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The Question Behind the Question - Sunday, March 15, 2025

Scripture Reading: John 9:1–5

There’s a moment in this story that’s easy to read past. Jesus and his disciples are walking along and come across a man who has been blind since birth. Before anyone says a word to him, before anyone asks how he’s doing or what he needs, the disciples turn him into a discussion topic. “Who sinned?” they ask. Not “How can we help?” Not “What’s his name?” Just: whose fault is this?

We do this more than we’d like to admit. Someone loses their job and we quietly wonder what they did wrong. A relationship falls apart and we start assembling a theory. Someone is sick, or struggling, or just having a hard time — and our minds move toward explanation before they move toward compassion. It’s not that we’re cruel. It’s that we’d rather have an answer than sit with the discomfort of not knowing.

Jesus refuses to play along. He doesn’t name a guilty party. He doesn’t validate the theory. He redirects entirely: the question of fault isn’t the most important thing here. What matters is what’s possible. Jesus begins not with blame but with possibility — and then he does something just as striking. He sees the man. Really sees him. Before the man can see a thing, Jesus sees him.

That shift — from “whose fault” to “what’s possible” — is available to us too. It doesn’t come naturally. It’s a practice, a habit of the heart that has to be chosen again and again. But it starts with noticing: what question am I actually asking right now? And is there a better one?

Reflection:  Think of a situation in your life right now — involving yourself or someone else — where your first instinct has been to look for someone to blame. What might change if you asked instead, “What is possible here?”

Action Step:  Today, when you catch yourself wondering “whose fault is this?” — about a situation at work, at home, in the news — pause for ten seconds before answering. In that pause, ask one different question: “What does this person actually need?”

Prayer:  God, you see us before we can see you. Help us today to be a little less quick to assign blame and a little more quick to see the person in front of us. Open our eyes to what’s possible. Amen.