The Works of God

John 9:1-12

¹As he passed by [out of the Temple], he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. ⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

This passage will forever take me back to 1994 when I was diagnosed with cancer. While the news was still fresh and my mind was trying to process what this would mean for my future, God took me to this exact passage. I wasn’t searching the Scriptures for an answer or really looking for the perfect verse to help me deal with this news. It was one of those rare moments when I opened my Bible and there was just what I needed; the story of the man born blind.

First we should deal with the question that the disciples ask. “…who sinned, this man or his parents…?” That strikes us as an odd question but it came straight from some of the beliefs of the day. There was a large faction of the Jews who believed in reincarnation. So naturally, they wondered what kind of bad sin this man was working off through his blindness. Did he sin in a past life, or was it something horrendous that his parents had done. Jesus is very clear here – neither of them is paying the price for some kind of past life sin. Then we come to the pivot point of the passage and the words that rang in my soul when I read them on that cancer diagnosis day.

“…that the works of God might be displayed in him…”

If I was going to suffer cancer then let it have a good reason and having the works of God displayed in me seemed like a tremendous purpose. Of course God also used that cancer to make some huge changes in my character and give me a whole new story to tell of His greatness. That cancer opened up the door of conversation to scores of people who had walked a similar road. Obviously, I lived through the treatments and 21 years later I’m here to tell the story and display the works of God. I would never surrender that event from my life for God brought so much good from it.

Such a dramatic event like having sight granted after a lifetime of blindness does beg the question: are we willing to live in a way that God is able to use us to display His own glory? That idea stands in opposition to the modern ethos of seeking our own happiness and fulfillment. Being available to be used by God for His purposes often takes a backseat to the pursuit of my own dreams and desires. Blindness and cancer are in no way convenient but bearing them with the idea of living to fulfill God’s plan is rather exciting. I can say that having this story as the start point of my cancer journey did make the focus entirely different and God granted great peace throughout the process since my goal wasn’t to be cured but to serve His will. Rest assured, I did not come up with that peace on my own. It was a gift from the Holy Spirit. All I did was hold it.