John 9:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Now we know that God does not listen to sinners." Since they had earlier said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" (verse 16), he now turns to their own judgment and reminds them of their own words.

This opinion, he says, is shared by me and by you. So remain with it. Notice his prudence. Everywhere he sets forth the sign, since they could not deny it, and from it he draws his conclusions.

Do you see that, even at the beginning, when he said, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know," he did not speak from doubt? No, he knew perfectly well that He was not a sinner. Therefore now, when the favorable moment has come, see how he vindicates Him.

Then, because some of them had earlier said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" he takes up this judgment of theirs and reminds them of their own words. We all know, he says, that God does not listen to sinners, but listens to the one who honors Him and does His will.

Notice from this how he not only removes sins from the Lord, but also presents Him as a great servant pleasing to God and doing all according to His will, when he says, "If anyone honors God and does His will."

Then, knowing that they wanted to obscure the miracle, he proclaims the benefaction with full understanding. If He were not from God, He would not have performed such a miracle, one that no one had ever performed from the ages.

Having in some way mocked them through the prophetic and legal indications, as though already fulfilled in their not knowing where Christ is from, though the eyes of the blind are opened, he adds something else. He desires to have every ground for his faith.

He presents himself as proceeding from necessary and commonly acknowledged premises to the investigation of what is needful and fitting. He offers, as it were, a pious inference.

Very beautifully and soundly he affirms that God, who loves righteousness and virtue, never listens to those who love sin. He sets this down as indisputable and acknowledged by all. Then he sets against it the opposite thought as true and in no way refutable: the Lord of all certainly listens to those who honor God.

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.

Notice his understanding: how beautifully he proves and strengthens his speech. Without doubt, not only his outward eyes had been enlightened, but also his inward eyes.

When the Jews said above, “We know that this Man is a sinner” (Jn 9:24), he rejected their words in a form that expressed a kind of doubt.

Now, having grown bold, he proves that He is not only not a sinner, but even honors God and fulfills the will of God. He still regarded Jesus Christ as a man, as we said above.

“God does not hear sinners,” that is, for the performance of such miracles.

Scripture itself teaches that God does not listen to sinners. "If I have seen iniquity in my heart, let the Lord not hear me" (Ps 65:18). "When you stretch out your hands to Me, I will turn My eyes away from you. Even if you multiply prayer, I will not hear you, for your hands are full of blood" (Is 1:15).

You will find much like this in Holy Scripture. But one must know that God says this about the unrepentant, that is, about those who harden themselves in sin and do not think of repenting and correcting themselves.

As for those who flee to repentance, God immediately accepts their prayer. He heard the prayer of the thief, "Remember me, Lord" (Lk 23:42). He also heard this: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13), and the tears of the sinful woman.

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.

"We know" (Jn 9:31), and so forth. This is deep irony directed at the empty knowledge of the representatives of Jewish Pharisaic wisdom.

You know, the former blind man says, or claim that you know, that this Man is a sinner (Jn 9:24), and that God spoke with Moses (Jn 9:29). You learned men know this. But we unlearned people, together with all right-believing Jews, also know with certainty that God does not listen to sinners and does not work miracles through them.

He listens only to those who honor Him and do His will. The thought underlying these last words is that a miracle is an action of God, as though called forth by the wonderworker's prayer to God; compare Jn 9:11 and following, Mk 7:34.

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.