I don't always give titles to these sections we've been looking at, but this one I couldn't resist. I would title this, "Taught by Signs," and I'll explain that in a minute. Let me read John 9:1-7.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
As we've been studying our way through John, we have talked about the word that John uses for miracles, 'signs.' A sign is something that is meant to point you to something else. And so, this sign of the healing of the blind man, Jesus uses to teach us three significant things-that's why I named this "Taught by Signs."
Here's the first one. People don't generally suffer as a punishment for their sin; it's not what the Bible teaches. The typical reason we suffer is because we live in a miserably fallen world that does not function the way God intended. Romans 8 says, "this world is groaning itself...the physical world, waiting for redemption" (summary paraphrase). Because this world is our address, this broken world, suffering will somehow, someway enter our door.
There is a second thing, when it comes to this man's suffering blindness, John says something that's radical and provocative-fasten your seatbelt! John says that God allowed this to happen to him so that his glory would be revealed. Now think about this, in his holy and wise providence, God will allow us to suffer in order that his glory will be revealed. Not all suffering is a result of sin and Satan. This confronts us with the way that many of us think about life. The fact is that our comfort is not the most important thing in this world-God's glory is!
The cross teaches us that God can and is willing to bring very good things out of very bad things. There is nothing more beautiful in life than having your heart and life changed because you have seen the glory of God and have been liberated from your bondage to your own glory. You see, the problem for all of us is that sin makes us all glory thieves. We steal God's glory, and we want glory for ourselves. So, God revealing his glory is a beautiful thing and often the way he does that is by putting us through things we would never want to go through. But they become an occasion where we come to know God at a deeper, fuller, more profound way. That has been my experience in suffering as well.
Third thing Jesus says is this miracle is used to reveal the faithless hearts of the Pharisees. Although this miracle reveals the messianic glory of Jesus because he's doing something that only God can do, the Pharisees keep going after the man he healed to get him to say that whoever gave him sight couldn't possibly be the Messiah. And here again, we're confronted with the truth that no matter how powerful the evidence is, true life-changing faith is always the gift of God. God has to act in grace toward us before we can transact in faith toward him. Jesus had lapped miracle upon miracle upon miracle and the Pharisees still did not believe.
So, in one miracle, we are pointed to: a theology of suffering; the fact that God is at center, and we are not and will never be, and that God has zeal to show us his glory; and that faithfulness in the face of evidence is only solved by the rescuing grace of Jesus!
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. When it comes to suffering, what has been your perspective about it in the past? Have you believed that suffering was a punishment primarily a result of your sin? How has suffering impacted the way you view God and his love toward you? Has suffering pushed you in a direction away from God? Have you taken the time to think and pray through your perspective on suffering and why it is allowed to happen in your life? If not, take some time today to do that.
2. What is your initial reaction to the idea that God allows you to suffer in order that his glory would be revealed? Why is God's glory more important than your comfort? In what ways have you been living that put your comfort ahead of God's glory? Are there specific habits or patterns in your life that you need to ask God to change so that his glory is pursued ahead of your comfort?
3. How might you be inappropriately bonded to your own glory ahead of God's? Why do you need to be liberated from the pursuit of your own glory? Why is the pursuit of God's glory in your life the pursuit of true freedom? Can you recall different examples in your life when God has brought you to places you never intended to go so that he could produce in you things you would have never been able to accomplish on your own? Write those examples and experiences down.
4. Why is true life-changing faith a gift of God and not something that can be produced in our own power? How has his grace in your life generated faith for you?
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children:
• When difficult things happen in your life, what is your normal response? Why do you think we have a habit of responding to hard times and suffering the way we do?
• Are there ways we can change so we don't respond in the negative ways we have before? How can I help you change? How can you help me change?
• What can difficult times produce in our lives that easy times can't?
For Older Children:
• Why do you think God allows us to suffer? Is there any point to it or does it just happen?
• How has the suffering you've gone through impacted the way you view God?
• How have my responses to suffering impacted the way you view God? Are there ways we can change so we don't respond in the negative ways we have before? How can I help you change? How can you help me change?
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