’s sin, either the man himself or the blind man’s parents. Jesus was clear that it was neither the sin of the man nor the sin of the parents that led to this man being blind. Jesus is pointing out that this is the wrong mindset. This is important because this mindset is the mindset of the flesh. We often think along similar lines. When people get a fearful sickness or disease they assume they must deserve it. They think because they have sinned this is the result. If they think that they deserve the sickness then they are not as likely to fight against it. It is then too easy to just accept the sickness as recompense for their sins and that can become a death sentence. If you think the Lord has allowed this because of your sin, how can you fight the will of God?
The truth is that sickness does come from sin, but it is a result of the sin of Adam. Adam’s sin led to the fall which gave power over the world to Satan. It is Satan’s desire is to kill, steal and destroy. God’s will is made clear in the life and ministry of Jesus who healed all who believed and received. Sickness is in this world because of sin, but Jesus came to demonstrate to man His heart and the works of God. God’s heart and love are revealed in the finished work of Jesus, by whose stripes we were all healed. Embrace the healing of Jesus, not the sickness of the fallen world.
J Todd Hostetler