John 9:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

NIV: But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.'

NASB: but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.'

CSB: "But we don't know how he now sees, and we don't know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he's of age. He will speak for himself."

NLT: but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”

After Jesus gives sight to man born blind (John 9:1–7), controversy erupts. This healing, as were many of Jesus' miracles, occurred on a Sabbath day (John 9:14). The local religious leaders, referred to as "the Jews" in the gospel of John, have made it clear that anyone who supports Jesus is subject to excommunication (John 9:22). As part of their effort to debunk Jesus' miracle, the scribes and Pharisees have summoned the parents of the formerly-blind man, asking if he was really their son, and really born blind. The parents have already testified to both of those facts.

Here, the parents respond to some of the other questions raised by Jesus' miraculous act. The scribes and Pharisees repeatedly ask "how" Jesus has accomplished this feat. This shows their inherent prejudice: they cannot accept that Jesus is healing with divine power, so they seek some other explanation. The meaning of the miracle—the message behind the "sign"—is lost on them, since they refuse to believe in Jesus and His words (John 5:39–40).

The parents pointedly state that they don't know "who" healed their son. While this is almost certainly true, it might also be part of their effort to avoid trouble. As the next verse states, those who identify Jesus as the Messiah would be cast out of the synagogue. The healed man's parents are being extremely careful not to cross that line. The parents are also careful to point out that the man in question is a legal adult; he is capable of answering these questions for himself, so there is no reason to require testimony from his parents.

John 9:13–34 describes the Pharisees' reaction to Jesus' healing of a man born blind. Rather than being swayed by an obvious sign of divine power, they look for excuses and criticisms. Seeking to discredit the miracle, they interrogate the man's parents, who timidly defer back to their son. The healed man knows nothing more than this: ''though I was blind, now I see.'' His matter-of-fact responses to the Pharisees highlight their obvious prejudice. As a result, they excommunicate the healed man from the synagogue. Jesus will meet with the man in the next passage to give more context for the miracle.

Jesus encounters a man who has been blind his entire life. In typical fashion for that era, the disciples assume this condition is due to some specific sin--either the man's sin or his parents' sin. Jesus challenges this idea, and heals the man. His restoration leads to interrogation, as the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus' miraculous work. The healed man's simple, straightforward perspective embarrasses the religious leaders, who excommunicate him in frustration. Jesus is able to meet with the man, explaining more about His identity and the purpose of His ministry. Jesus also reminds the Pharisees that those who ought to know better, spiritually, will be held more accountable as a result.

Jesus has begun to actively confront the false teachings of local religious leaders. His most recent debate included a heated exchange with the Pharisees, where Jesus claimed to have existed before Abraham. This resulted in an attempted stoning for blasphemy. Here, Jesus continues to antagonize religious hypocrites by healing a man who was born blind. The ensuing ruckus further exposes Jerusalem's religious leaders as shallow, prejudiced, and false. This event launches Jesus into another lengthy discussion of His ministry, recorded in chapter 10, including several crucial teachings on His role as Shepherd.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.