“He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?”
He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? — the man shows growing boldness. He has already told them the account (9:11, 9:15); they 'did not hear' (ouk ēkousate, did not listen, did not pay attention). Why ask again? And then he adds a provocative question: 'will ye also be his disciples?' (thelete kai autoi mathētai autou genesthai, do you want to become his disciples also?). This is ironic boldness: the authorities interrogate him, and he turns the question back on them—are they perhaps interested in following Jesus? The question exposes the authorities' unwillingness to acknowledge what they have heard.
Church Fathers on John 9:27
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
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