Rabbi Who Sinned?

Rabbi who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned, he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. — John 9:3

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we weren’t always trying to cast blame?
In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus’s disciples buy into a Jewish form of “the original sin” assuming that since a man was born blind either he or his parents must have sinned.
It would be easy to believe Jesus’s response is an isolated instance — referencing this man’s blindness as being part of God’s plan for Jesus to reveal himself. Maybe that’s all it is.
But I think it goes deeper. We know that a lot of people are born blind, or with other defects that they carry for the rest of their lives.
And in each of their cases wouldn’t it be better if all involved would not look for sin or fault, but for opportunity and a chance for God to reveal himself through them.
In fact, wouldn’t it be better to consider everyone we meet in such a way.
During the Lenten season we are given the tools and the opportunity in every aspect of our lives to look at things differently — to go from finding fault to finding opportunity, from being blind to seeing.

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

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