Jhn 9:1-2, 1 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?”
In the gospel of John, Jesus encounters with a poor blind man as He is passing by. It is unclear if Jesus was informed through inquiry that the man had been blind from birth, or He already knew because He is God and the inquiry was for the sake of the disciples. The inquiry for the timing of when the man became blind is considered significant.
The disciples speculated that the cause of the man’s blindness could be attributed to his own future sins that were known beforehand, or to the sins committed by his parents that affected him. This line of thinking suggested that those born with disabilities or defects were seen as sinful, while those without any defects were considered more righteous. As a result, people with disabilities were often judged, looked down upon, treated harshly, and spoken to condescendingly, as either they or their parents were believed to be at fault, greater sinners and were being punished. This is how Satan uses situations as accusations and for condemnations. And if we are not careful, we may become victims. Yes we are born flawed, “We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners” (R.C. Sproul), but that is not the end of our story, it’s an intermission.