There is a great chapter in the Gospel of John (John 9) that reads like a dramatic production. You could get several people to read the parts, reading through the chapter for a great theatrical experience of the story. The more animated the readers, the better.
The story itself tells how Jesus and his disciples met a man who was blind from birth. Jesus heals the man and is criticized by the religious leaders who feel he should not be “working” (i.e. healing) on the Sabbath. The story is another portrayal by John of the distinction between Jesus in his compassion for people and the religious teachers and their focus on traditions. It is an interesting encounter, as it presents several lessons that have relevance for today.
The chapter opens with the disciples debating the blind man’s condition. Did he sin in the womb or was his disability the result of some sin on the part of his parents? The disciples firmly espoused the view that bad things happen to bad people. When they approach Jesus to get his authoritative answer on the question, he astounds them by declaring that no one sinned. It is rather a case of God wanting to show his glory to the world. The healing that Jesus performs does just that.
Jesus’ statement should rock our worldview. Is it suggesting that God can be so capricious as to let someone be born blind, and live well into adulthood, just to demonstrate his power at a certain point in history? We want to cry out “unfair”! Even if we have a strong grip on the idea of the sovereignty of God, we still feel like this is a bit overboard. Until we, like Jesus, see the years of our lives from the vantagepoint of eternity.
How do we measure our earth-bound years when compared to the timelessness of eternity? Robin Mark sings ”we are a vapor - You are eternal.” Moses writes that if we live to be 80, our days are “soon gone and we fly away”. Basically, our lifespan on terra firma is a tiny blip on the chronometer of the eternal kingdom. If God chooses to allow hard things to enter our experience in order that He might show His own glory to people, that is His choice. From Jesus’ perspective, the revelation of God’s glory in a moment of healing was far more valuable than the weight of suffering in blindness for 25 or 30 years. Viewed from eternity, the blind man’s suffering was not punishment – it was opportunity.
Could it be that this perspective has been lost, or at least significantly weakened, in the modern church? The covid pandemic has exposed a weakness in contemporary Christianity that shows we are far from the words of Christ in John 9. We see believers adamantly demanding their rights, declaring that the church has every right to oppose political leaders trying to protect their citizens in a deadly virological war. I agree that on both sides of the issue, statements and actions have gone too far, and people have been hurt. The relentless onslaught of covid 19 has torn away much of the veneer of civility in our culture, and many have lashed out at their opponents in ways that would have seemed strange only a few short months ago.
I see pictures in the New Testament of Christians who joyfully suffered the plunder of their possessions, their freedoms, in some cases their very lives, because for them, the eternal kingdom loomed far larger on their horizon than any earthly establishment. They went to prison, to the stocks, to the lions, to the cross or the beheader’s block, knowing they were bound for a greater, an eternal city. With that in view, their present circumstances, no matter how difficult, were nothing to be considered. Heaven was the true goal.
I do not write these words casually, as I know that many bear heavy loads in this life, and I would never want to discount their suffering. With Jesus, in many cases, it can be said – no one sinned. But this may be so that the glory of God can be displayed.
Yet, I still wonder what kind of a church the world would see if we all had that eternal viewpoint first and foremost. How much more brightly would the glory shine?
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