Friday is the 15th anniversary of the death of my brother, Mark. He was killed in an airplane crash in China. He was in China teaching English and doing missions work. This week was a bittersweet time for my parents, as the high school we attended dedicated the yearbook in his honor during a special ceremony.
The story of the loss of my brother is not unusual. Everyone has stories of personal tragedy, often loved ones like Mark, who are taken before "their time."
One of the greatest questions we try to answer when something like this happens are “Why do tragedies happen?” “Where is God when bad things happen?”
In John chapter 9, Jesus helps us get God's perspective on tragedies. In this passage we find a man whose life has been a tragedy since birth.
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." 10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. 11He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." The blind man sat that every day, probably for many years. The scum of the earth, a “sinner” begging for mercy from those coming in and out of the Temple so he could he and live for one more day.
The religious of the day thought that the reason one suffered more than another was because of an offense against God. Having been born blind, he was thought to have sinned against God in his mother’s womb! I can’t think of what could be worse than being blind and then having to stumble through life believing it was a result of something I did before I was even born. But Jesus removed this blind man’s darkness and revealed his marvelous light through his healing.
You especially learn to appreciate sight when your eyes stop working properly. I remember the day when I could go to the eye doctor and read the eye chart all the way down to the copyright notice on the bottom of the page! But after an eye injury playing basketball in high school, I've slowly lost much of my vision in my left eye. It's very frustrating not having good vision.
I think all my children, around the age of 2, learned the value of eyesight. I can recall each of them putting a blanket over their head and trying to navigate through the house. I would warn them, “You’re going to run into something.” But they wouldn’t get it until you heard a loud thump, followed by an even louded cry. This usually put an end to the blanket over eyes routine.
Spiritual VisionBut in the same way that we can have physical problems with our eyesight, it is much more of a tragedy having spiritual vision problems.
I think if I were the blind man, the physical burden of being blind would not have been as bad as the burden of believing that God was against me and my entire life has been one long punishment for something I couldn't even remember doing.
The PhariseesThe guys who thought they had God figured out during Christ's time was the Pharisees. They thought they could clearly see spiritual things and understand how God thought. They had high moral standards. They knew the Scriptures. Yet they were blind because they could not see that Jesus was who he claimed to be-the Messiah, sent by the very God they worshiped.
At the end of Chapter nine, after the blind man's sight had been restored, he went before the Pharisees and gave Jesus credit. Because of their spiritual blindness could not acknowledge what had happen.
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
34 To this they (Pharisees)
replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.
In John chapters 7-8, we find an intriguing narrative describing Jesus' trip to Jerusalem and earlier conflicts with the Pharisees, all setting the stage for the healing of a blind man. Many Jews had migrated into Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles. Jesus, knowing that it was not time for the Father to send him to the cross, kept a low profile and traveled to Jerusalem in secret. But while he was there he went to the Temple and began to teach (7:14), stirring up even more controversy. The Pharisees had had enough. They were so irate with Jesus that they sent Temple guards to have Jesus arrested. The Temple guards returned empty handed because they were so blown away by Jesus and his powerful teaching. At this point Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees, comes to Jesus' defense and delayed the inevitable.
During the Feast of the Tabernacles, the mood was festive around the Temple. The lighting ceremony, where four enormous golden candlesticks were lit in the and the religious men, members of the Sanhedrin, and heads of different religious schools would dance well into the night holding bright torches and singing psalms of praise to God" was probably the backdrop for the spiritual analogy Jesus would use.
Jesus tells the Pharisees, "I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (8:12)
Jesus was light, and he would show it both physically and spiritually in the poor, spiritually rejected blind man. Jesus saw this man's dilemma, not as some type of punishment for a crime committed against God's law, but instead as an opportunity to show God's light through a weak, worthless outcast of society!
"But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (John 9:3)
Jesus did not deny the connection between sin and suffering. Although sin may be a cause of suffering, clearly seen in Scripture, it is not always the case, as with the blind man. When tragedy strikes, I think it’s scriptural and appropriate to ask ourselves, “Is there any unconfessed sin I are holding onto in my life, areas I am unwilling to submit to God?
But in this narrative, this healing was not only a sample of Jesus' ability to restore sight to a man who had been blind since birth, but it also represented, figuratively, and for the blind man, experientially, the light Jesus brings into the world.
But within the amazing illustration, Jesus also brought new light to the disciples on one of the mysteries of God that puzzled them-"whose sin resulted in this man's blindness?"
This makes us rethink the whole idea of God’s will. We make God's will about us rather than about Him. I know this is difficult to comprehend, but the blind man suffered for years and years, but it was all part of God's plan to display the light of Jesus and bring glory of God.
Have you ever been to the eye doctor and had one of those Refraction tests. Looking into that big device, the doc keeps asking, "Which is better, this one or this one?" After going through that drill what seems like about a hundred times, the extent of your vision difficulty can be determined and the doctor can provide you with the correct prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses.
When we deal with difficult circumstances, God, in his wisdom and plan, uses these things to prompt us to make adjustments in the direction or focus of our life so we can be more in line with His will and purpose. Our spiritual vision will be enlarged to see that life is about Him.
We must choose to turn on our spiritual vision and ask the Holy Spirit for help in understanding what God is doing through these testings.
In fact, James says it's a gift when we're tested.
James 1:2-4 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
We need our spiritual vision adjusted if...1. We are unable to see that what God allows, he allows for a reason.
We must bank on the truth that “All things work together for the good of those who love God and have been called according to his purpose. Difficult times and trials can sharpen your awareness of how thoroughly God has already and always been at work in every detail of our life.
We are 100% certain to suffer, and Christ is 100% certain to meet us, to come for us, comfort us, and restore our joy.
2. We spend too much time focused on cures, fixes, and ways out of the situation and not enough time casting our cares on God.
It is not wrong to be informed and use the brain God has given to us. But human ef
forts to escape the situation at the expense of knowing God in greater ways could be symptomatic of a lack of faith. In fact, remember what James said-be patient, let it have time to do it's work.
Jesus desires that His light shine through us, especially during dark times of life. So where is God when bad things happen? He is still God, and He is the artist painting on this canvas was call life. The painting doesn't reveal the artist's full intentions until it is complete.
Prayer:"Do whatever you need to do in me today to display Your glory and accomplish Your work!"
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