Contention Over the Man Born Blind.

  21 but how he now seeth, we know not; or who opened his eyes, we know not: ask him; he is of age; he shall speak for himself. [The emphasis in this verse lies in the pronouns. Thus the parents timidly declined to answer the third point, alleging that their son is old enough to answer for himself.]

  22 These things said his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed [informally] already, that if any man should confess that him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. [The parents, having heard the unrestrained, no doubt in their own minds as to who effected that healing. They therefore declined to speak because of fear, and not through lack of knowledge.]

  23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

  24 So

[following the suggestion of the parents, and because a miracle could not now be denied] they called a second time the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give glory to God: we know that this man is a sinner. [Taken in their English sense, these words would mean, "praise God and not Jesus for what has been done," but the phrase "give God the praise" is, in Hebrew usage, an adjuration to a criminal to confess his guilt ( Joshua 7:9 ; 1 Samuel 6:5 ). The idea may then be paraphrased thus: confess that you and Jesus have conspired to work a pretended miracle. It is your best course, since we know all about the frauds of Jesus and will soon unearth this one.]

  24 So

  25 He therefore answered, Whether he is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. [As to the doings of Jesus, whether fraudulent or not, he could not answer, but he could say that there was no sham or deception about his eyesight.]

  26 They said therefore unto him, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

  27 He answered them, I told you even now, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? would ye also become his disciples? [Perceiving that their boasted knowledge as to the frauds of Jesus was untrue, and that they were even then questioning him to obtain material to be used against Jesus, he declines to repeat his statement and shows them that he understands their sinister motive in questioning him by ironically asking them if they wished to become disciples of Jesus.]

  28 And they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses.

  29 We know that God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we know not whence he is.

[In Jewish estimation, Moses stood next to God. To forsake Moses for another prophet was to be an apostate. Such reviling was a severe test, but the man stood it.]

  29 We know that God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we know not whence he is.

said unto them, Why, herein is the marvel, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he opened mine eyes. [The man answers contempt with contempt; with biting irony he declares that the miracle of his healing is no wonder at all when compared with the fact that such wonderfully learned men should be totally ignorant of so great a miracle-worker as Jesus. Thus he scorned their superlative claim to infallible knowledge, expressed in verses 24 and 29.]

  31 We know [he takes up their style of speech] that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. [Such was the teaching of the Old Testament-- Proverbs 15:29 ; Isaiah 1:15 ; Micah 3:4 ; James 5:16 James 5:17 .]

  32 Since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. [The Old Testament contains no record of such a miracle; the case stood alone as a marvel of power.]

  33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. [He draws the same conclusion which the better element of the Pharisees had drawn. See verse 16.]

  34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? [They give here the Jewish answer to the question asked in verse 2. Do you, so stamped a sinner from birth, presume to teach us, the heads of Israel? They had been denying that he had been blind; they now inconsistently taunt him with blindness as an evidence of his sin.] And they cast him out. [The vast majority of commentators take this as an immediate act, and hence allege that the language refers to his being cast out of the hall or place where they were assembled, and not to his being excommunicated. Their reason for this is found in the fact that the man could not be excommunicated without a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin. But there is nothing to show that the act was not a deliberate one, including a formal meeting, etc. We agree with DeWette that his expulsion from a hall "would not be important enough to occasion verse 35."]

  35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out [His was to be put on a level with the heathen, and to be left without a country or a religious fellowship]; and finding him, he said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? [Being cut off from all that came through Moses, Jesus was leading him into all that came through the Son of God.]

  36 He answered and said, And who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him? [The form of the man's question showed that he regarded a knowledge of the Son of God as a privilege beyond all hope or expectation, and the reply of Jesus is suited to this idea.]

  37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that speaketh with thee. [Thus the unhoped for had been actually and sensually realized. To the outcast of the synagogue here and to the outcast of the nation at Jacob's well ( John 4:26 ), how fully Jesus revealed himself!]

  38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

  39 And Jesus said

[not addressing anyone in particular, but rather as summing up the whole incident], For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind. [The life course of Jesus attracted the needy and repelled the self-satisfied, and was therefore a continuous judgment. Those conscious of their deficiencies and ready to ask for light received it (verses 36-38), while those satisfied with their own opinion became daily more blinded by their bigotry. See verses 24 and 34, and Matt. xi. 25.]

  39 And Jesus said

  40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him [not as disciples, but for curiosity's sake] heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind?

  41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth.

[If you were conscious of your spiritual darkness, and sought light, you either find it or not be blamed for your failure to do so. They could see if they would, and were responsible for their blindness.]

  41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth.