God Does Not Cause Bad Things to Happen

God permits the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

John 9:1-3

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The disciples' initial question is not logical. How or when could the man have sinned to cause blindness at his birth? Can we sin before we are born?

God did not cause or permit this man to be born blind to give Jesus an opportunity to heal him. The weaknesses and illnesses of the parents or the surroundings of the persons had been such the result was the baby was blind at birth. This man having been born blind provided Jesus an opportunity to give him sight, demonstrate Jesus' power and kindness, and make known the power of God to the world. This does not suggest all suffering and disorder does not come as the result of sin and violation of God's law. The blindness was not the direct result of sins of his parents or in fact the baby.

John 11:1-4

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Lazarus was sick. Jesus could have prohibited his death but did not. Death was not the object. Jesus had another reason to delay to permit Lazarus to die. Jesus was honored through the exhibition of miraculous power in raising Lazarus from the dead.