Father, there are times when I feel out of sorts. But even in those times I know You understand me, You are patient with me, and overshadowing them all You love me exponentially! Where would I be without You?!
John 9:1-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
Sarcasm is spoken fluently in my home. I’m not nearly as eloquent as Karen or Massey but at least I can catch when something sarcastic is being said…most of the time. Karen and Massey fire back and forth at each other routinely, and they love it! We have friends who do the same with them. It can be pretty entertaining with lots of laughter all around!
Reading through this entire passage, it’s easy to look at the man-who-once-was-blind and realize that the further this whole situation goes the more sarcastic he gets. And in this case, it is no laughing matter. At the beginning of the dialogue, he is pretty patient in answering questions about how he gained his sight. But by the time the Pharisees grilled him, then his parents (like he wasn’t smart enough to answer their questions – he was an adult for Pete’s sake!), and then asked him again, His patience is shot, and he isn’t shy about letting his sarcasm fly!
“Well, this is astonishing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes!” v30 AMP
In many instances, sarcasm is easy to come by because – and I’m going to be a bit forward here – people can be just plain stupid! The Pharisees weren’t hearing what they wanted to hear so they, in their stupidity, kept asking the same thing over and over again. When they still didn’t hear the “right” answer, it becomes obvious that they weren’t really listening.
Immediately after the healed man’s caustic statement in verse 30, he continues in fluent sarcasm as if to say, “Are you blind?!”,
We know [according to your tradition] that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone fears God and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer].” v31-34 AMP
His parents and others (…the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar… v5) were afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue, but in the end, the healed man had had enough and didn’t hold back!
Lord Jesus, may we truly see the truth for what it is. It’s even possible that our religion might just get in the way of it. Open our eyes that we, too, may see. Amen.
July 19th, 2021, Mon, 8:33 pm
