John 9:1-7 : As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
It is easy to think that just because someone had a hard time in life, that somehow they deserved it more than we did. It is true that this can be the case. God does allow consequences of bad actions to affect us. He also allows Christians to be disciplined for sinful actions when the wander from the path. The book of Job records an exchange between Job and his friends. They assumed that Job must have done something wrong because of the things he had to suffer, but they were very wrong. The Bible tells us that it is very important not to misjudge people about why they are suffering. If we do, we become a part of their suffering!
Sometimes, God allows us to suffer so that He can perform a miraculous work in our lives. This is a pattern that God follows in the way He treats all of mankind in general. Look at what it says in Romans:
Romans 11:32 : For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.
In this case the pattern is that God has allowed all men to be born into sin that He might have mercy on all of them. The pattern again is that God must be the one who performs the salvation of all men. Here we see that the Bible does not promote the idea that men save themselves by good works. Instead, God allows all men to be born in sin that He might be able to show His mercy to everyone. Although, it is true, that some sins are worse than others, all sin will keep us from God and ultimately cause us to be given a sinner’s punishment unless someone saves us from it. Not only that, we are also unable to see our condition until God gives us the ability to see it. In this way can say that everyone is born blind.
It it is interesting that Jesus mentions being the light of the world again. All of us are truly blind when we are in the dark! Jesus was about to be killed and taken from the people. It was about to get very dark spiritually because the light of Jesus was about to be temporarily put out.