When Jesus’ disciples approach him about the man blind from birth, they never consider the possibility of healing. Despite the miracles they’ve seen, they enter into an argument about the blind man’s past, about the sin that brought him where he is. From their perspective, the past is a sequence of events begetting events. Everything has a cause, and the disciples want to know where to lay the blame for this man’s blindness.
But Jesus tells them they are asking the wrong question, that they are looking in the wrong direction. This man is blind “‘so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’” In other words, Jesus has less interest in the past. Grace is about to interrupt the old chain of events and create a bright new future
And this idea of looking in the wrong direction is echoed later when the Pharisees challenge Jesus’ authority. Rather than celebrating in the blind man’s healing and promising new future, they look back to the Old Testament law of abstaining from work on the Sabbath. Jesus, according to their interpretation of Torah, had broken the Sabbath and was blameworthy.
The past—for the Pharisees and the disciples—determines both the present and the future. The past is responsible for the blind man’s condition. The past holds Jesus in violation of Torah. The past condemns all hope for a better future. It’s simple karma—what goes around, comes around.
But Jesus is trying to get us to imagine a world that operates outside karma, a world where the past cannot dictate the future. Instead, he introduces the notion of grace. Even in our brokenness, God promises to make “‘everything new’” (Revelation 21:5).
And that’s the beauty of this chapter. Grace interrupts the past. It frees us from the curse of karma. We need only to believe—as the blind man did and as the former slaver John Newton did. Then we too can sing: “I once was lost / but now am found / was blind but now I see.”
Written by Ben DeVries, a New Life member and a senior at Illiana Christian High School.
No comments:
Post a Comment