Fathers

John 9

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As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.” They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them. Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out. Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

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What the Fathers say

John 9:17

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

We must go over the Scriptures not in a chance way or carelessly, but with all exactness, that we be not entangled. Since even now in this place one might with show of reason question, how, when they had asserted, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath," they now say to the man, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?" and not, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath broken the Sabbath?" but put now that which was the ground of the defense, not that of the accusation. What then have we to reply? …

Homily on the Gospel of John 58 ↗

Cyril of Alexandria

And he said, He is a prophet. They receive a sharp arrow into their hearts, who do not admit fair and just reasoning, and are eager to seek that only which gratifies their malice. For, as it is written, the crafty man shall not meet with prey. For their zealous design is upset, contrary to their expectation; and they are greatly disappointed of their hope when to their surprise they receive the reply: He is a prophet. For the man who had been healed, judging very rightly, agrees with the opinion of the other party. …

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Who were those asking "what do you say about Him?" They were from among the prudent ones, for they were saying: "How can a sinner do such things?" So as not to appear to be defending Him without cause, they bring forth as witness the very one who received the benefit, as one who had experienced His power firsthand, in order to shut the mouths of slanderers. See how prudently they ask. …

Commentary on John ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"They say then unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him who hath opened thine eyes?" What is thy feeling about him? what is thine opinion? what is thy judgment? They sought how to revile the man, that he might be cast out of the synagogue, but be found by Christ. But he steadfastly expressed what he felt. For he said, "That he is a prophet." As yet, indeed, anointed only in heart, he does not thus far confess the Son of God, and yet he speaks not untruthfully. …

Tractates on John 44 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

1329 Next (v 17), they ask the blind man for his opinion. And first we have the question the Pharisees asked; secondly, the blind man's answer. They question him, saying, what do you say about him? According to Chrysostom, this question was not asked by those who were blaspheming Christ, but by those favorably disposed. This is clear from the way they questioned him; for they call his attention to the gift he received, saying, since he has opened your eyes. …

Commentary on John ↗

Bonaventure

Therefore they say again to the blind man, namely the Pharisees: What do you say of him who opened your eyes? namely whether he is good or evil: and they inquire maliciously, but the blind man answered simply. But he said: He is a Prophet: the Gloss: "He firmly expresses what he feels," as the crowds, Luke 7: "A great Prophet has risen among us." The cunning of the Pharisees in testing is noted: for they test the blind man as to what he thinks of Christ, so that, if ill, they might make him deny the miracle of Christ; if well, they …

Commentary on John, Chapter 9 ↗