The Pharisees Question The Man Born Blind Who Was Healed (Jn. 9:13-23)

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15 So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” 16 So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” [But] others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” 20 His parents answered and said, 21 “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.”'

The neighbors of the man born blind who had been healed on the Sabbath brought him to the Pharisees to be questioned about how he was now able to see.  The cured man told them that “he” made clay and put it on his eyes.  The blind man did not know who had healed him.  Jesus made clay and healed the man on the Sabbath (Jesus worked) so some of the Pharisees concluded that Jesus could not be from God because he transgressed the Law (v. 16; Ex. 20:8-11).  Others acknowledged the miracle and said that Jesus could not be a sinner and perform such signs.  They again questioned the man who was healed.  The man said that Jesus was a prophet (v. 17).  

The Pharisees did not believe the man who was healed and turned their attention to the man’s parents to try to prove that he was never blind (vv. 18-19).  The parents were afraid of being expelled from the synagogue by the Jews (v. .22) and confirmed that the man was their son who had been born blind.  However, they did not know how he was now able to see (vv. 20-22).  

Almighty God, grant us the grace to discern what is true and lasting and the strength of faith to live the Gospel so that we may be found pure and blameless when we stand before God.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.