That the Works of God Might Be Displayed (John 9:1-3)

So, welcome to uh 915 devotional. We're a minute late. We're always start a little late. Let everybody get in. Um if you're brand new, and we know that that uh Joanie is uh everybody's been automatically muted the moment I push record. And uh at the end, we're going to open this up for a comment or suggestion or question or we're going to have community. And when that happens, at the bottom of your screen, you'll be able to unmute yourself. Uh so today uh we're going to we're going to uh roll into or continue down this path that we were talking about and Jackie yesterday had brought up a very sensitive topic um about um well about the question is is you know why why does God allow something but uh um but sin is in the world and so today we're going to we're going to look at a different set of scriptures and this scripture that we're going to look at today is let me pull it up here.

Let's see here. Share the scripture. And Neil, while we're doing this, I I can definitely hear that someone else is is uh uh not muted. So, I don't know why, but just so you know, the system needs to be adjusted in that regard. So, so here we go. So, we're in the scripture and we're in John 9:es 1 and three. And let me set the stage for a second. So, so the disciples are walking with Jesus and as they're walking they see a a blind man and so they ask Jesus a question and this it says as he went along he saw a man blind from birth and then it says his disciples asked him rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind and I'm going to stop here for a second before we cover the the the third verse here.

So the the disciples are asking a question. And so why do they ask this question this way? And they asked the question this way is because it was often taught then that when something was bad, it was because that person sinned. Well, let's let's clear up some things. Everyone has sinned. And we're going to get to that in the next verse as well, too. But so the disciples are asking, well, why would they ask him if this man who was born blind had sinned? that they're assuming that maybe he sinned in the womb. Well, at at that time, there were rabbis that would teach that even infants in the womb could sin.

And so that they would always be able to point it back. They uh would they were in the Old Testament uh Old Testament scripture would talk about when someone disobeyed God that that that their lineage would suffer for seven generations. And so that may be another reason why the disciples asked who sinned um this man or his parents. And so there it's a real question and it's a real question of the time and they see this man blind. And so they're trying to understand much like Jackie's comment yesterday. Well, why why would this happen? Who who sinned?

Let's figure this out. Where does this land? And so Christ answers the question and he says, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned." I'm gonna stop there. I want to be clear because I've had people go, "Well, you you Christians claim that Christ was the only one who walked the earth who didn't sin." But here in John chapter 9 and in verse three, Jesus clearly says that neither the man nor his parents sinned. That's taken entirely out of context. Jesus is asking, let me, let me rephrase. The disciples are asking about a very particular circumstance in one person's life.

And Jesus is answering based off of that circumstance. Jesus is not saying that this man and his parents were sinless. He's just talking about this one particular point. And so he says, neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. And so this speaks completely to what we were talking about yesterday. We serve a God who is sovereign. Uh scripture goes on to say uh Old Testament says our ways are not his ways. Our thoughts are not his thoughts. We we can't with our finite minds even begin to wrap our heads around why something would happen.

That's for God. That's not for us. Um and we talked about this yesterday that that there's a purpose for this. And here is a perfect example inside uh the New Testament where Jesus says, "Now what happens when they heal this man? God's power is displayed. That man probably goes on to be one of the greatest uh um evangelists for Christianity and for and for the the the defense of Christ that there ever could be because in a moment he was healed. This man was born blind from birth and a and with a word he's healed. So why did that happen? Well, it happened so that as Jesus and the disciples were walking down this particular street at this particular time, they would run across this particular man, these disciples would ask this question.

Jesus would be able to answer for the con for the whole concept of what our God does. Jesus would be able to heal him. That man would go off to to say fantastic amazing things about uh Christ and who he is and what happened. and the disciples would learn a very important and very valuable lesson. Um, I'm going to give you an example and but before I do that, I I'll paraphrase scripture as well too. Uh, there's a verse that says, "Is it right for the clay to ask the potter, why did you make me this way?" Right? The clay doesn't have any any authority in this.

The clay is the is the item by which the the potter is making. I I'll use a I'll use a real day example. My wife and I parent in a particular way. And if you want to really make a very super close friend mad at you, tell them how they should parent. Watch them lose their minds. And so that's paramount to us looking at God and saying, "Why are you doing it this way?" Because there are some grandparents and some and some uh well there's some grandparents there some mother- in-laws out there who have probably gotten a really bad rap from their daughter-in-law because they made the mistake of saying you should do it this way and then watch a woman lose her mind because we're it's not for us to judge or determine how that should happen.

And that's on a human level. That's me and and and you know my cousin Chris and talking to him about how he's parented his kids that can blow up. Certainly we can't understand the depths of who our God is. He is sovereign. He never there's nowhere in the Bible that talks about him being fair. It talks about him being just. And that's a very different thing. And so we don't know why. One day we're all going to be able to get there. And even though we may not know it now, we're going to be able to go, "Hey, I got a list. Can I go over this with you?

Let me Jesus, please sit down. I got these 14 things. I want to ask you why it happened this way. Can you clue me in because I wasn't around to see it?" And we're going to be able to do that. But right now, we walk by faith, not by sight. Right? and we're committed fully to our our our beliefs that we serve a sovereign loving God. And so, yes, we may not truly understand why that child was abused. We may not I don't know why. I don't know why my mom had to die at an early age from cancer. I have no idea why. One day, I'm going to be able to find out and she's going to walk with me and I'm going to be able to ask the question.

But it doesn't change the fact that it happened. And you're talking about for me an incredible woman, an incredible woman of God, and a lady who gave the shirt off of her back and a lady who did nothing but promote who who Christ was. And yet she was taken early. And I don't know why. And it hurts today. And I'll find out one day. But I never asked God why he did that. I know that there had to be a reason. And maybe that reason was because had that not happened, I wouldn't have read what I've read, I wouldn't have gone down the path I've gone down, and I wouldn't be sitting here on this call right now sharing what God's got for us.

And maybe that's why mom had to go. Don't know, but one day I'm going to get that answer. All right. So, uh, I'm going to open it up. Thoughts, comments, questions, fire away. Anybody else? All right. No one else. Okay. Uh mic drop and then we'll uh we'll move on. So today is Thursday. So this is for anybody new. and Joanie somehow on my lefth hand side I can see you and not the other 25 people that are on uh anybody that's I have my tablet that has a weird angle so I'm still trying to I don't use this tablet I have my laptop usually so weird I'm figuring it out no Jody nothing to do with you you're fantastic you're good I just letting you know that I can see you I'm not picking on you so anybody that's new uh we do this Monday through Thursday so we won't be here tomorrow so if you if you pop in tomorrow talk to yourself.

You meet the nicest people that way, right? We we'll see everybody back here on Monday morning at 9:15 and and we'll go down a new path in whatever God's got for us. So, let's bow our heads. Father, thank you so much for today. Uh God, I just pray that uh and and and maybe this isn't the answer that maybe this still isn't the answer. Maybe I maybe I didn't convey it in in a way that that is meaningful or makes sense, Father. But I just pray that anyone who's still struggling with the fact that there is evil and sin in the world, Lord, that they would just dive into your word that if it wasn't if it if it didn't come from me that Lord, it would either come from your scriptures or or or some other great aura out there that that that would be able to better explain it maybe even over a longer period of time.

Father, I just pray for that. Pray for the hearts for everybody in this room that they would continue to seek your face. That they would they would continue to trust you 100%, Father. that that you are sovereign that that at the end of the day, Romans 8:28 is a real verse. It says that um that in all things, Father, um in all things uh Lord, happen to the good of those that love you and are called according to your purpose. And and that that text never comes back void. And so Lord, I pray that we would just continue to love you and knowing that there's a promise attached to that.

Father, we love you. Watch over us this weekend. Get us to church. Get us in a group. Get us in community. get us reading your word. Uh allow others to speak into our lives and allow us to do that same for for for uh for those that are around us. Father, we love you. We praise you and as always in your son Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, you guys have a great weekend. See you on Monday. Thank you so much. Thanks Dwayne. Have a good weekend. Thanks Dwayne.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly edited for readability.