Jn. 9:27. He answered them: I already told you, and you did not listen; what more do you want to hear? Do you also want to become His disciples?
Then, when they again asked him "what did He do to you," placing blame on the Savior for having performed the anointing with clay on the Sabbath, this man understood that they were asking not for the sake of inquiry but for accusation, and answered them with reproach: "I do not wish to speak with you any longer, for I have told you many times, and you did not listen."
Then, what could especially sting them, he adds: "Do you also want to become His disciples?" Clearly, he himself desires to be His disciple. Jesting and laughing at them, he says this calmly; and this shows a bold and fearless soul, not afraid of their fury.
Jn. 9:28. And they reviled him and said: You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.
To His reproach they say: "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses." And here too they clearly lie. For if they were disciples of Moses, they would also be disciples of Christ, as He Himself says to them: "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me" (Jn. 5:46).
Jn. 9:29. We know that God spoke with Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.
They did not say "we have heard," but rather "we know that God spoke with Moses," even though this was passed down to them by their ancestors. About what they received by hearsay, they say "we know for certain," yet the One whose miracles they saw with their own eyes, and whose Divine and heavenly teaching they heard themselves, they call a deceiver (Jn. 7:12). Do you see to what madness their malice drove them?
Jn. 9:30. The man who had received his sight answered and said to them: this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
"You," he says, "Jews, reject my Healer because you supposedly do not know where He is from. But I say that He is all the more worthy of admiration because, not being among the notable and distinguished people among you, He can accomplish such deeds that clearly testify that He possesses some higher power and has no need of any human assistance."
Jn. 9:31. But we know that God does not listen to sinners; but whoever honors God and does His will, Him He listens to.
Then, since previously some of them had said: "How can a sinful man perform such miracles," he too takes up this condemnation of theirs and reminds them of their own words. "We all know," he says, "that God does not listen to sinners, but listens to the one who honors Him and does His will." Note from this how he not only removes sins from the Lord, but also presents Him as a great pleaser of God and one who does everything according to His will, when he says: "If anyone honors God and does His will."
Some indulge in cold and subtle disputation. "How," they say, "is it said that God does not hear sinners? He is the Lover of mankind. What, then, do the words 'God does not hear sinners' mean here?" Such a question would not even deserve an answer. Nevertheless, it must be said that by these words — "God does not hear sinners" — the thought expressed is that God does not grant sinners the power to work miracles. For the Spirit of God will not dwell in a body burdened with sins. But those who sincerely and from the heart ask forgiveness of their sins, God hears not as sinners but as penitents. For at the very moment they ask forgiveness, they have already passed from the ranks of sinners into the ranks of the penitent. Therefore it is rightly said that God does not hear sinners. He does not grant sinners the grace to work miracles either. For even if they were ever to ask for something of the sort, how would He grant what is asked to those whom He hates for the very reason that they lay claim to what is entirely unfitting for them? And if He hears those who ask forgiveness, He hears them not as sinners but as penitents.
Note. Having said "if anyone honors God," he added "and does His will." For many honor God but do not fulfill the will of God. But both must be present together: both the honoring of God and the fulfillment of God's will — that is, faith and works, or, as the Apostle Paul expressed it, faith and a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:5) — in short, contemplation and action. For faith is truly alive when it is accompanied by God-pleasing works, from which comes a good conscience, just as from evil works comes a corrupt conscience. And again, works are alive when they are accompanied by faith, but separated from one another they are dead, as it is said: "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26), and works without faith likewise.
Notice, if you will, what boldness truth gives to a poor, entirely unremarkable man, and he rebukes the great and glorious among the Jews. So great is the power of truth, whereas falsehood is very timid and lacking in boldness.
Jn. 9:32. From the ages it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind.
Jn. 9:33. If He were not from God, He could do nothing.
Furthermore, knowing that they want to obscure the miracle, he preaches about the benefaction with full understanding. If He were not from God, He would not have performed such a miracle, the likes of which no one has ever performed. If, perhaps, the eyes of the blind were opened, it was not eyes damaged from birth, but from some illness. But what has now taken place is an unheard-of thing. Therefore, it is evident that the one who performed such a miracle is more than a man.
Jn. 9:34. They answered and said to him: You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?
So long as they hoped that this man would say something to their liking, they summoned and questioned him, and not just once. But when from his answers they learned that he did not think as they did, but was inclined toward the truth, they revile him as one born in sins. Quite senselessly they reproach him with his blindness and suppose that, as being exceedingly sinful even before his birth, he was condemned to be born blind — which is without foundation.
Jn. 9:34. And they cast him out.
As sons of falsehood, they cast him, the confessor of truth, out of the temple. But this served for his benefit. They cast him out of the temple, and the Lord of the temple immediately found him. They dishonored him for his opinion in favor of Christ, and he was deemed worthy to know the Son of God.
Jn. 9:35. Jesus, having heard that they had cast him out, and finding him, said to him: Do you believe in the Son of God?
"Jesus," it says, "found him, like a judge of contests who receives a wrestler who is greatly exhausted and crowned." And what does He say? Do you believe in the Son of God? Why does He ask about this, when the man had argued so much with the Jews and said so much on His behalf? He does this not out of ignorance, but out of a desire to teach the blind man knowledge about Himself. Previously, the man had never seen Him at all, nor did he see Him after his healing, because the Jews, those most vicious dogs, were dragging him here and there. Now He asks him so that, in response to his question about who the Son of God is, He might most fittingly point to Himself. At the same time, He also shows him that He highly values his faith, speaking as if to say: "So many people have insulted Me, but I do not hold it against them in the least. I care about one thing only — faith."
Jn. 9:36. He answered and said: Lord, who is He, that I may believe in Him?
Jn. 9:37. Jesus said to him: You have both seen Him, and He it is who speaks with you.