Central Truth

God enjoys transforming the weakest and the rejected into His trophies and His examples.

---

Reflections

God has a sense of humor! Sometimes His jokes are a bit more sophisticated than ours, but really He does some very funny things. This chapter in John 9 is one of the most clever jokes you will read.

During Jesus' time it was thought that if you were born with a deformity it was because of a parent's sin or your own sin (see vs. 1). It was reasoned that this was God's punishment on your life. Others might say, “It is your karma.” This man's life, however, was to serve as an example for God's glory. As a result the man's whole world now becomes a theater of the absurd. What was up was now down; what was true before was now false. It would be a great “Twilight Zone” episode.

I can just see God laughing at the whole event. What a clever God He is indeed! He loves to confound the smartest, brightest, the prettiest, the strongest with His plans.

Here's God's joke with the blind man:

• He is healed with mud (vs. 6).  Not very sanitary, huh?

• Neighbors don't recognize him because he now sees (vs. 8). Before he couldn't recognize them but now with sight they can't recognize him!

• Jesus is considered a sinner for healing on the sabbath (vs. 16). Good thing = bad thing, right?

• The great spiritual leaders of the day are frustrated and bewildered (vss. 17-34) because something good was done.

• And the punchline: Those who can see are blind and he that was blind can see.

  God loves this kind of joke so much that He states it over and over again throughout history. God took angry Moses and transformed him into the meekest person in the world. He took impulsive Peter and changed Him to a solid rock and foundation of the church. He took the cruelest form of execution—the cross—and made it a symbol of redemption, hope, and change. I wonder, has He begun His work in your life as well? Are you seeing the same joke spoken into your life?

---

Discussion Questions

1. Are you one of God's jokes too? Has He hilariously transformed your life?

2. Why do you think the Pharisees were blind to God's work? Are we similarly blind to God's work today? How?

3. Sometimes we need multiple encounters with God to finally believe in Him. What were the stages or steps that lead to the blind man's faith in Jesus?

---