John 9:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What, then, does the blind man say? "Why, this is marvelous, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He does such signs." It is astonishing that He, a Man not numbered among those known to you, nor among the distinguished and glorious, does such works.

From this it is entirely clear that He is God, having no need of any human assistance.

Compare the multitude of opponents with the strength of the one man who stood against them. Even here the champion of truth did not fall silent, but continued with these words: "This is a marvel, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes."

You Jews, he says, reject my Healer because you supposedly do not know where He is from.

But I say that He is all the more worthy of wonder. Though He is not among your notable and famous men, He can do works which clearly testify that He possesses some higher power and needs no human help.

I greatly marvel, he says, if you say that you do not know Him who is witnessed by His works in such great holiness and divine omnipotence.

You imagine that you serve God continually. You are leaders of the law, devoted to the Sacred Scriptures, clothed with authority, and especially with knowledge of those who think rightly.

Indeed, who should know those who work wonders by God's help, if not those appointed to sacred ministry, to whose care the sacred mystery has been entrusted?

By saying that he is astonished at their complete ignorance of Him who performed so wonderful and marvelous a sign, he secretly reproaches them.

They are so far removed from holiness and proper piety that they are not ashamed to confess their complete ignorance of the truly Holy One, that is, Christ.

He is still speaking as one anointed. For God does hear even sinners. If He did not hear sinners, the publican would have spoken in vain when, fixing his eyes on the ground and beating his breast, he said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (see Lk 18:13).

That confession merited justification, just as this blind man merited sight.

This is what is astonishing: though He is unknown to you and has no renown, He opened my eyes and performed such a miracle. If He were known to you and famous, this would not be so astonishing.

He must be some great man, though you do not know where He is from.

Behold how God makes even the unwise wise. Behold the fulfillment of the Prophet David’s word: “The Lord gives wisdom to the blind” (Ps 145:8).

The unlearned blind man rebukes the Pharisees, who thought themselves wise. In rebuking them, he shows the holiness and power of Jesus Christ.

This wondrous thing is worthy of amazement, he says: you are teachers, instructed in the law of God, and you display a holy life. Yet you do not know where this wonderworking Man comes from.

And nevertheless this Man, unknown by you, opened my eyes. Having said this, he also offers proofs of the authority and grace of Jesus Christ, saying:

“This is what is strange,” the healed man continued in the same tone, “that you do not know where He is from, though He healed me. Without God such a miracle could not have been done.”

Thus the blind man saw more than those with sight, though he still knew nothing about Jesus except His name.

The great miracle of healing the man blind from birth caused all the stronger excitement in Jerusalem because the healed man was very well known in the city as a beggar blind from birth. Therefore, when this miracle was brought to the Pharisees' attention, they began a most careful investigation of the event.

All their efforts in this case were directed toward casting doubt on the reality of the miracle. For this purpose they questioned, about what had happened, now the former blind man and now his parents.

But the parents of the healed man, out of fear of being excommunicated from the synagogue, refused, under the pretense of ignorance, to give testimony about how their son had received sight.

The healed man reproaches them precisely for this lie, saying, “It is astonishing that you do not know where He is from (Jn 9:30). He opened my eyes and performed a miracle unheard of from the beginning of the age.

Yet we know that God does not hear sinners. He hears only the one who honors Him and does His will. If He were not from God, He could not have performed such a miracle.”

“This is what is astonishing,” he answered, “that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. But we know that God does not hear sinners.

“He hears the one who honors God and does His will. From the beginning of the age it has not been heard that anyone, even great Moses himself, opened the eyes of one born blind.

“If He were not from God, He could do nothing.” Rarely, perhaps, has any learned commission ever found itself in a more difficult and pitiable position.

"This is a marvel," and so forth. The passion of the Pharisees in their judgment of the Lord makes the former blind man still bolder and more resolute. Again reproaching them with deep irony, he sets against their learned proofs his own simple proofs, known to everyone, in favor of his Healer.

His speech may be paraphrased thus: I have not studied your dogmatics and do not know learned proofs. But I know the simple, basic truths of our faith. What Jew does not know, except perhaps you, that miracles, and especially such miracles as the one done to me, unheard of from ages past, can be worked only by holy men?

But the logic of unbelievers is stubborn. Even before complete evidence, it is not ashamed to claim that it does not know where He is from who opened the blind man’s eyes.

“This is what is astonishing,” the sound logic of faith says to them, “that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.”

The convictions of the man who received sight had been fully formed. With relentless logic he proves to his teachers that they are either false or dull of understanding.

In his gratitude toward the One who healed him, whom he had not yet seen with his eyes, since after receiving sight he had not seen the Lord, he nevertheless thought deeply about every question touching his sight and the One who had authority to grant it.

This preparation of his soul by his own good will for the reception of grace was rewarded by the Lord's merciful appearance to him. The Lord was pleased to seek him out and reveal Himself to him, probably as to a chosen vessel.