Fourth Sunday of Lent

Readings for Sunday: 1 Samuel, Ephesians, John 

People who are suffering (perhaps from illness, the loss of a job, or some other hardship) may say, “God is punishing me.” It is an understandable feeling, but it is not really how God works. Instead of explaining this in the usual three-point way, we can look to the Gospel story of the man born blind to understand it.

In Jesus’ time, many people believed that suffering was a direct punishment for sin. When Jesus and his disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth, they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” They assumed that someone must have done something wrong. But Jesus rejected that idea, answering, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

This reveals an important truth: God permits evil, but He does not cause it. There are two main kinds of evil. First, there is moral evil—when people misuse their free will. A thief who steals, or any time we lie or gossip, is an example.

God could forcibly stop such actions, but doing so would destroy our freedom and turn us into robots. Instead, He allows us the freedom He gave us, even when we misuse it.

Second, there is physical evil—things like disease, disasters, and suffering. These are part of a world affected by original sin. God usually does not miraculously prevent them, but He permits them.

Why? Because God can draw a greater good from them. In the Gospel, the blind man is healed by Jesus, but the greater miracle is spiritual. Step by step, the man comes to recognize Jesus—not just as a man or a prophet, but as Lord. His suffering ultimately leads him into a relationship with Christ.

The greatest example of this is the cross. God allowed His sinless Son to suffer and die so that we might be saved. When suffering enters our lives, then, we should remember: God does not cause it, but He can use it to lead us closer to Him and, ultimately, to our salvation.