John 9:24-34
“He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’” vs. 27
The gospel writer John, always evangelistic and occasionally obscure, will sometimes drop a bit of humor into his stories. In those moments he seems to be seeking a smile or a chuckle from his hearers and readers, and many times he gets it. In today’s passage he has the beggar daring to poke fun at the Pharisees who have been questioning him about his former state of blindness. John is letting us know that sometimes humor is our best tactic when dealing with religious folks who have gotten tangled up in the nuances of their particular theological system. These Pharisees just didn’t get Jesus…how could he be possibly be a sinner and a healer at the same time? Their narrow categories didn’t have a place for someone like him. They couldn’t imagine that just maybe God was messing with them, challenging them to rethink their prejudices. Of course the caustic comment of the beggar didn’t touch their hearts…they only got more resistant and some got angry. That’s how it is with the religious. They fall all over themselves in the rigid enforcement of rules not even realizing that they are the ones who are blind! Often they can’t even see the hand of God in the miracles that are transforming lives all around them every day. And in the end, the joke is always on them.
Thought for the Day: Where have you found humor in scripture?
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