4th Sunday in Lent

John 9:1-41

Jesus operates by mercy, not fairness.



When they pass by a blind man, the disciples assume that this man’s

malady must be the result of someone’s sin, either his or his parents. If

someone loses their job, we want to know what they did. If a couple

gets divorced, we assume that there’s some history behind it. And if

someone comes down with a deadly illness, we want to know how they contracted it.

Cause and effect lets us believe that we live in a world that we can predict, a world that is

ultimately fair. Jesus operates by mercy, not fairness. He reveals the surprising purpose for

this man’s blindness—so that Jesus would demonstrate God’s power in him. In the end, it

wasn’t about this man’s sin or his parents’ sin. It was about the Man who could give sight

to the blind and blind those who say they can see.