Questions!
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
John 9:2
Read John 6:27-29; Proverbs 3:1-6
The question which the disciples asked the Lord Jesus opened the way for
the great miracle Christ was going to perform, but also for the amazing answer
He would give. The question posed is understandable when we regard
the culture in which the disciples lived. We are privileged to have the New
Testament revelation, while they only had the Old Testament. In the latter
revelation God had promised the nation prosperity if they walked in His
ways, and punishment if they disobeyed. As a result, when trials and sickness
came into people’s lives, people often connected them to specific sins.
Such thoughts are not entirely strange to us either. Every Lord’s Day in
church we hear what the Law says: God visits the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Him. But it is also very important that we hear and understand the answer
the Lord gave to His disciples: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents;
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
In this answer the Lord teaches something which is on a much higher plane.
Christ Jesus reveals that all of creation, including mankind, is duty bound to
declare the greatness of God. That’s also the purpose of attending church.
Together, with the whole congregation, we receive instruction which enables
us to understand the Lord’s work to a much greater extent than what
the text reveals at face value. In this way we are taught to stop relying on
our own insights and to seek God’s honour in all our ways.
Thought: Our own insights may be foolish.
Psalter 428: 5 (based on Psalm 119)
O teach me, Lord, the way that I should go;
Then shall thy servant walk therein forever.
Give understanding all Thy paths to know;
Then shall I keep Thy law with zealous fervor.
Instruct me in Thy perfect will and, lo,
I shall observe it with my whole endeavor.
