John 9:18-23 (NIV)
The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 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.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
The Pharisees had one last hope: that this whole healing was a scam. If the man really hadn’t been born blind, if he had always been able to see, then their issue with Jesus’ power would simply go away, and He could be written off as a con-man.
So, they summoned the man’s parents and put them under oath. They also subtly suggested that they had to be careful in what they said. If they claimed that Jesus was the Messiah based on this “supposed” healing, they would be put out of the synagogue, made outcasts in their own community.
So, they asked the man’s parents the key questions: Is this your son? And was he actually born blind as everyone is saying? To their dismay, the parents answered both questions in the affirmative. He was absolutely their son – they would not deny him, regardless of the threats. And yes, he absolutely had been blind from birth. Their joy at his healing would not allow them to deny that either.
The only question that they would not answer was regarding how their son had regained his sight. First of all, they were not witnesses of the healing; all they had was the story their son had told them about it. And they were afraid that if they said that Jesus had healed him that they would slide into the penalty for confessing Him as the Messiah. So, they merely pointed to their son, and basically said, “We weren’t there. Ask our son. He is of age to testify and is the only one with first-hand knowledge of how it all happened.”
Father, the Pharisees, with their strong reputation as upholders of the law, were doing their best to give the appearance of holding a fair and unbiased investigation into a supposed miracle. But they were prejudiced against Jesus from the beginning, which irreparably tainted their objectivity, and caused them to insist that the investigation result in Jesus being declared a law breaker, a sinner. A big part of their bias was jealousy. For all of their supposed righteousness and Jesus’ supposed sinfulness, He could do amazing miracles, and they were completely powerless. Lord, instead of rebelling against who You are, what You are showing us, and what You really require of us as Your people, like the Pharisees, help us to simply listen, learn, surrender, and obey, so that we can be Your people, and so that we can manifest Your presence and Your power to our sin-darkened world. Amen.