Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 9:24-34

"So they called a second time the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give glory to God: we know that this man is a sinner. He therefore answered, Whether he is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. They said therefore unto him, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I told you even now, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? would ye also become his disciples? And they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we know not whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is the marvel, that ye know not whence he is, and [yet] he opened mine eyes. We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. Since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out." — John 9:24-34 (ASV)

1. After the questioning of the blind man and his parents, an attempt is made to make him deny the truth and affirm what is false. They do this in three steps:

1. They attempt to make him deny the truth.
2. They revile him.
3. They condemn him.

The second step begins with the words, they reviled him therefore; the third begins with, they answered, and said to him: you were completely born in sins.

Regarding the first step, the Evangelist does two things:

1. He shows how they tried to get the man born blind to deny the truth.
2. He shows how they continued to question him in order to slander him: they then said to him: what did he do to you?

Concerning their attempt to make him deny the truth, the Evangelist again does two things:

1. He shows their malice.
2. He shows the steadfastness of the man born blind: therefore he said to them.

The malice of the Pharisees is shown by their attempt to have him deny the truth, while the steadfastness of the man appears in his resolute profession of the truth.

2. Regarding the first point, the text says, they therefore called the man again who had been blind, for his parents had referred them back to him, and said to him: give the glory to God. They say one thing but mean another. They wish to force him to say that his sight was not restored by Christ, or failing that, to force him to admit that he was cured by Christ through sorcery. They do not say this openly, but implicitly, with an appearance of devotion.

They attempt this by saying, give the glory to God. It is as if they were saying: “Your sight has been given to you, but only God can do this. Therefore, you should not attribute this to anyone but God, and certainly not to this man, Christ. If you do, you are indicating that you have not received the gift of your healing from God, because God does not perform miracles through sinners.” This is why they add, we know that this man is a sinner, as if to say: “To prove that this man has done nothing, you must deny what you have said.”

But, as Augustine says, if the man had done this, he would not be giving glory to God but would be blaspheming by his ingratitude. In truth, the Pharisees were lying when they said, we know that this man is a sinner. They could not convict him of sin, and he himself said, who among you will convict me of sin? (John 8:46). And no wonder, because he committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips (1 Peter 2:22).

3. Here we see the steadfastness of the man. Amazed at the hardness of the Pharisees and impatient with what they were saying, he says in all truth, if he is a sinner, I do not know.

Yet, since he had said before that he is a prophet (John 9:17), is he now speaking out of fear, as if he were doubtful? Not at all. Rather, he is angry and mocking the Pharisees. He is saying, in effect: “You assert that he is a sinner, but I do not know that he is, and I am amazed that you claim this, because he performed a work that does not seem to be the work of a sinner. One thing I know, that before I was blind but now I see, by his kindness.” According to Augustine, he said this in order not to be slandered or to conceal the truth. For perhaps if he had said, “I know that he is a just man,” which was true, they would have slandered him. But according to Chrysostom, he said this to give them a more impressive testimony to the miracle and to make his answer believable by calling attention to the gift he received.

4. They again question the man in order to slander him. This section contains two parts:

1. The cunning interrogation of the Pharisees.
2. The contemptuous reply of the man: he answered them: I have told you already.

5. Regarding the first part, the text says, they said to him: what did he do to you? The man had confessed that he received his sight from Christ, which was not what they were asking. Instead, they intended to slander Christ with their line of questioning. So they did not ask, “How is it that you see?” but how did he open your eyes? It was like saying, “He did this by some trick or sorcery, didn’t he?” As it is written, those who seek my hurt speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all the day long (Psalms 38:12).

6. Now the man’s answer is given. Because he had truly received his sight, he answers them boldly, not timidly. First, he belittles their repeated questioning, saying, I have told you already and you have heard: why do you want to hear it again? This was like saying: “I told you once. Why do you want to hear it again? That is foolish. It seems you are not paying attention to what I am saying. So, I have nothing further to say to you, because your questioning is useless, and you want to quibble rather than learn.” As it is written: he who tells a story to a fool tells it to a drowsy man; and at the end he will say: what is it? .

Second, he mocks the presumptuous intention of the Pharisees, saying, will you also become his disciples? When someone carefully investigates a matter, he does so either with a good intention (to accept it) or with an evil intention (to condemn it). Since the Pharisees were investigating this carefully, and because the man did not dare to accuse them of an evil intention, he takes the other alternative, saying, will you also become his disciples? He means by this: “If you are not investigating this maliciously, then you must wish to join him.” As it is written, can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil (Jeremiah 13:23). As Augustine says, the one who had received his sight gladly desired to give them light. Thus, he significantly says, will you also, implying that he himself was a disciple. He is saying in effect: “Will you also become his disciples, as I am? I already see, and I do not envy your coming to the light.” And as Chrysostom says, from the steadfastness of this man we can see how strong truth really is, for when it convinces the lowly, it makes them noble and strong. We can also see how weak a lie is, for even if it is maintained by the powerful, it only shows them to be weak.

7. Next, the Pharisees revile the man. This section has two parts:

1. We see them revile him.
2. We see the man’s defense: the man answered.

Concerning the first part, the author does two things:

1. He presents the reviling of the Pharisees.
2. He presents the reason behind it: but we are the disciples of Moses.

8. With respect to the first point, he says, and they reviled him therefore and said: you are his disciple. This is, indeed, scornful, if you consider their vicious hearts. But if you consider their words, it is the greatest blessing. May we and our children be treated with such scorn! If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples (John 8:31). Still, the Evangelist stated that they reviled him by saying this because their words came from evil hearts: like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are smooth lips with an evil heart (Proverbs 26:23). We read about this reviling elsewhere: let them curse, but you bless (Psalms 109:28); and: blessed are you when men revile you (Matthew 5:11).

9. He next adds the reason for their reviling when he says, we are the disciples of Moses. They were thinking of how they were ridiculed by the man when he asked if they wanted to become Christ’s disciples, for they took pride in being disciples of Moses, whom they thought was greater. First, they state their own position, saying, we are the disciples of Moses. Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justice . But this pride of theirs is false, because they neither followed Moses nor fulfilled his commands: if you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe me also (John 5:46). This was like saying: “You do not follow the servant, and then you go against his Lord.”

Second, they praise the dignity of Moses when they say, we know that God spoke to Moses. Here they are telling the truth, for as we read: the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11); and, if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth (Numbers 12:6). Thus God spoke to Moses in a more excellent way than to the other prophets, and this is what they are speaking about. However, it is clear that since God spoke his Word to Moses, the dignity of Moses came from the Word of God. And so the Word of God is of greater dignity than Moses: yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house (Hebrews 3:3).

Third, they hint at the dignity of Christ in a veiled manner when they say, as for this man, Christ, we do not know from where he comes. This is true, but not in the way they understood it, for they did not know the Father, and Christ was from the Father: you know neither me nor my Father (John 8:19). But their statement is false as they understood it. When they said, we do not know from where he comes, they meant he had no authority and was unverified, so that it was not clear whether he came from God. They seem to be applying to him the words: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran (Jeremiah 23:21).

10. Now, the man’s argument against the Pharisees is presented. In it, he does two things:

1. He is amazed at their hardness of heart.
2. He refutes their false opinion: now we know that God does not hear sinners.

11. Concerning the first point, we must recall that we are not amazed at what happens frequently and in the usual way; we are amazed at what is unusual and great, whether good or evil. We are struck by unusual and great good: you are wonderful, my Lord, and your countenance is full of grace (Esther 15:17). We are also amazed at great evil: be appalled, O heavens, at this... for my people have committed two evils (Jeremiah 2:12).

In line with this, the man says in answer, why, this is a marvel! You do not know from where he comes. He is saying in effect: “It would not be remarkable if you regarded someone insignificant like me as having no authority. But it is extremely amazing that you can see an explicit and evident sign of divine power in Christ and still say that you do not know where he comes from, especially since he opened my eyes.”

12. The man refutes their false opinion by saying, we know that God does not hear sinners. He is reasoning this way: whoever God hears is from God; but God heard Christ; therefore, Christ is from God.

He first states his main premise, then the minor premise (from the beginning of the world), and third, he draws his conclusion: unless this man were of God, he could not do anything.

Regarding the main premise, he does two things:

1. He mentions those whom God does not hear.
2. He mentions those God does hear: but if a man is a servant of God and does his will, he hears him.

13. God does not hear sinners. In regard to this he says, we know that God does not hear sinners. He is saying: “Both you and I agree that sinners are not heard by God.” Thus it is said, they cried to the Lord and he did not hear them (Psalms 17:42); and again, then they will call upon me, but I will not hear (Proverbs 1:28).

But there are statements which contradict this: if they sin against you—for there is no man who does not sin—but later repent with all their heart, then hear from heaven and forgive your people (2 Chronicles 6:36–39); and we read that the tax collector went down to his house justified (Luke 18:14). Because of this, Augustine says that this man is speaking as one who has not yet been fully enlightened, as one who does not yet have complete knowledge. For God does hear sinners; otherwise, it would have been futile for the tax collector to have prayed, God, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13).

Accordingly, if we wish to preserve the man’s statement, we must say that God does not hear those sinners who persist in their sinning. But he does hear those sinners who are sorry for their sins, who should be regarded more as repentant than as sinners.

14. Yet there is a difficulty here. It is clear that miracles are not accomplished by our own power, but through prayer. But sinners often perform miracles: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name... and do many mighty works in your name? (Matthew 7:22). And yet God did not know them. Thus, what the man said does not seem to be true, namely, we know that God does not hear sinners.

There are two answers to this. The first is general. Prayer can both obtain what it asks for and merit a reward. Thus, sometimes it obtains what it asks for but does not merit a reward; at other times, it merits a reward but does not obtain what it asks for. And so, nothing prevents the prayer of a sinner from obtaining what it asks, although it does not merit a reward. This is the way that God hears sinners: not as a matter of merit, but they obtain what they ask from the divine power, which they acknowledge. The other answer is specific and applies to this particular case, where the miracle that was performed makes known the person of Christ.

15. It should be mentioned that every miracle is a kind of testimony. Sometimes, a miracle is a testimony to the truth that is being preached; at other times, it is a testimony to the person performing it. We must also realize that no true miracle happens except by divine power, and that God is never a witness to a lie. I say, therefore, that whenever a miracle is performed in testimony to a doctrine being preached, that doctrine must be true, even if the person preaching it is not good. But when it is performed in testimony to the person, it is also necessary that the person be good. Now it is evident that the miracles of Christ were performed in testimony to his person: for the works that the Father has given to me to accomplish... bear witness about me (John 5:36). It was with this meaning that the man said that God does not hear sinners—that is, God does not hear them so that they could perform miracles as a testimony to their supposed holiness.

16. Then when he says, but if a man is a servant of God and does his will, he hears him, he shows that God hears the just through merit.

We must realize that performing miracles is attributed to faith: if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done (Matthew 21:21). The reason for this is that miracles are accomplished by the omnipotence of God, on which faith relies. Therefore, whoever wishes to obtain something from God has to have faith: let him ask in faith (James 1:6). However, if he wishes to obtain it through merit, he must do God’s will. These two conditions are mentioned here. As to the first, he says, if a man is a servant of God, by sacrifices and offerings: they will worship him with sacrifice and burnt offering (Isaiah 19:21). These belong to the worship of latria, which attests to one’s faith. As to the second, he says, and does his will by obeying his commandments, he hears him.

17. Here he takes the minor premise of his argument. He is saying: “Because of what Christ did, which no man has ever done, it is obvious that he did this by the action of God, and that he has been heard by God.” If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin (John 15:24).

18. Next, he draws his conclusion. He is saying, in effect: “From the kind of works that Christ does, it is obvious that he is from God.” For unless this man were of God, he could not do anything—that is, freely, often, and truly: for without me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

19. Here the Pharisees condemn the man. In this condemnation, they fall into three sins: untruth, pride, and injustice.

They fall into untruth by reviling the man, saying, you were completely born in sins. Here it should be noted that the Jews were of the opinion that all infirmities and temporal adversities afflict us on account of our previous sins. This was the opinion given by Eliphaz: think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish (Job 4:7). The reason for this opinion is that in the Old Law, temporal goods were promised to the good, and temporal punishment to the evil: if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). Therefore, seeing that this man had been born blind, they believed that this happened on account of his sins, and so they say, you were completely born in sins. But they were wrong, because the Lord said, it was not that this man sinned, or his parents (John 9:3). There is a lying rebuke in the anger of an injurious man .

They say completely to show that he is defiled by sins not only in his soul, as all of us are born sinners, but even in the traces of sin that appear in his body, such as blindness. Or according to Chrysostom, completely means that he was in sin all his life, from his earliest years.

They are guilty of pride by rejecting what the man was teaching, when they say, you are teaching us? This was like saying, “You are not worthy.” This makes their pride clear, for no person, no matter how wise, ought to reject being taught by an inferior. Thus the Apostle teaches that if something is revealed to one who is inferior, those who are greater should keep silent and listen (1 Corinthians 14:30). In Daniel, we read that all the people, including the elders, listened to the judgment of a young boy, Daniel, whose spirit had been raised up by God (Daniel 13:45-62).

They are guilty of injustice by unjustly casting him out. Thus we read, and they cast him out, because he spoke the truth. However, in this man, what our Lord had said is already fulfilled: blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man (Luke 6:22).