If This Man Were Not From God

This story highlights two interrelated ways of thinking that create conflict and harm. The first attitude is our need to assign blame. When Jesus and his disciples encounter a blind man, the disciples immediately ask: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” In their mind, someone had to be at fault. Jesus responds by saying no one is at fault and heals the man. This leads us to the second kind of thinking that causes conflict and harm. When the Pharisees find out that Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath, they are upset and proceed to interrogate the man. Why? Because they were more concerned that Jesus had broken tradition than they were about the man who needed healing. As we see in the story, Jesus puts people first.

Passage: John 9:1-41