生来瞎眼的人
门徒们看见一个生来瞎眼的人，他们认为他的瞎眼一定是有人犯了罪。在那个时代，人们通常都这样看待苦难。人们相信疾病和残疾一定是家族中有人犯罪的结果。
如果我们仔细想想，我们会看到人们是如何陷入这种思维模式的。这在很多文化中都会出现。如果一个人有残疾或重大疾病，或他们陷入某种困境，我们很容易指责他们本人或他们的家人，甚至是他们的朋友或社区。如果我们为自己不理解或不想见到的事说出一个原因，就会消除我们的惧怕。
在这个故事中，耶稣暗示听众，神使这个人失明，好使耶稣对他的医治会帮助人们看到神的作为，这使得事情更加复杂了。这让人难以理解——我们似乎无法避免苦难。人类的苦难远比我们愿意相信的更复杂。罪以超出我们理解的方式破坏了这个世界。
但与此同时，这个故事也带来了安慰，因为我们看见神能够并且愿意从挑战和苦难中带来益处。神使万事互相效力，叫我们得益处（罗 8:28）——而且祂已经在基督里救赎了我们。当我们在逆境中看见神的作为，祂以一种独特的方式显明祂的良善，祂爱我们。
父啊，在逆境中，请你帮助我们看见你为了我们的益处而显出的作为，因为你愿意将我们从罪的咒诅中彻底释放出来。阿们。
约翰福音 9:1-12
1耶稣过去的时候，看见一个人生来是瞎眼的。
2门徒问耶稣说：“拉比，这人生来是瞎眼的，是谁犯了罪？是这人呢，是他父母呢？”
3耶稣回答说：“也不是这人犯了罪，也不是他父母犯了罪，是要在他身上显出神的作为来。
4趁着白日，我们必须做那差我来者的工；黑夜将到，就没有人能做工了。
5我在世上的时候，是世上的光。”
6耶稣说了这话，就吐唾沫在地上，用唾沫和泥抹在瞎子的眼睛上，
7对他说：“你往西罗亚池子里去洗。”（“西罗亚”翻出来就是“奉差遣”。）他去一洗，回头就看见了。
8他的邻舍和那素常见他是讨饭的，就说：“这不是那从前坐着讨饭的人吗？”
9有人说：“是他。”又有人说：“不是，却是像他。”他自己说：“是我。”
10他们对他说：“你的眼睛是怎样开的呢？”
11他回答说：“有一个人名叫耶稣，他和泥抹我的眼睛，对我说：‘你往西罗亚池子去洗。’我去一洗，就看见了。”
12他们说：“那个人在哪里？”他说：“我不知道。”
A Man Born Blind
"This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." - John 9:3
The disciples see a man who was born blind, and they assume that his blindness is someone's fault. This was a common way of thinking about suffering in those days. Sickness and disability were often believed to be a result of sin somewhere in the family line.
If we think about it, we can see how people could fall into that kind of thinking. It has happened in many cultures. If a person has a disability or a terrible disease, or if they are down and out in some kind of hardship, it can be convenient to blame them or their family or even their friends or community. It calms our fears if we can state a reason or a cause for something we don't understand—or don't want to.
In this story Jesus complicates things even more by implying that God allowed the man to be blind so that his healing by Jesus could help people see the works of God being done. This is hard to understand—there is no getting around that. Human suffering is a lot more complicated than we would like to believe. Sin has broken this world in ways that go beyond our understanding.
But at the same time, this story offers comfort because we see that God can and will work to bring good out of challenges and suffering. God works for our good in all things (Romans 8:28)—and he has redeemed us in Christ. When the works of God shine through adversity, he shows in a unique way that he is good and loves us.
Father, in difficult times, help us to see you working for good, wanting to free us completely from the curse of sin. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
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