Redeemer Lutheran Church

I. Why?
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” After all, there has to be a reason, doesn’t there? Things don’t just happen, reason the disciples: there’s a reason that this particular man can’t see. It’s got to be somebody’s fault. Maybe the man sinned—maybe before he was born, or maybe because of some sin he’d commit later on. Maybe it was his parents—they committed some sin so terrible a while back that it cost them their future son’s sight. If anybody’s going to know the answer, it’s Jesus; so the disciples ask Him. There’s got to be a reason, a cause for bad things like this to happen.

We’ll get back to Jesus’ answer in a little while: for now, we simply note that Jesus doesn’t give them the answer that they’re looking for. He gives them a better one.

But back to the disciples’ question, for they introduce us to the dangerous pursuit of the unknown “why,” as in “Why did that specific bad thing happen?” “Why me?” “Why them?” “Why Tumbler Ridge”? Why that girl’s school in Iran? “Why those innocent little children?” “Why the cancer, why the heart attack, why me, why my loved one, why now? You and I are always tempted to obsess over the why, and that is a real temptation: the devil loves to see us hung up and twisting on the why, because it distracts us from the answer that Jesus gives.

But you’re going to ask the question, because you want to know. You feel you have to know—and have the right to know. You want the reason it happened, perhaps because you want somebody to blame; or perhaps because you want to be sure that you’re not to blame.

Sometimes, like the man born blind in our text, there’s no reason, no cause to the effect—at least not that will be made known to you. Bad things just happen. Why did you get the flu during the longed-for vacation and have to spend those days in bed? Was it because of those mornings at church when you got a little drowsy and didn’t put in a good effort to concentrate—was the illness a message that you didn’t DESERVE a fun vacation? Was it a message that you pamper yourself too much and don’t deserve it? Why did it happen? Ask yourself all the questions you want, but there’s no answer given.

Why did the drunk driver hit your car? Why didn’t he swerve a second later and hit the concrete pillar behind you? Why are you hurt because of his actions? Was it because you’ve been enjoying life too much, taking things for granted? Was it because of that sin of yours way back in high school—you still remember that night, and how close you came to disaster, right? — and so was it finally your turn? You know why you’re hurt: car A hit car B. But why did it happen to you? No answer.

Sometimes, bad things do happen because of things that we do. The drunk driver in the last example might ask, “Why did I hit that car?” The answer is clearly, “Because you chose to drink too much and get behind the wheel.” But that doesn’t stop the questions: “But it’s not like I’m the only one who does that, so why am I singled out to face the music?” “Why do I have this addiction and others don’t?” “Why me?”

Health issues often do have answers. Why are you in poor health? Because you’ve treated your body badly for years—you’ve ignored your doctor, eaten too much of all the wrong things, filled your body with extra pollutants and scoffed at the notion of exercise and nutrition. Now it’s all catching up: but why right now? And why you, when others seem to treat themselves a lot worse and go a whole lot longer without trouble? Why is the guy, who’s lived on a diet of cigarettes and whiskey, why is he on the news celebrating his 105th birthday? Why are you the one with chronic pain: what have you done to deserve this?

Why? Why? Why? You can drive yourself mad with the questions and the quest for answers. And where answers are available—or even discoverable, it’s just fine to ask the questions. In other words, we should make use of God’s gifts of science and medicine to track down the causes of disability and disease where we can, because sometimes there are answers to be found. It’s also good for us to examine ourselves—as individuals and groups—and learn from our mistakes in order to prevent the same problems from happening again. We’re not Cynics or robots, puppets who can’t control our actions: we can learn and do better on a moral level. So where the answers are available or discoverable, it’s good for us to seek them out.

On the other hand, sometimes the answers simply are beyond your reach: that’s especially true when the questions are about God’s wisdom and will, as in “Why did He let this happen? Why me? Why now?” A wise teacher once said, “We can only ask the questions that God gives us the answers to.” If God doesn’t give you the answer, then the pursuit is fruitless. It’s even dangerous. Why dangerous?

Because if you pursue an answer that God doesn’t give, then you’ll be tempted to make one up and believe that your answer is God’s answer when it very likely is not. The devil likes it when you put words in God’s mouth, because it keeps you from hearing what God has to say.

It’s dangerous because by pursuing the answer, you’re earnestly searching for a way to avoid acknowledging your own sinfulness. The devil likes this, too: for when you’re busy trying to prove that you’re not sinful—or not that sinful, it means you’re busy avoiding acknowledging your need for forgiveness.

Or it’s dangerous because, when you don’t get an answer, you’ll grow angry with God and declare Him unjust. The devil delights in this, because you will not seek God’s grace as long as you despise Him.

So where the Lord provides answers, it’s good to pursue them. But where He doesn’t, beware: for the devil delights when you pursue what God doesn’t tell you, because it does an excellent job of distracting you from what He does tell you…

…which means it distracts you from the answer that Jesus gives in our Gospel lesson.

II. Jesus’ Answer
Before we get to Jesus’ answer, we need to look back at the disciples’ question and ask a question of our own. The disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Our question is this: are the disciples looking for a Law answer or a Gospel answer?

I think they’re looking for a Law answer. They’re asking, “Who did what sin to make this man born blind?” Whose fault is it? Who’s to blame? Remember, the Law is all about what we do, and the Law is given to show us our sin. The disciples are asking a Law question and looking for a Law answer, which isn’t wrong. It’s just that Jesus isn’t going to give them a Law answer.

He gives them a Gospel answer: He says, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, neither the man nor his parents did something sinful that specifically earned the curse of blindness. It’s just one way that the curse of sin shows itself in a sinful world. Bad things happen, and bad things will happen to you. But Christ has come to redeem the world, to reverse the curse of sin; and so He is going to display His work and saving power by what He does to this man born blind.

He goes on to say, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus has come into this world to defeat sin, to bring light to dark places. To demonstrate this in a very concrete way, He spits on the ground and makes mud with the saliva. He anoints the man’s eyes with the mud and tells him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam. When the man does so, he can see. He can see with his eyes, and he can also see with the eyes of faith that Jesus is a prophet, who speaks the truth, the Word of God.

That’s Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question: don’t spend time tracking down why the man was born blind, because you’re not going to find the answer. Instead, acknowledge that such things happen because of sin—and rejoice that Jesus has come to reverse that curse of sin.

That’s Jesus’ answer to you when you’re face with the troubling “why” questions. Don’t torture yourself searching for answers that you’re not going to find; because you will make a god out of doubt, and it will destroy your faith. Instead, acknowledge that you’re a sinner in a sinful world, that the wages of sin is death, that bad things are going to happen; and then, look to what is certain. Look to the cross, because you can be absolutely sure that Christ has become flesh and died on that cross to reverse the curse of sin for you. He has not left you forsaken to a life and an eternity where things only get worse and more accursed. Instead, He promises that He has delivered you from sin to eternal life; and while you await that final resurrection to glory, He will treasure you as His instrument so that the works of God might be displayed in you.

That work of God might be miraculous healing. The Lord is certainly free to work miracles of healing as He wills. But a greater miracle is faith. Physical healing in this world is only a temporary blessing, because your body is still going to die. Faith, on the other hand, gives eternal life.

You see, in your troubles, in the midst of those very things that cry out for an answer to WHY, faith is a work of God on display in you. Consider the story of Job, a man who had everything—and then had everything taken away. His friends gathered around him and asked the same question that the disciples ask in this Gospel lesson: what did you do so that God would punish you so? His wife cut bitterly to the chase and said, “Curse God and die.” How did Job respond? He said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). He said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26). That is the work of God displayed in Job: where everyone else saw only the darkness of sin and curse, Job shone the light of God’s truth and faithfulness to them.

So it is with you. Where, in their suffering, other people see God as only distant, uncaring or angry, the Lord displays His work of faith in you. In suffering, you cling to the answer that He makes crystal clear: you say, “I do not know exactly why I suffer this now, but I do know that Jesus Christ has come into this world to save me. In His time and according to His mercy, He will deliver me; and in the meantime, I know that He has not forsaken me.” Where you do doubt or grow angry with God or demand answers He doesn’t provide, you recognize your old sinful nature at work and you confess your sins. And you rejoice that the Lord forgives you.

The Lord does forgive you, and the Lord has not forsaken you. Jesus declares in the text, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Though He has ascended into heaven, Jesus remains in the world, as near to you as the means of grace. He remains the Light of the world, saving you from the darkness of sin and death. Where He added His Word to mud to make the blind man see, He added His Word to water and gave you faith to see in your baptism. Where He sought out the healed man to speak again His saving Word, He still speaks His saving Word to you, to strengthen your faith so that you might believe in the Son of Man. He feeds you His own body and blood, so that His work of faith might continue to be displayed in you.

Many questions in this life about suffering will remain unanswered. But the Lord makes this answer perfectly clear: He declares that He has come into this world of darkness to shine the light of His grace upon you. He has gone to the cross to die for your sin, and He is risen again to deliver you to everlasting life. Do not seek answers that He does not give, but instead cling to this truth that He makes clear above all others: that all your sins have been forgiven. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.