What about the man born blind?

Doesn’t the Bible say in John 9:3 that a man was born blind so that God could get glory from it? If this is true then we have a dilemma because Jesus came to destroy the devil’s works, not God’s – and Jesus destroyed this work of blindness.

In fact, Jesus’ words to John, to prove that the works of the devil were being destroyed were:

Luke 7:21 KJV
21And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Consider the following two sentences that have identical words but have different punctuation and therefore two totally different meanings:

A woman, without her man is nothing.
A woman without her man, is nothing.

As you can see, the punctuation of a sentence can drastically affect its meaning. Let’s read the passage of the blind man in John 9.

John 9:1 (KJV)
1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

In the Greek New Testament there is no punctuation. Translators placed the punctuation where they thought it made sense to them. Look how the meaning of this passage changes if the punctuation changes:

John 9:1 (punctuation changed)
3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. But that the works of God should be made manifest in him I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. Night cometh, when no man can work.

Basically, Jesus is saying neither the man nor his parents sinned. But because the man should be healed, Jesus is going to have to perform a work of God in his life. Note in this passage how healing is considered one of the works of God.

Young’s Literal Translation more closely resembles the modified punctuation above by ending verse three with a semicolon instead of a period like the KJV did.

John 9 (Young's Literal Translation)
1And passing by, he saw a man blind from birth, 2and his disciples asked him, saying, `Rabbi, who did sin, this one or his parents, that he should be born blind?' 3Jesus answered, `Neither did this one sin nor his parents, but that the works of God may be manifested in him; 4it behoveth me to be working the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night doth come, when no one is able to work: --
5when I am in the world, I am a light of the world.'

For further study on how translations can differ, read Daniel chapter three in the KJV and the NIV and note the differences between the two versions keeping in mind two points:
• How does faith work? Confer with Mark 11:23.
• What did King Nebuchadnezzar really know about Jehovah and the Son of God?

When in doubt resort back to The Hebrew/Greek Interlinear Bible.