Once Was Blind

Chapter nine of John’s Gospel tells of Jesus’ encounter with a man born blind.  There are a couple main questions implicit in this reading: why is the man born blind, and what has Jesus come to do?

Jesus’ disciples want to know the reason for this man’s blindness.  So, they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Behind this question is the assumption that this man is being punished for sin, either his own or his parents’ sin.  Surely, they think, thi...