RTF Staff Writer Derek Hanisch

God has a sense of humor. I’m convinced of it. When most people read the Bible, they do it in dry monotone voices. They read the words and don’t visualize them. Here’s how I visualize one of my favorite stories. Read it and tell me that Jesus doesn’t have a sense of humor!

John 9: Jesus heals the man born blind:

Jesus walks down the streets with His disciples. A blind man sits along the road – he’s excited – he’s heard all about Jesus!  Perhaps Jesus will do a miracle!

As Jesus and company approach, the blind man hears:  “Was this man born blind for his sins, or his parent’s sins?”

The blind man’s shoulders slump. He’s heard this argument before. It’s nothing new. As he slips into despair he hears Jesus say, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The blind man sits there, not sure what’s going on when he hears Jesus suddenly hock a loogey, sending spit into the mud. The blind man cringes, he’s been spit at before, but wouldn’t expect this from Jesus!  Blind to the world, he feels Jesus rub the spit onto his eyes. How gross!  The blind man is just sitting there in stunned silence. This great prophet just rubbed spit on his eyes!  How uncool!

“Go,” Jesus tells him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam.”  The man is still too stunned to speak. Of course he’s going to go wash the spit off of his eyes!  What kind of a fool wouldn’t?  Still incredibly grossed out over what had happen the man gets to his feet and makes his way to the pool to wash in.

The man washes off the spit of Jesus, and guess what?  My friends and I call this story “Jesus and the Holy Loogie.”  Can you just imagine what it would have been like to witness this as it happened?  I can imagine that most of the onlookers were struggling to keep from bursting into laughter. I know that I would have been.