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
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Then again called they the Prayer of Manasseh , &c. To give God the glory, is a form of obtestation or oath among the Jews (see Joshua 7:19). Confess that this man is a sinner, and so wilt thou by this confession of the truth give glory to God, who is the chief and eternal truth. "To give glory to God" (says the Gloss) "is to speak the truth as in the presence of God." They wished to persuade him under the pretext of religion (says S. Chrysostom), to deny that he was cured by Christ, or if he were, it was by magic and sleight of hand. "Deny," says the Interlinear Gloss, "the benefit thou hast received by Christ. But this were to blaspheme, and not to give glory to God."
Whether He be a sinner. "He answers prudently and cautiously, neither laying himself open to the charge, nor yet concealing the truth," says the Interlinear Gloss. But S. Chrysostom objects, "How was it that just before he called Him a Prophet, and now he says, "Whether he be a sinner I know not?"" He does not say this by way of assertion, or through fear, but because he wished Jesus to be acquitted of the charges by the evidence of the fact. "I do not wish to argue the point with you. But I know for certain, that though once blind, now I see."
How opened He thine eyes? Just like hounds, says S. Chrysostom, who track their prey now here, now there.
Wherefore would ye hear it again? "Ye do not wish to learn, but merely to cavil," says S. Chrysostom.
Will ye also be His disciples? "As I now see and envy not," says the Gloss, "nay, I profess myself to he Jesus" disciple, even so I wish you to become His disciples also." "He speaks thus," says S. Augustine, "as indignant at the hardness of the Jews, and as having been restored to sight, not enduring those who were blind (in heart)." Note here the heroic constancy and nobleness of the blind man in defending Jesus before the Pharisees, His sworn enemies. And hence he deserved to be taken up and exalted by Christ.
