05/06/2026
And his disciples asked him, saying, “Teacher, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”
9:2 Among the Jews it was a common idea that a person’s own sins were the cause of any sickness or disability that might come to him. This attitude appears also among Job’s friends (notes at Job 4:7-9; 8:3; 18:5-21). The disciples were trying to understand if this applied to a person born with some defect. Was the man’s blindness a punishment that came because of his parents’ sin? or did the man somehow sin himself before he was born? The Jewish rabbis of the time speculated about the possibility of an unborn baby sinning while still in its mother’s womb.
Also there may have been speculation in those days about the idea of reincarnation – that every person experiences multiple births and that his sins (or righteous acts) in a previous life affect his condition in this present life. There is no reason to think the disciples believed either of these speculations (compare Job 11:12; Heb 9:27). But they were curious as to why this man was born blind. Observe that they were not suggesting some way to help him. They were not showing compassion. He was to them just an object for theological discussion.⚜
Jesus answered, “Not because either this man or his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.
9:3 The Lord Jesus denied the speculations of the disciples. He is not denying that the parents or the son were sinners as all men are sinners (Rom 3:23). He is saying that the cause of the man’s blindness was not connected with their sins.
The teachings of the Lord Jesus are contrary to the doctrine of reincarnation. If He had believed that doctrine, or thought it had any significance at all in explaining man’s life on earth, this was the perfect opportunity to say so. Instead, He denied the very basis of the doctrine – that a person’s own sins in any supposed previous life affect what he will be in this life. What the Lord taught in Luke 16:19-31 also is opposed to this doctrine. See also the note at John 3:3.
Jesus says that the man was born blind for a much higher purpose that the disciples imagined. A mighty work of God was about to take place in the man, and glory and honor would come to God through it. God may have the same purpose in any sickness, disability or defect that brings suffering to us. It may be that a similar work of God will be revealed in us. Or a different work which will also glorify Him – a work in the heart that will make us humbly, faithfully, joyously endure any kind of suffering for Him (John 16:33; Acts 5:41; Rom 5:3; 2 Cor 4:16-18; 12:9-10; Col 1:24; 1 Pet 4:13).⚜”
John 9:2-3
