The Rape of Dinah

When Jesus was asked why the man was born blind, he answers: “that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Does that sound like a satisfying answer?

Terrible things often happen to people who have done nothing to deserve it, whether a rare disease, or a “natural disaster,” or a horrific crime. And people want to know: "Why?"

The disciples in John 9 – together with Job's comforters – are giving a fundamentally earth-bound answer. They want to explain everything in terms of a spiritual principle of cause and effect.

Jesus, on the other hand, insists that we need to look at the problem of evil from a heavenly perspective :“that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (v3) And he goes on in verse 5 to say, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” – and then he promptly opens the man's eyes so that he can see.

If all you do is look at the problem of evil in terms of me and my experience, you will never find the answer. If you ask “why did God allow this to happen?” and you only accept answers that say “here's the silver lining for me and my experience!” then you are missing the point.

Sometimes there is no silver lining -- in this life. Sometimes you have to trust that in the end the light of the world will shine into every dark corner and make everything right.

Genesis 34 is that sort of story.