John 9:24-34
Cast Out for Telling the Truth
Read the passage
24So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
25He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”
26“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”
27He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
28Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses.
29We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”
30“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.
32Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
33If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”
34They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The leaders call the man who had been blind a second time. They tell him to give glory to God and say that they know Jesus is a sinner.
The man answers that he does not know whether Jesus is a sinner. He knows one thing: though he was blind, now he sees. They ask what Jesus did and how He opened his eyes. He says he has already told them, but they will not listen.
He asks whether they want to become Jesus' disciples too. They revile him, say he is Jesus' disciple, and claim they are disciples of Moses. They know God spoke to Moses, but they do not know where Jesus comes from.
The man marvels that they do not know where Jesus comes from even though Jesus opened his eyes. He argues that such a healing points to someone who worships God and does His will. He has never heard of anyone opening the eyes of a man born blind; if Jesus were not from God, how could He do this?
His statement about God not listening to sinners is part of that argument, not a reason for a repentant person to stop praying. In Luke 18:13–14, Jesus says the tax collector who asks God for mercy goes home justified. Here, the healed man is challenging the leaders' claim that the One who gave him sight must be opposed to God.
They accuse him of being born in utter sin and resent being taught by him. Then they cast him out. The person who was once dismissed as blind now sees more clearly than the experts who question him.
Questions
1 What do the leaders claim about Jesus?
AnswerThey claim that Jesus is a sinner and demand that the healed man give glory to God according to their verdict.
2 What does the man know for certain?
AnswerHe knows that he was blind and now sees. His testimony remains grounded in the change he has personally experienced.
3 How does he challenge the leaders?
AnswerHe asks whether they want to become Jesus' disciples too. He then argues that this unheard-of healing shows Jesus is from God.
4 What do the leaders do to him?
AnswerThey insult him, accuse him of being born in sin, and cast him out rather than reconsidering their judgment.
What This Means for Us
The healed man does not claim to know everything. He tells the truth he has and refuses to let experts make him deny it. A household should protect honest testimony from ridicule.
Religious certainty becomes dangerous when it needs to humiliate a witness to survive. Listen to people whose experience challenges your preferred explanation, while still testing every claim fairly.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, make us brave enough to tell the truth we know. Protect people who are ridiculed for honest witness, and keep our household from using religious certainty to silence or shame them. Amen.