Why do bad things happen?

Have you ever heard the question, “why do good things happen to good people”?

When I was in high school I played basketball and I loved playing basketball. And all I ever wanted to do was start for my high school basketball team. But I remember during my senior year my coach told me that I wouldn’t be starting and I was so upset. I asked myself why I couldn’t be good enough, why couldn’t I have been just a little bit taller or a little bit more athletic. I wanted for God to change who I was. But as I played more and more I got better even after high school, and I was able to use it as a ministry and to coach basketball and to use it as a way to make friends. God was using it differently then I wanted.

In this story Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth. But before He is able to heal him His disciples ask Him a question. Why is this man blind? What caused him to be blind?

-They ask this because in this day your suffering and your sin were deeply connected. They saw your physical and material status as saying something about your spiritual health.

-What the Bible teaches us that we should view sin differently. There is pain, illness, poverty, and death because of sin entering the world. There is no suffering without sin. But it is not because of our specific sins that we deal with suffering.

-Now there can be DIRECT consequences to our sin, but not indirect. What do you think the difference is?

-Direct is, if you drink and drive and you get pulled over and go to jail. That is a direct consequence. If you smoke your whole life and you get lung cancer, that is a direct consequence. If you are lazy and don’t do your homework so you fail a class and you get grounded. That is a direct consequence.

-An indirect would be, because I lied to my parents I now won’t play well during my sporting event. Or because I cheated on a test is why I can’t get a girlfriend. Or because I watch pornography is why my family is having issues at home.

-But even more what do the disciples believe? That the blind man could be blind as a consequence of either his parents past sins or because of the blind man’s sin while he was even in the womb.

-But Jesus corrects them, He tells them it was so that He could be a light to the world.

God works all things for our good

In Jesus’ answer he makes two things clear. 1. It is not a result of either that man’s sins or his parents sins. 2. His blindness was given to Him by God for His glory.

(Video about Nick Vujicic)

Romans 8:28, 31-32, 35-39

-All things are according to God’s purpose, including our sin

-Just look to those in the Old Testament who sinned and God used it to bless His people

-No power of man or of Satan is able to overcome the love of God

-Nothing, not even our own sin, is able to separate us from God’s love. There is nothing you can do that would make God love you less, and nothing you can do that could make Him love you more.

Jesus says that this man was blind so that He could give glory to God. What does that mean?

-It means that God desires to work miracles in our lives, He desires to use our shortcomings, so that we may see how great He is.

-This is not just a miracle, but a sign of God through Jesus to be a light int he darkness.

-He came to show that the ones who are really blind are those who do not believe in Jesus. For they can’t see even when they are in the light.

What are you blind from?

I have always been someone who, when I mess up I would rather fix the problem myself than tell someone else that I messed up. Even when that means that I will never be able to fix it. I own a home, and you want to prove that you can do something yourself, you want to prove that you are able to be a handyman. But when my parents come into town, or when Meagan’s dad comes into town. If I ask them how to solve a problem, they already know the answer and it makes my life easier. I have learned to ask them when I don’t have the answer.

As Jesus heals this man he then says “go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is a word that means “sent”. What is being drawn to here is that as Jesus healed this man, physically but also spiritually, He is sent as one of His disciples as one who is no longer blind.

Even as he is healed there are those who are unsure if this is the same person, He seems like a new man because of how Jesus has healed him. We are also to be new people, hard to recognize to those who previously knew us.

Then when He is before the Pharisees they ask him a question, “who do you say He is?” They have decided that Jesus is a sinner. They have reasoned theologically and they have used all their knowledge and they have come to this conclusion. Even though much of what they say doesn’t make much sesne.

His answer is, “He is a prophet”. Then later he will say” “whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that thought I was blind, now I see”.

-This is the critical point. What do we see? What do we believe? Are we going to nitpick the Bible and choose what we want to believe like the pharisees? Or are we going to see Jesus for who He is and what He has done?

We are all spiritually blind as humans. Jesus came to reveal our weakness, to show us that we are sinners and that we have fallen short. The only way for us to live is to trust in the Lord without sight, to trust that He came to save us. We must go from spiritual darkness to to the light.

-Jesus came for those who are aware of their need of a savior, aware that they are broken, aware that they are a mess and that they need help.

-But if we choose to believe that we have it all together, that we can fix our own problems, that we can handle it without the help of others. Then we will be spiritually blind.

-If you know you are broken tell someone that you are hurting, tell someone where you need help. Come to me, or one of the other leaders. We all are broken, I’m broken. I mess up every day.