Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
All Commentaries on John 9:24 Go To John 9
John Chrysostom
AD 407
The parents having referred the Pharisees to the healed man himself, they summon him a second time: Then again called they the man that was blind. They do not openly say now, Deny that Christ has healed you, but conceal their object under the presence of religion: Give God the praise, i.e. confess that this man has had nothing to do with the work.
Why then did you not convict Him, when He said above, Which of you convinces Me of sin? .
But how comes this, whether He be a sinner, I know not, from one who had said, He is a Prophet? Did the blind fear? far from it: he only thought that our Lord’s defense lay in the witness of the fact, more than in another’s pleading. And he gives weight to his reply by the mention of the benefit hehad received: One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see: as if to say, I say nothing as to whether He is a sinner; but only repeat what I know for certain. So being unable to overturn the fact itself of the miracle, they fall back upon former arguments, and inquire the manner of the cure: just as dogs in hunting pursue wherever the scent takes them: Then said they to him again, What did He do to you? How opened He your eyes? i.e. was it by any charm. For they do not say, How did you see? but, How opened He your eyes? to give the man an opportunity of detracting from the operation. So long now as the matter wanted examining, the blind man answers gently and quietly; but, the victory being gained, he grows bolder: He answered them, I have told you already, and you did not hear: wherefore would you hear it again? i.e. you do not attend to what is said, and therefore I will no longer answer you vain questions, put for the sake of cavil, not to gain knowledge: Will you also be His disciples? .
As then truth is strength, so falsehood is weakness: truth elevates and ennobles whomever it takes up, however mean before: falsehood brings even the strong to weakness and contempt.
You think sight less evidence than hearing; for what you say, you know, is what you have heard from your fathers. But is not He more worthy of belief, who has certified that He comes from God, by miracles which you e have not heard only, but seen? So argues the blind man: The man answered and said, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that you know not whence He is, and yet He has opened mine eyes. He brings in the miracle every where, as evidence which they could not invalidate: and, inasmuch as they had said that a man that was a sinner could not do such miracles, he turns their own words against them; Now we know that God hears not sinners; as if to say, I quite agree with you in this opinion.
Observe then, when he said above, Whether He be a sinner, I know not, it was not that he spoke in doubt; for here he not only acquits him of all sin, but holds him up as one well pleasing to God: But if any man be a worshiper of God, and does His will, him He hears. It is not enough to know God, we must do His will. Then he extols His creed: Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind: as if to say, If you confess that God hears not sinners; and this Man has worked a miracle; such an one, as no other manhas; it is manifest that the virtue whereby He has wrought it, is more than human: If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing.
So then because speaking the truth he was in nothing confounded, when they should most have admired, they condemned him: You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us? .
Or, altogether, that is to say, from your birth you are in sins. They reproach his blindness, and pronounce his sins to be the cause of it; most unreasonably. So long as they expected him to deny the miracle, they were willing to believe him, but now they cast him out.
