John 9:24-34 (ESV)

²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸ And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰ The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

After the Pharisees questioned the parents of the man born blind, they questioned the man himself again. They would not concede that Jesus was from God. They tried to push the man to expose some “dirt” on Jesus. “Give glory to God,” they commanded. They wanted him to tell the truth about Jesus, and he did. They insisted that Jesus was a sinner. The man born blind said he didn’t know whether or not Jesus was a sinner. He only knew that he was blind, and now he could see. They asked him yet again, “What did he do to you? How did he do this?” Fed up with these questions, the man boldly confronted them: “Why do you keep asking me about this? Do you want to become his disciples?” What a great response! Unfortunately, they just grew angrier and insisted they would never be disciples of Christ. They were disciples of Moses. When the religious leaders insisted that Jesus was not the Christ, they had firmly declared, “We know where this man comes from” (John 7:27). Now, suddenly, they claimed they had no idea where Jesus came from: “As for this man, we do not know where he comes from” (v. 29). The religious leaders were so bent on putting Jesus away that they were beginning to lose their minds!

Then the man whom Jesus healed grew even bolder. The spiritual blinders seemed to fall from his eyes as his interrogation proceeded. God allowed him to be born blind, and Jesus healed him. But the Pharisees could only “see” his blindness as punishment for some special level of sin.  Was God now in the business of answering the prayers of sinners? Unthinkable!  So they admitted he was born blind and could now see, yet they refused to consider Christ. They failed to see their own blindness and excommunicated the man from their synagogue because they decided he was now a follower of Jesus. The truth that God has made provision for humanity through Jesus alone can make people very angry. In fact, sometimes they begin to think, act, and reason in totally illogical ways. If you are a Christian today, like the healed man, be honest and kind, but don’t be ashamed of drawing attention to the folly of unbelief. You may not get the response you want, but by discussing spiritual matters, your own faith often grows stronger.