阅读经文 

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（参罗 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。

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.