Whose Fault is This?

Let’s face it, at some time or another many of us, maybe even all of us parents of kids with special needs ask the question. Whose fault? Why did this happen? We can go through all kinds of scenarios in our heads. Some of us lean to the scientific looking at or for all matter of causes: genetic, environmental, what have you. Some of us, especially Christians, lean entirely spiritual. We leave no spiritual stone unturned. We look at ourselves and our spouses. We may even look at our child. Either way, we are looking for a cause. We are looking for fault.

It’s entirely understandable. It’s perfectly normal. I would be lying if I said I haven’t done either. I have. I have wondered about the scientific and the spiritual reasons. I have blamed myself. I have wondered about genetic histories of myself and my wife. I have wondered what it was that I did to cause this. My guess is that you have too.

We are not alone in that belief.

In his Gospel, the apostle John recounts the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. Perhaps you remember the story: Jesus spits on the ground making mud, puts it on the man’s eyes and he is healed when he washes in the Pool of Siloam. It’s an interesting story on several levels. Kids love it because they learn that Jesus spits! (And they wonder if that means they have a pass to do so too). Churchy adult types may not be quite sure about it, but the spitting is not really the point. As a rule we forget about the controversy that follows, but this one healing causes a whole lot of upheaval. The story takes up all of chapter 9, and is very much worth reflecting on in its entirety. The point of the story is found right at the beginning in verses 1-3, before the healing even takes place.

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:1-3, NIV

Whose fault Jesus?

This is not the crowd asking the question, not the religious leaders trying to trap Jesus. It was the disciples. They drew a conclusion, a conclusion that seemed perfectly natural to them. It seemed, after all, to flow directly from the Law in Exodus and Deuteronomy and Numbers. Jesus’ response is truly freeing.

It is not his fault.

It is not his parents’ fault.

Fault is really not at all the issue in this case. The issue is the glory of God. God’s glory shines through this man’s life because Jesus heals him. But God’s is at work in more than the healing of this man. The healing helps the man, to be sure, but it does far more. It sets in motion a fierce debate about sin and blindness, about who is from God and who is not, who is with God and who is not. In short, this man’s disability becomes the catalyst to see Jesus for who he is and by extension God for who he is.

God’s very nature, his compassion and humility, are seen in and through the suffering of this man. The disciples are impacted by this man. So are his neighbors and his parents. The Pharisees were forced to confront their unbelief because of this man.

For those of us with children who are disabled in some way, determining fault may feel important, but it may be the wrong question entirely. I am not saying that medical causes or treatment are unimportant (of course they are or Jesus would not have bothered to heal the man in the first place). I am saying that there is something even larger at stake.

Today, when we think about ministry and special needs, we generally think about ministering to people with special needs. Perhaps in ways that we have a hard time conceiving, it is those with special needs who are in fact ministering to us. They show us how to have mercy and show compassion, they teach us patience and yes even joy. They may well force us to confront the reality of Jesus like the man born blind.

Sometimes the crucible of suffering is exactly what we need to have our eyes opened to the light of Jesus. It is not easy. It is no doubt not the path we would choose. But as John shows us in this episode, in Jesus we see a God who is in the business of subverting the difficulties and tragedies of this world. That is a gift.

Written by Kevin O’Brien

Kevin O’Brien is a husband, father, ordained minister, writer and volunteer theologian. He holds a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where he won the Th.M. award in 1997. He has also done graduate work at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Kevin worked as a brand manager on the Bible team at Tyndale House Publishers. During his time at Tyndale he has helped to develop several Bibles and has written articles which have appeared in The Way, the iShine Bible, and the Illustrated Study Bible. He also wrote a series of devotionals for WAYFM’s World’s Biggest Small Group.

Most recently, Kevin wrote an Advent devotional eBook. You can find it here.

Kevin lives in the far western suburbs of Chicago with his wife, three children, a dog, and a cat. He would prefer to spend his time reading, writing, woodworking and watching the Chicago Blackhawks.