“He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see — the man refuses to be drawn into the authorities' framework. 'Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not'—he does not claim to know Jesus's moral status. But there is 'one thing I know' (oida . . . hoti): the transformation of his own condition. His blindness is replaced by sight; that fact is undeniable and immediate. The man's logic is brilliant: he bases his witness not on theological arguments about Jesus but on his own experienced transformation. The authorities cannot argue with his testimony to his own sight.
Church Fathers on John 9:25
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.
Deny that you have received the benefit. This is not to give God the glory, but rather to blaspheme Him.
The man, that he might neither expose himself to calumny, nor at the same time conceal the truth, answers not that he knew Him to be righteous, but, Whether He is a sinner or no, I know not.
Read all 18 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!