“Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.”
Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them — the Pharisees divide over the meaning of the miracle. Some conclude Jesus is 'not of God' because he violated the Sabbath (keepeth not the sabbath). Others argue that if he were a sinner, he could not perform miracles ('How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?'). The logic of the second group is: miracles are works of God; sinners cannot do God's works; therefore, this man is not a sinner. The division (krisis, crisis/judgment) reflects the fundamental tension: law vs. grace, institutional authority vs. redemptive power.
Church Fathers on John 9:16
The neighbors therefore, and they which had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Wonderful clemency and condescension of God! Even the beggars He heals with so great considerateness: thus stopping the mouths of the Jews; in that He made not the great, illustrious, and noble, but the poorest and meanest, the objects of His providence. Indeed He had come for the salvation of all. Some said, This is he. The blind man having been clearly…
His eyes being opened had altered his look. But he said, I am he. He spoke gratefully; a denial would have convicted Him of ingratitude.
Thus he represents the state of the catechumen, who believes in Jesus, but does not, strictly speaking, know Him, not being yet washed. It fell to the Pharisees to confirm or deny the miracle.