Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 9:40

"Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind?" — John 9:40 (ASV)

The negative result is illustrated by the Pharisees’ response. Jesus’ remark in v.39 makes him the pivot on which human destiny turns. The Pharisees, assuming that they could “see” without his intervention, asked in resentment, “Are we blind too?” Jesus’ reply indicated that if they had acknowledged blindness, they could be freed from sin; but since they were asserting that they could see when they were really blind, there was no remedy for them. Deliberate rejection of light means that “the light within... is darkness” (Matthew 6:23).