The
man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
John 9:30-34
John 9 [28.] They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
John 9 [30.] The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
John 9 [34.] They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
John 9 [35.] Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
Meaning:
The leaders have just dismissed Jesus with the words, “as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from” (John 9:29). The healed man, who has never studied in their schools, now answers them with a short and powerful piece of reasoning. His words are the high point of the chapter, and they cost him his place in the synagogue.
- “How amazing!”
The man is astonished that the religious experts cannot see what is obvious. They claim to know so much about God, yet they do not know where this miracle-worker comes from, even though “he opened my eyes.” The leaders who should have been the first to recognise God’s work are the slowest. Jesus once thanked his Father that “you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants” (Matthew 11:25).
- “God doesn’t listen to sinners”:
The man builds his argument on teaching that both he and the Pharisees accepted. The Scriptures say, “If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened” (Psalm 66:18), and “He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). Proverbs adds, “Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). These are the passages the PIB footnote points to.
The principle is about those who hold on to sin and refuse to listen to God. It does not mean that God will not hear a sinner who turns to him in repentance; the tax collector who prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” went home justified (Luke 18:13). The man’s point is simple: God answers those who worship him and do his will, and God has plainly answered Jesus.
- “Since the world began”:
Healing of the blind was rare in the Old Testament, and no one had ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. Isaiah had foretold that in the age of salvation “the eyes of the blind will be opened” (Isaiah 35:5) and that the Servant of the Lord would come “to open the blind eyes” (Isaiah 42:7). A sign never seen since creation pointed to something new: the arrival of the One whom God had promised.
- “If this man were not from God”:
The conclusion follows: “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” It is the same reasoning Nicodemus had expressed: “no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Without knowing it, the man also echoes Jesus’ own words: “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19).
- “You were altogether born in sins”:
Unable to answer, the leaders attack the man himself. Their insult reveals that they share the disciples’ first assumption, that his blindness was a sign of sin (John 9:2), an idea Jesus had already rejected. It is true that all people are sinners from birth; David confessed, “Behold, I was born in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5). But the leaders apply this only to the beggar, as if they were not sinners themselves.
“They threw him out.” This was probably more than being pushed out of the room. The leaders had agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus as Christ “would be put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). Being cut off from the synagogue meant separation from worship and from much of community life. Jesus warned his followers, “They will put you out of the synagogues” (John 16:2).
The Significance of John 9:30-34
- Simple faith can see what pride misses:
The man had no training, but he reasoned more clearly than the scholars because he was willing to follow the evidence. Pride can make the most learned person blind, while humble honesty opens the way to truth.
- Prayer and obedience:
The man’s words remind us that God delights to hear those who worship him and do his will. Cherished sin hinders prayer, but repentance opens the way back to God through Christ.
- The cost of confessing Christ:
The healed man lost his place in the community because he would not deny what Jesus had done. Following Christ may still bring rejection, but the next verses show that Jesus himself comes looking for those who are thrown out (John 9:35-38).
Cross-References:
Psalm 66:18: "If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened." The basis of the man’s argument.
Proverbs 28:9: "He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." God does not accept the prayers of the stubborn.
Isaiah 42:7: "to open the blind eyes" The mission of the Servant of the Lord.
Matthew 11:25: "you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants." Truth revealed to the humble.
Conclusion: The healed man answered the learned leaders with simple logic: God listens to those who do his will, no one had ever opened the eyes of someone born blind, and so Jesus must be from God. Unable to answer, they insulted him and threw him out. His courage shows how humble faith sees what pride cannot, and it reminds us that confessing Christ may cost us, but never more than he gives.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible