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In this sermon, Ken Petzinger and John Paine explore the question of how a good God can allow suffering and evil in the world, drawing inspiration from the story of Jesus healing a man born blind in John 9. They emphasize that pain and suffering are real, but they are not the ultimate reality, as the ultimate reality is a God of love who meets us in his Son. They discuss the purpose of the blind man's suffering, the man's participation in his own healing, and how Jesus brought light into his darkness, both physically and spiritually. Through this story, they highlight the opportunity for us to become testimonies to others when we invite God to demonstrate his power in our lives.
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Know Why You Believe Week 8 How Can a Good God Create a World of So Much Suffering and Evil? Ken Petzinger & John Paine
Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
John 9 New Living Translation (NLT) Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing • 1. Pain and suffering are real and yet they are not the ultimate reality. By faith we understand that the ultimate reality is a God of love who meets us in his Son. Pool of Siloam Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing • 2. God did not cause the man’s blindness. Further, neither the man born blind nor his parents caused his suffering. There is no “direct retribution” of blindness for sin. Doesn’t scripture teach that we reap that which we sow? Without that won’t life seem “unfair?” (J. S. Mill’s fairness argument in Little) Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing • 3. There is a purpose in the blind man’s suffering – that the power of God might be seen in him. Would you like to be blind for thirty years, waiting until God could demonstrate his power in you? How was the power of God seen in him? Pool of Siloam Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing 4. The man participated in his own healing. By faith he had to obey the command of Jesus, someone he had never seen, make his way to Siloam and wash the mud off his eyes to see. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing 5. Jesus brought light into the man’s darkness – he healed him both physically and spiritually. By way of contrast, in John 8:12 Jesus had earlier testified to the Pharisees that he was the Light of the world, but they were left in total darkness. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
The Experience of Suffering and Healing 6. The man became a testimony to his family, the Pharisees and other bystanders. So when we invite God to demonstrate his power in us through our suffering, the doors of opportunity open into the lives of others. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life
