Are You Sure This Is Your Son?

At this time in Hebrew history it was thought that to be born blind or with any sort of disability like this was a curse from God. It is quite possible that he grew up excluded from the holiday celebrations and the feasts and the prayers and the gatherings that the rest of the village went to. To be blind was also to be communally ostracized. Even Jesus own disciples ask him at the beginning of this very story, Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind. Neither this man nor his parents sinned said Jesus. So this blind man is suffering on two levels. He is suffering from blindness, a physical disability but he is also suffering from shame