As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his 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 made manifest in him. John 9:1–3 (RSV)
I hope the man who had been born blind was not within earshot of Jesus and His disciples. It may have been nothing new for him to hear, but it could not have been comforting, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
As if blindness from birth was not burdening enough, hearing the question, "Who sinned' had to hurt. Though he could not himself see, his blindness rendered him invisible to others. They would often talk as if not only was he blind, but deaf as well. Or they assumed that blindness made him deficient in thought and emotions. They could say cruel things as if blindness took away his humanity.
Cruelest of all was the automatic assumption that his blindness was God's punishment for some undisclosed sin. It is a sad trait of human nature to find fault in others, so we don't need to face our shortcomings. If I can divert your attention to a blind man, you may not look too closely at me.
Jesus did not see sin and darkness in the man. He saw a person, created in God's image, who would soon give glory to God. Where others saw only judgment, Jesus saw mercy and healing.
If all there is to our relationship with God is punishment for sin, who among us would remain whole. If God is only a righteous judge, would we all not perish in our mother's womb before we could see the light of day?
Thanks be to God, Jesus sees more than just our sin. He sees the ones whom the Father longs to save and redeem. As He healed the man born blind, He heals us of what sin does to us. Through Jesus, the glory of the Father shines upon and through us.