The Inconvenient Light Text: John 9:13-34
Introduction: When the Facts Don't Fit the Narrative
We live in an age that prides itself on being scientific, on being driven by data, and on following the evidence wherever it leads. But this is, for the most part, a carefully constructed bit of public relations. The reality is that every man, every society, every institution operates according to a narrative, a worldview, a grid. And when a stubborn, undeniable fact comes along that does not fit the established grid, the modern response is not to adjust the grid. The modern response is to get very angry at the fact.
This is precisely what we see happening in our text today. A man, blind from birth, can now see. This is not an opinion. It is not a rumor. It is a brute fact, walking around Jerusalem. His parents know it, his neighbors know it, and he certainly knows it. But this glorious, life-altering miracle does not fit the narrative of the religious establishment. For the Pharisees, their system of interpreting the law, their traditions, their position, and their power were the fixed points of the universe. Jesus was a variable, and a disruptive one at that. And so the conflict is set. It is a battle between an inconvenient fact and an inflexible system. It is a war between the light of a stupendous miracle and the determined blindness of men who love their darkness.
What we are about to witness is not an honest investigation. It is a cover-up. It is a religious bureaucracy doing what all godless bureaucracies do when confronted with a truth that threatens their existence: they deny, they deflect, they intimidate, and they excommunicate. They are not seeking the truth; they are seeking to preserve their authority. And in this, they show us the very nature of unbelief. Unbelief is not a lack of evidence. It is a stubborn refusal to submit to the evidence when it is provided in overwhelming abundance. It is a moral problem, not an intellectual one. And as we will see, the simple, uneducated man who was healed has more clarity, more courage, and more theological insight than all the esteemed doctors of the law combined, because he was willing to do the one thing they were not: follow the light.
The Text
They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, "He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see." So then some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. Therefore, they said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" And he said, "He is a prophet."
Then, the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, and questioned them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?" So his parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 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." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
Therefore, a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner." He then answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." So they said to him, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?" And they reviled 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 do not know where He is from." The man answered and said to them, "Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?" So they put him out.
(John 9:13-34 LSB)
The First Interrogation: Dogma vs. Data (vv. 13-17)
The man is brought before the official religious body, the Pharisees. And right away, John tells us the heart of the problem. It was the Sabbath. For the Pharisees, this was the critical issue. The man's newfound sight was secondary. The primary issue was that their intricate, man-made Sabbath regulations had been violated. By making clay and anointing the man's eyes, Jesus had performed "work" according to their suffocating legal definitions.
"So then some of the Pharisees were saying, 'This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.' But others were saying, 'How can a sinful man do such signs?' And there was a division among them." (John 9:16)
Here you have the two responses to Jesus Christ in miniature. The first group operates on rigid deduction from a corrupt premise. Their logic is: 1. God's man keeps our Sabbath rules. 2. This man broke our Sabbath rules. 3. Therefore, this man is not from God. The miracle itself is irrelevant. They have a system, and the facts must be forced to fit it, or be discarded. This is the essence of dead religion. It worships the rules more than the God who gave them.
The second group is more troubled. They are looking at the data. They see the power. Their question is empirical: "How can a sinful man do such signs?" They are caught between their tradition and the undeniable evidence. This division is what Jesus always brings. He is the great divider of men. He forces a crisis. You cannot remain neutral about Him. You either have to reject the evidence to protect your system, or you have to shatter your system to accept the evidence.
So they turn to the man himself, asking for his opinion. He is not a theologian. He is a beggar. But his answer is straightforward and honest. "He is a prophet." He draws the most logical conclusion. A man who does the works of God must be a man from God. His sight is clearer than theirs.
The Parental Evasion: The Price of Fear (vv. 18-23)
When the first interrogation fails to discredit the miracle, the authorities escalate. They now refuse to believe the man was ever blind to begin with. This is willful denial of reality. They summon his parents, hoping to find some discrepancy in the story, some way to dismiss the whole affair.
"So his parents answered and said, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know... Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.'" (John 9:20-21)
The parents' testimony is a marvel of calculated cowardice. They confirm the two basic facts that they cannot deny: yes, this is our son, and yes, he was born blind. But when it comes to the crucial question of who healed him, they feign ignorance and throw their son to the wolves. John tells us exactly why: they were afraid. The threat of excommunication, of being "put out of the synagogue," was hanging over them. This meant social and economic ruin. They valued their place in the community more than they valued the truth about the one who had performed this astonishing act of kindness for their son. They chose comfort over conviction. The fear of man is a snare, and it chokes out witness. They wanted the blessing of the healing, but they were unwilling to bear the cost of association with the healer.
The Final Showdown: The Beggar's Logic (vv. 24-34)
The Pharisees, having failed with the parents, call the man back for a second round. This time, they try a different tactic: pious intimidation.
"Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner." (John 9:24)
This is a religious threat. It's the equivalent of saying, "We know the truth, so you'd better get your story straight and agree with us." They are not asking him to praise God for his sight; they are demanding that he praise God by denouncing Jesus. But the man is not intimidated. His confidence is growing. And he gives one of the greatest testimonies in all of Scripture.
"He then answered, 'Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'" (John 9:25)
This is the unassailable fortress of Christian testimony. The man refuses to be drawn into their theological categories. He doesn't debate their premise. He simply states the central, undeniable fact of his experience. You can argue about my theology, you can question my interpretation, but you cannot argue with the fact that my life has been fundamentally changed. I was blind, and now I see. This is the ultimate apologetic.
Frustrated, they ask the same questions again. The man's boldness peaks, and he answers with cutting sarcasm: "I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?" He has turned the tables. He is no longer the defendant; he is the prosecutor. He exposes their bad faith. They are not listening to learn; they are listening to accuse.
This forces them to drop all pretense of investigation. They resort to insults. "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses." They claim Moses, but if they knew Moses, they would know Christ, because Moses wrote about Him. Then, the formerly blind man, the uneducated beggar, delivers a masterful, logical argument that completely dismantles their position.
He points out the absurdity of their position: you are Israel's teachers, and you don't know the origin of a man who can do something unheard of in all of history. He lays down a shared theological premise: "We know that God does not listen to sinners." And he drives to the inescapable conclusion: "If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." It is a flawless piece of reasoning. He has cornered them with the truth.
And how do they respond to this brilliant, logical proof? With rage and prejudice. "You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?" When you lose the argument, you attack the man. They cannot refute his logic, so they resort to slinging mud about his origins, the very thing they had been investigating. And then, having been defeated by the truth, they do the only thing left for a corrupt system to do: they silence the one speaking it. "So they put him out."
Conclusion: Cast Out and Found
This is the pattern. When Christ gives you sight, the world that loves its blindness will cast you out. The man gained his physical sight, and for it, he lost his religious community. He was excommunicated. He paid a price for his testimony. But this is not the end of the story. The glorious truth is that when the synagogue cast him out, Jesus found him. He was expelled from the congregation of men only to be welcomed into the fellowship of the Son of God. He made a magnificent trade.
The Pharisees chose their system over the Savior. They loved their tradition more than the truth. The parents chose their security over their son's benefactor. They loved their comfort more than courage. But the man born blind, who had nothing to lose but his darkness, clung to the one fact that had changed his life. He followed the evidence, he spoke the truth, and he was willing to be cast out for it.
And so the question comes to us. When Jesus Christ and the undeniable truth of His gospel confront our comfortable systems, our social standing, our fears, and our traditions, what will we do? Will we try to make Him fit into our pre-approved boxes? Will we shrink back in fear of what others might say or do? Or will we stand on that one, glorious, unshakeable reality: "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." If we are willing to be cast out by the world for His sake, we will find, as this man did, that we are never more secure than when we are found by Him.