THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 · VERSE OF THE DAY
His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
— John 9:2-3
Context
In first-century Judaism, physical disability was often seen as evidence of sin — either the person's own or their parents'. This wasn't cruel speculation; it came from texts like Exodus 20:5 about God 'visiting iniquity' down generations, mixed with wisdom literature that sometimes treated suffering as direct moral consequence. Rabbis debated whether an infant could sin in utero. The disciples aren't being callous here — they're doing theology the way they were taught. The question assumes a tidy moral universe where bad things only happen to people who deserve them. Jesus is about to pull that framework apart.
What it's actually saying
The disciples ask 'who sinned?' — not 'did anyone sin?' The question locks them into a false binary. Jesus says 'neither' (Greek 'oute'), which doesn't mean 'no one has ever sinned' but 'you're asking the wrong question.' Then comes the part that gets twisted: 'so that God's works might be displayed in him' (verse 3). English makes it sound like God caused blindness to set up a miracle — a cosmic object lesson using a real human. But the Greek structure (hina with subjunctive) can express result, not just purpose. Better read: 'This happened — and now God's work will be revealed through him.' The focus isn't the man's past; it's what God is about to do in the present. Jesus refuses to turn suffering into a morality play. He redirects to action: 'We must work while it's day' (verse 4). Stop theorizing. Go heal somebody.
How to apply it today
Next time something goes wrong — a diagnosis, a job loss, a relationship fracture — notice how quickly you reach for an explanation that makes it your fault or someone else's. That scramble for causation is what the disciples were doing. Sometimes bad things just happen in a broken world, and the faithful response isn't figuring out who to blame but asking 'what now?' You don't have to narrate suffering into a lesson before you're allowed to grieve it or address it. God's work shows up in what happens next, not in whether you can trace the disaster back to a mistake.
Sit with this
Think of one hard thing in your life right now. Write down the explanation you've been telling yourself about why it happened. Then cross it out and write instead: 'I don't know why, but I can ask what's next.' Sit with that for a minute.
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