In Jesus’ day it was popular to blame suffering on the sufferer. This would prompt a hot sermon on sin and where it will get you. Anti-sinner rhetoric could run hot and heavy. Jesus’ way of avoiding that was the compassionate way of healing the sick and redeeming the sinner. The Samaritan woman at the well received His compassion. The woman caught in adultery received it. A demon-possessed man living in tombs received it. Calling them bad sinners did not and could not redeem them. Our compassionate Lord loved and redeemed sinners. Let’s be like our teacher.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3 (ESV)
