Cue The Music

          A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
                He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
               Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
                  He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
               Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
                The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
               To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. (John 9:24-34)

         
         This morning, this passage reminds me of a filk song to the tune of “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain When She Comes” inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here’s the chorus:

They’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when they come

They’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when they come

Oh, the Air Force will deny it

‘Cause the Air Force didn’t fly it

They’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when they come.

         I also find myself thinking of the Men in Black movies. The suits have shown up with their dark glasses on and pronounced, “It didn’t happen.”

          Then one of them looks at the other and asks, “Where’s the memory wiper?”

         The other looks back and says, “I thought you brought it.”

         “Oh well, I guess we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Mister, He is demon-possessed. You are demon-possessed, or crazy, or lying. The sooner you accept that, the better it will go for you. Don’t make us excommunicate you.”

         I’m sorry, I’ve probably ruined your reverent imagining of this scene forever. In fact, the Pharisees were correct to cross-examine the witness, to make sure that his story held up. The problem is that they rejected the story even when the circumstantial evidence supported it.

         As a mode of argument, both what the Pharisees did, and what I did, is all too common. It’s called “Ad Hominem” and it involves attacking the arguer rather than the argument. When the man born blind points out several pertinent facts, the Pharisees respond with “You were steeped in sin at birth! How dare you lecture us,” and they threw him out.

         On the other hand, the man born blind presents a better (not perfect) argument. He sings another song that wasn’t written until many centuries after this happened, “…was blind, but now I see.” He followed the evidence. Further, he says, in effect, we agree on several points.

A       God does not listen to sinners.

B.      He listens to the godly person who does his will.

C.      Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.

D.      If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

         “Yet, he opened my eyes.” What is the logical conclusion?

         Cue the music of your choice:

          “They’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when they come (when they come)…”

…or…

         “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

         I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see!”