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“The Light of Life”
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more than a common man. They said, “How can a man that is a
sinner do such miracles?”
Again the rabbis appealed to the blind man. “What sayest thou
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of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.”
The Pharisees then asserted that he had not been born blind. They
called for his parents and asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who
ye say was born blind?”
There was the man himself, declaring he had been blind and
had had his sight restored; but the Pharisees would rather deny the
evidence of their own senses than admit that they were in error. So
powerful is prejudice, so distorting is Pharisaical righteousness.
The Pharisees had one hope left, and that was to intimidate the
man’s parents. They asked, “How then doth he now see?” It had
been declared that whoever should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ
should be “put out of the synagogue,” that is, excluded for thirty
days. The sentence was regarded as a great calamity. The great work
wrought for their son had brought conviction to the parents, yet they
answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened
his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for
himself.” Thus they shifted all responsibility to their son.
The Miracle Could Not Be Denied
The Pharisees’ questioning and prejudice, their unbelief in the
facts of the case, were opening the eyes of the multitude. The
question in many minds was, Would God do such mighty works
through an impostor, as the Pharisees insisted that Jesus was?
The Pharisees could not deny the miracle. Filled with joy and
gratitude, the blind man freely related his experience. Again the
Pharisees tried to silence him. “Give God the praise; we know that
this Man is a sinner.” That is, Do not say again that this Man gave
you sight; it is God who has done this.
The blind man answered, “Whether He be a sinner or no, I know
not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
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As these hypocrites tried to make him disbelieve, God helped
him to show, by the vigor and pointedness of his replies, that he was
not to be ensnared. He answered, “I have told you already, and ye