Cees & Anneke Noordzij — Hamartology
b8 — Jesus’ Signs in the Gospel of John
Blindness as Fallen State
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. […] Neither this man nor his parents sinned (John 9:2). This congenital blindness speaks of the fallen state of the natural man, who has been expelled from ‘Eden’!
— Noordzij, Jesus’ Signs in the Gospel of John, Sign 6 (The Man Born Blind, John 9:1-41)
Analytical note: Noordzij interprets the blindness not as personal sin, but as an image of mankind’s fallen state. The congenital blindness refers to Adam’s fall and the resulting condition of depravity into which the natural man is born — thus not addressing individual guilt, but rather the universal consequences of the fall.
Sin of Unbelief and Its Consequences
Had not Israel wandered thirty-eight years in the wilderness as a result of the sin of unbelief?
— Noordzij, Jesus’ Signs in the Gospel of John, Sign 3 (The Healing in Bethesda, John 5:1-18)
Analytical note: In the healing of a man who had been weak for thirty-eight years (John 5:5), Noordzij draws a parallel: just as this man bore his infirmity, Israel endured thirty-eight years in the wilderness as a consequence of unbelief (Deut. 2:14). Sin — whether personal unbelief or collective apostasy — produces tangible consequences that extend across generations.