"Who has sinned...

... this man or his parents." The disciples saw a man who was born blind and immediately assigned blame to certain people as well as blame and motive to God. Jesus answered the disciples, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

I am gratefully very removed from the massacre at Virginia Tech yesterday. The questions about why are already swirling on the airwaves. God's motives will be speculated upon by many even well meaning people. I believe times like these reveal God's motive behind sending His Son as our Saviour.

It is BECAUSE of the evil in the world that we all need saving. When things are going semi-smoothly for me it is tempting to look around and wonder why all the fuss, what do I NEED saving from? This world ain't all bad. Then the reality of how damaging and damning sin on the loose is comes crashing down all around me. I fear the suffering of epic proportions touching me intimately as all these families at Virginia Tech are feeling.

It is during these times of crisis when people start looking deeper for answers than ever before. The answer is Jesus Christ. It is only through Him we are offered the opportunity to attach ourselves to true power, authority, goodness and immortality. Surely no one can be surprised at the occurence of such atrocities anymore. Denying the probability or even the certainty of extremely similar events within 10, 5 or even during the next year would serve only to certify one's insanity.

The salvation of Christ makes a person's death gain rather than loss.

Philippians 1.21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Does that take away the pain of suffering? No it doesn't. Even Jesus sweat drops of blood in the anxiety leading up to His sacrifice on the cross. Even Jesus cried out "Why?" on the cross during His suffering. However, Jesus' death on the cross was not the end and His sacrifice for us makes it possible that our own deaths don't have to mean the end for us either. His resurrection gives us hope through the trials and tribulations of this life no matter what or how harsh the suffering blow dealt us.