“It Wasn’t My Fault This Happened”

Sermon in a Sentence

Sin is not the cause for every ailment, and we must seek to bring grace and healing to those suffering from mental illness.

Mind over Matter

Mind over matter is not a simple as we may think. Mental health can be impacted by several factors that are often out of our control. The Mayo Clinic says, “Mental illnesses, in general, are thought to be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Inherited traits. Mental illness is more common in people whose blood relatives also have a mental illness. Certain genes may increase your risk of developing a mental illness, and your life situation may trigger it. Trauma can be passed down through genes in a process called intergenerational transmission. Stress can cause changes to reproductive cells, as well as to the uterine environment where a fetus develops. Because of this, people whose ancestors experienced trauma may be vulnerable to mental health conditions. Even individuals who did not experience a trauma directly may have inherited trauma symptoms, such as anxiety and mood dysregulation. This has mental health implications for descendants of people, including Black Americans, who have experienced oppression and violence. Environmental exposure before birth. Exposure to environmental stressors, inflammatory conditions, toxins, alcohol or drugs while in the womb can sometimes be linked to mental illness. Brain chemistry. Neurotransmitters are naturally occuring brain chemicals that carry signals to other parts of your brain and body. When the neural networks involving these chemicals are impaired, the function of nerve receptors and nerve systems change, leading to depression and other emotional disorders (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2024).

The stigma of mental health isn’t new to the Black community. Martin Luther King Jr. reportedly had severe depression during periods of his life and refused psychiatric treatment, even when urged to seek care by his staff. Unfortunately, that scenario continues to be common today, with African Americans not seeking mental health care because of stigma.

“We can all work together to recognize and address this challenge,” Crawford said. “But to do so, we must understand where it comes from and why it is so ingrained in our culture.”

The root of mental health stigma among Black people can be traced back to slavery.

At that time, it was commonly thought enslaved people were not sophisticated enough to develop depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorders.

“From those historic misconceptions, we learned to ignore mental illness or call it other terms, like ‘stress’ and ‘being tired,’” Crawford said.

Such nuanced descriptions for depression and other mental illnesses—adopted by the Black community and passed on from generation to generation—led to underestimating the effects and impact of mental health conditions. Also, it strengthened beliefs that a psychiatric disorder is a personal weakness.

Crawford explained that “all these factors created a culture that is fearful and uninformed about mental illness.”

According to research, only 25% of Black people seek mental health treatment when needed, compared to 40% of white people. Black adults are more likely to report finding a mental health care provider who understands their background and experiences. It is reported that only 2% of psychologist are African American. Research tells us that everyday life stressors can be a significant driver of mental health concerns in Black populations. Bearing the weight of racial trauma in addition to having to complete everyday tasks like going to work, feeding your family, or taking care of your health can take a toll on mental health.

So, we must not heap shame onto somebody already struggling with their mental health. Finding compassion can be understanding that though everyone wants to be happy and joyful, for some it is a difficult process, through no fault of their own. Our own actions may contribute to our suffering, but condemnation rarely leads to change. Herein, many millennials and Generation Z deal with mental issues and they look for “safe spaces” to feel vulnerable enough to have a conversation with the intent on finding resolution. The church should be that place, but in many places, the church is not that safe space; on the contrary it has caused and inflicted trauma on old and young alike. What does a young person do when the “safe space” hurts them? Where does a young person go when the “safe space” scoffs at mental illness? Why is there such a stigma on mental health? Why does the church not talk about mental health? The church believes that everything is fixed through faith and prayer, but there are times where you need prayer and a psychiatrist. There are times when you need theology and a therapist. There are times when you need meditation and medication. Mental health is real and many people old and young suffer from mental illness. Mental illness is what you can’t see, but it will affect what you see and feel. Through this series, it my task that this series will help foster safe spaces for those struggling with mental health and encourage constructive, faith-filled conversations about mental health in the church.

Context of the Text

Jesus and his disciples just escaped being stoned as Jesus made the claim that “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). He and his disciples are still in Jerusalem, but he is not hiding in contrast to 8:59. Perhaps some time has elapsed since his confrontation with the authorities in the temple, though as the story reads he could be coming straight from their debate. In chapter eight, he reveals himself as the light of the world and has passed judgment on the leader among the Jews and the temple itself. He heals a man born blind, thus giving a sign that bears witness to his claim to be the light of the world. He also continues to condemn the opponents by accusing them of being blind spiritually, a far worse condition than the physical blindness of the man he healed. The story of the man born blind provides a sign regarding not only Jesus. but also his opponents and the community of those believing in Jesus. Certainly John intends us to connect this healing with the previous chapter, as the reference to Jesus as the light of the world indicate (8:12; 9:5). The story of the blind man in John 9 challenges any notions we may have that illness disability, or health issues are a direct result of our personal sin or spirituality.

Misdiagnosis

Jesus encounters a blind man that was born blind from birth (vs. 1). John omits how they know he was born blind, but he does include a startling accusation and misdiagnosis of the blind man’s condition. Maybe the Lord knew preternaturally, or he simply asked him. Once they gathered intel on the man’s condition, the disciples treated the man’s condition as a theological problem. The disciples, like the Palestinian Jews of their day, that sin and suffering are intimately connected. In one sense, they are correct; they are simply working out the entailments of the fall (Gen. 3). If rabbis argued that there is no death without sin (B. Shabbath 55a; Eze. 18:20).

Ezekiel 18:20 ESV

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

People commonly assumed that disease and disorders on both the personal and national level were due to sin, summarized by the rabbinic saying “that there is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity” (B. Shabbath 55a). Reading Romans 1-2 and 3:10 it would seem like Paul would agree, but one theologians moved from generalizing statements about the origin of the human race’s maladies to light connections between the sins and the sufferings of an individual, they go beyond the biblical evidence. The idea that the parents’ sins can affect their children finds support in the Old Testament Exodus 20:5

Exodus 20:5 ESV

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

“People will misdiagnose you because they do not understand you.”

How many times have people questioned your mental state? How many times have you heard that you were off? How many times have people said that you were “crazy?” How many times have your heard that what happened to you was your fault? People summed you up without the facts, diagnosed you based on their assumptions, and provided a prescription they wouldn’t do themselves. Human beings generally seek for answers or a rationale that can help them deal with the hard questions of pain, suffering and evil. Like most confused human beings, the disciples assumed that the problem would be more tolerable if they could probe the questions of why. Accordingly, they sought to assign blame for the mans’s unhappy state of life. In doing so, the disciples joined the long care of miserable friends who like those in another biblical story sought to comfort the unfortunate Job. Actually, those colleagues added to Job’s terrible plight (Job 13:1-12). In assigning blame, the friends there in fact stood over against the suffering of Job and perched themselves on the pinnacle of self-righteousness.

Measure Grace instead of Blame

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott John Newton on Invincible Grace

For grace “is too often resisted, even by those who believe; but, because it is invincible, it triumphs over all resistance when he is pleased to bestow it”

While the disciples look to blame this man’s parents for his condition based on Old Testament texts beginning with Esau and Jacob in Rebekah’s womb (Gen. 25:22-23), the rabbis argued that Esau sinned in the womb (Ps. 58:3), contrast Paul’s argument in Romans 9:11 and the perspective of God’s role concerning a child in Jer. 1:5). What does this have to do with mental illness? Mental illness keeps many in the dark and blind to the reality of God’s grace. This man’s condition had noting to do with his parents or his own mistakes…His birth was problematic, but Jesus’ presence meant that his life does not have to be problematic. Mental illness is not always the result of tragedy and trauma, but it can be hereditary. Mental health problems don’t define who you are . They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but you are not the rain. Blindness can be inherited and caused by birth defects, but Jesus was not concerned about who to blame for the man’s condition. Like the disciples, the church looks to blame you for your mental illness, not realizing that life happens that creates traumas and triggers in our lives. Often they lead us to self-sabatoge…However, Jesus refused to accept the disciples’ alternative of blame and in fact shifted the base system of the discussion from blame to the grace of God in the face of human need. “People don’t need to experience the blame game from the church, they need to know that God’s grace is sufficient.”

We mustn’t heap shame onto someone already struggling with their mental health. Finding compassion can be understanding that though everyone wants to be happy and joyful, for some it is a difficult process, through no fault of their own. Our own actions may contribute to our suffering, but condemnation rarely leads to change. In this pericope Jesus was going to use the man’s tragedy to reveal the works of God. Trying to figure out the source of suffering in an individual’s life is futile given our limited understanding, as the book of Job should teach us. Scripture describes four types of suffering in terms of causes or purposes:

People don’t need to experience the blame game from the church, they need to know that God’s grace is sufficient.”

Suffering as a proving or testing of our faith (Gen. 22; Deut. 8:2; Job).

Suffering meant for improvement, for our edification (Heb. 12:5-8).

Suffering as punishment for sin (Deut. 32:15-25; Jer. 30:15; Jn. 5:14).

Suffering shows forth God’s glory (Jn. 11:4).

“Our sufferings are opportunities for God’s grace.”

If our suffering is not a direct punishment for sin, then it is something God allows to happen in our lives, usually for reasons beyond our knowing, which nevertheless can help us die to self and find our true life in God. God does not allow anything to enter our lives that is not able to glorify him by drawing us into deeper intimacy with him and revealing his glory. The light of life did not fix blame but offered grace, so Jesus rejected the alternatives of the disciples. In this man’s life, hurting was the preparation for healing.

Kenneth O. Gangel, John, vol. 4, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 180.

Medicine from the Master

Jesus takes this time to explain to them and those listening that this man’s presence and condition is here for God’s glory. It would makes sense to speak to the man’s condition, but Jesus reveals that this man’s blindness speaks to the work that needs to be done. The “I” here means “we” as he includes his disciples in his future work. His statement reaffirms his personal mission and the role of the disciples. Jesus uses the contrast of day and night to represent themes of good and evil. The symbolic contrast between night and day would have been read by the early Christians in the postresurrection era as a reminder that after the “night” of the Lamb of God’s death, the daylight had reappeared with the resurrection of the Lord. The night, however, was to be an extremely difficult time when the disciples and Jesus would be separated in the trauma of the cross, and at that time all seemed to be lost. Yet, he reassures the blind man and disciples that as long as he was there, then, the light would be there.

The first five verses of chap. 9 thus serve as a window or introduction to the meaning of the sign (powerful act) in the remaining verses. What Jesus did next was rather shocking. The story as stated simply bristles with symbolic allusions, which are subject to varied scholarly opinions with respect to their meanings. It may suffice here to suggest a few possible allusions.

Two spittle miracles are recorded in Mark (the healing of the deaf man who also had a speech problem in 7:32–35 and the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida in 8:22–25), but there are no spittle miracles in Matthew or Luke. In both cases from Mark, as in this case from John, spittle seems to be a kind of vehicle Jesus used to perform the miracle. Like his touch (cf. Mark 5:31; 5:41), Jesus’ spittle seems to be an aspect of his person that carried his power. In the present case the mixing of Jesus’ spittle (ptysma) with dirt is somewhat reminiscent of God’s breath mixing with dirt of the earth in the miracle of human creation (Gen 2:7).

In the Hellenistic world mud (pēlos) frequently was used in magical incantations and particularly in some healing practices of the followers of Asclepius. Among the rabbis there were varied opinions. Some considered that the spittle of the firstborn of the father had healing powers, but not the firstborn of the mother. Others regarded such spittle practices either as condemnable magic or as unclean based on an implied negative connotation of the Torah (cf. Lev 15:8).

That Jesus sent the blind man to the Pool of Siloam and that healing was either effected or revealed at that point calls to mind the healing of Naaman in the Jordan (cf. 2 Kgs 5:10, 13–14). The implication in both stories seems to be that the healer demanded the man in need to obey the healer’s instructions. As such the reader should not miss the close connection between obedience or effectual believing and experiencing the powerful work of God. Moreover, the name of the ancient pool was regarded as significant in this connection because the evangelist made a point of informing the reader of its meaning. According to John, the word “Siloam” meant “sent” (John 9:7). As such the pool’s name is indicative both of Jesus’ mission and his command to those who would receive his blessings and become identified as his followers.

The intersection of the Pool of Siloam with the Festival of Tabernacles should also not be overlooked here because the water drawn for the water ceremony in the temple was carried in procession from this very same pool. The Pool of Siloam was a strategic place of well-being for the inhabitants of Jerusalem because after Hezekiah dug the water tunnel from the Spring of Gihon to the Pool of Siloam, the Jerusalemites had a continual source of life-sustaining water within the walls of the city during times of siege.

The man obediently followed Jesus’ instructions, and he was healed; he came to sight (9:7). Some scholars like Brown and Schnackenburg have seen in this story symbolic baptismal overtones and have pointed to catacomb art as well as early liturgical resources for support in such interpretations. In evaluating such a thesis, which presses for a connection between such a healing story and a church practice, it is imperative on the one hand to recognize that church preaching and worship practices often employ stories from biblical texts to illustrate Christian experience. Such uses of a text are not inappropriate. On the other hand, such uses of a text do not govern an authorial meaning for the text. In this case it would be hard to argue that the story actually carried a baptismal message beyond the obvious healing meaning.