John 9:3

Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents.

Jesus, does not affirm that they were sinless, but that their sins were not the cause of the calamity. We are not justified in asserting that the sufferer is. sinner. Job's friends tried to prove his guilt by his calamities; the enemies of Christ, when he suffered on the cross, said, "He is smitten of God, and afflicted." Christ here shows that there may be other reasons for sorrow than personal or family sins.

But that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

By his miraculous cure the work of God shall be made manifest. It is the work of God to believe on Christ (John 6:29), and the blindness of this man was the occasion of faith being produced not only in him, but others. Thus Christ shows. nobler use of suffering. It is often. means of grace, and the saints are often called upon to suffer, that they may themselves be purified, or to show God's grace to others. "The Father chasteneth every son whom he loveth." "If ye be without chastening ye are not sons." "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church."