Who Sinned

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? — John 9:2.

Who sinned? Who’s at fault? Who’s to blame? Questions we hear everyday from newscasters, reporters, members of the legislature, and too many of us ordinary people. It might be okay if the purpose of the questions were to be to help prevent reoccurrence, but way too often the blame questions are posed to judge and condemn. The quicker the better.

We hear too often that someone is poor because they are lazy, he or she is uneducated because of poor teachers, and even that someone is evil simply  because of their skin color. We search for simple justifications for our judgment ignoring the complexities of life.

In Jesus’s day people believed that blindness was the result of God punishing someone for his or her sins. He quickly rejects that belief by saying, “Neither this man or his parents sinned.” He is telling us all to quit searching for blame or fault. Wouldn’t a better question to ask be, “How can I help?”

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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