John 9:1-4a - As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day…

In this passage, Jesus and the disciples meet a man who has been blind since birth. The disciples, who exist to show us how we would react in similar situations, immediately ask Jesus who we should blame for this. Did his parents do something wrong to have a child like this? Did he do something and deserve to be blinded? Often, we have a voice inside us that tries to convince us not to help someone in need.

We have thoughts that say, “they probably deserve this because of the choices they made,” or “they got themselves into this situation they should get themselves out.” Unfortunately for those thoughts, we were never called to be the arbiters of who deserves what. You can see this in Jesus’s response.

It wasn’t about the man, his parents, or anything they had done, it was about an opportunity for God’s work to be displayed. And this is the key to anyone in need that you might come across in your day-to-day life. You did not meet them to feel better about yourself or to look down on them. You met them so you would have an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that so desperately needs to be healed of blindness.

Jesus leaned down to the man, spat in the dirt, rubbed mud in his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did it and came back with his sight! Jesus didn’t give the man a sermon, he didn’t make him feel bad about who he was, Jesus saw a person that needed his help, and gave it happily.

You may not be able to heal the blind, but you have the opportunity every day to reach into someone’s life and show them the light of Jesus. Even if, like Jesus, you need to get your hands a little dirty to do it.