John 9:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Was the blind man afraid? Not at all. How then, after previously saying, “He is a prophet,” does he now say, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know”? He speaks neither from fear nor because he thinks this. Rather, he wishes to justify Him from the accusations by the testimony of the deed itself, not by his own words. He wishes to make this defense unquestionable, since favorable testimony would have put them to shame.

Only after many words did he say that, if this man were not a worshiper of God, He could not perform such signs. Then they were so indignant with him that they said, “You were altogether born in sins, and are you teaching us?” What would they not have done, and what would they not have said, if he had said this at the beginning?

The blind man says, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know," and I am not now examining or affirming this. But I know very clearly that He performed a miracle upon me. Therefore let this deed be considered in itself, and let it give understanding about Him.

The former blind man, it seems, received a twofold grace from Christ. Together with his bodily eyes, his mind also was enlightened. In his fleshly eyes he has the brightness of our visible sun. Within, he receives the spiritual ray, that is, enlightenment through the Spirit, and gains it in his heart.

Listen how, out of very great love for Christ, he resists the abominations of the rulers. He skillfully repels them, as men drunk and bewildered. He frames his speech with fitting reverence and gives due honor to those holding authority. With respectful caution he says, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know."

Already angered by the hardness of the Jews, seeing after blindness and unable to endure the blind, he answered them: "I have already told you, and you heard. Why do you want to hear it again?"

He answered them, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know: I was blind, and now I see." They asked him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?"

And he, already indignant at the stubbornness of the Jews, having become seeing after blindness and unable to endure the blind, answered them: "I have already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?"

What does "do you also" mean, except "I already am"? Do you also want to? I already see, but I do not envy you.

The words, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know," were not said because he doubted. Rather, by this appearance of one doubting, he wished to reject such slander. Later he shows this more clearly, saying, "We know that God does not hear sinners" (Jn 9:31).

Since the man who had been healed loudly named the Savior, gave thanks by confession and proclamation, and pointed out the Benefactor to all.

Did the blind man doubt, or did he say from fear, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know"? By no means. Before the Pharisees he confessed that Christ is a Prophet. To Christ Himself he said, "I believe, Lord!" and he worshiped Him (Jn 9:38).

But because they were teachers of the law, and he was unlearned, he confessed in this way: I do not know whether Jesus Christ is a sinner or righteous. Thus he settled the dispute that consisted in words. By confirming the glorious miracle that had taken place upon him, he proved that Christ is Almighty.

Whether Christ is a sinner or righteous, he says, I do not know. But this I know: He gave me light. This answer so shamed the Pharisees that they began again to question him: what Jesus had done, and how He had opened his eyes.

The healed man did not utter the oath desired by the Pharisees, but said to them, not without mockery, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see."

Then the Pharisees, in a terrible confusion almost worthy of pity, again turned to the blind man. The Jewish authorities had already resolved to excommunicate from the synagogue anyone who dared acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah.

Therefore the Pharisees evidently hoped that the man under interrogation would be satisfied with their advice to give glory to God. That is, they hoped he would reject or refuse to acknowledge the miracle, and accept their judgment that Jesus was a sinner.

But the blind man was braver than his parents. He could not be frightened by authority or shaken by empty assurances. He felt perfectly free in the artificial atmosphere of their supposed holiness.

"We know," the Pharisees said, "that this Man is a sinner." "Whether He is a sinner," the former blind man answered, "I do not know. One thing I know: I was blind, and now I see."

"Whether He is a sinner, I do not know," and so forth. This answer is filled with truth and deep irony toward the representatives of Pharisaic wisdom. The former blind man acknowledges his inadequacy in theological questions, but he sets a simple fact against the Pharisees' theological knowledge, their "we know": "I was blind. And now I see." The turn of phrase itself is explained by its ironic tone: "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know." The healed man knew that the One who healed him was not a sinner or transgressor of the law, but a prophet and messenger of God (Jn 9:17, 31, 33). Yet he uses this phrase ironically, mocking the supposed knowledge of the representatives of Pharisaic wisdom, and, it seems, perceiving the impurity of their motives and aims (cf. Theophylact).

The simplicity of faith cannot bind together these two ideas, sinfulness and wonder-working power, and it says this openly: "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see." What can be said against such ignorance?