Who Sinned?

And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" (John 9:2)

This verse always gets a reaction from me, the first time I read this my reaction was a condescending "Superstitious goofs!" kind of thing, then later having read and understood a bit better:

6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Exodus 34:6-7)

my  reaction changed, to "If he was born blind how could he have sinned to cause his blindness?" That's a question that remains today, but the thought of the sins of the father visiting the children came back. It could have been his parents, or grand parents or great grandparents... but why would God punish my grand children for my sin? It seemed that in Jesus time there were lots of blind, and lame, and lepers... were people more sinful then than now? (I can't see how that would be possible) 

Then not too long ago I was reading an article on Silver Nitrate and found this:

Silver salts have antiseptic properties. Until the development and widespread adoption of antibiotics, dilute solutions of AgNO3 used to be dropped into newborn babies' eyes at birth to prevent contraction of gonorrhea  from the mother. Eye infections and blindness of newborns was reduced by this method; incorrect dosage, however, could cause blindness in extreme cases. (Source)

I never realized that gonorrhea caused blindness at birth, and that is most definitely a result of sins of the parents. So it's not God that's punishing our grandchildren for our sins, WE are. How many other diseases caused or contracted by our sinful nature, selfishness, and thoughtlessness are passed on to our children? We know that the man's blindness was not caused by sin, for Jesus said that he was blind "so that the works of God might be displayed in him." 

We are not that lucky, our sins echo down the generations causing pain and sickness. Our blindness is mind numbing, how many babies have been murdered because we bought into the lie of the 'unviable tissue mass'? Fifteen years ago the President of the United States entered into a sexual affair with a girl he was not married to then lied about it before a grand jury. Now he makes millions of dollars on speaking engagements while society devolves into a sinful orgy of lies and sex, and I've heard on numerous occasion "It's ok, Bill Clinton did it." As a result reportable STDs - particularly chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis - are increasing at a phenomenal rate. Now we're being lead by an empty suit who prefers to crack jokes in the face of human tragedy while his country slides into bankruptcy. What will this do to future generations?

All we can do is beg God for forgiveness, do His will, and like the blind man when asked who opened our eyes, tell them it was Jesus.

“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. (John 9:31)