Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said to him, Thou, dost thou believe on the Son of God?
The man born blind has just been thrown out of the synagogue for defending the One who healed him. The moment he loses everything, Jesus comes looking for him — not with another miracle, but with a question about who He is.
Older translations read "Son of God" here, where the ESV has "Son of Man"; the writers quoted below work from those. The leaders meant the expulsion as a punishment. Commentators point out where it landed him.
But where do they cast him? Just where every lonely, outcast sinner may find himself. The unclean Samaritan woman and the woman convicted of adultery had been there before him: alone, and yet in the presence of the Son of God. That place is the very gate of heaven. For the Lord had gone outside the camp before him. This sheep of the flock was now put out; but it was only to meet the Shepherd, who had gone before. In that place of shame and exposure they meet each other.
Men refused the Son first, and then those who owned Him.
His sheep were cast out by those that took the place of shepherds. Still, this was His way of bringing His own out of bondage into the liberty of children of God. If they were cast out they were only cast out into companionship with Himself, for He was cast out before they were... The place of rejection is the place of light.
The wording is deliberate: Jesus heard, and Jesus found him.
Cast out by the Pharisees, he was found by Christ. Was this an accidental meeting? We cannot suppose that. Jesus "finding him," we read. The man did not know where the Lord was. The Lord knew where the man was. He would now do more for him. Who can miss the grace of this? Just at the moment when sympathy was most needed, the Lord again appeared on the scene.
So far the man knew only what Jesus had done for him. The question opens a door he had not yet walked through.
We have already noticed how far this honest man's understanding went. It only extended to the work of Christ. He understood nothing of His Person as yet. That knowledge waited for him until they cast him out beyond the boundary of the synagogue... Now there is something very instructive in this progress in understanding. He had been cast, because of his faithfulness, into a position of decided sympathy with the Son of God.
What the man believes rests on nothing but the word of Jesus.
Once he is cast out, the Lord — rejected before him — finds him and reveals Himself by His personal name of glory. "Do you believe on the Son of God?" The man rests it on the word of Jesus, which to him was divine truth. Jesus then declares that He Himself is the Son of God, and the man worships Him.
Why do the two readings exist? Commentators have weighed the evidence on both sides:
On the one hand, any change would more likely go from "man" to "God" than the other way round, because "Son of God" appears so often in this Gospel. On the other hand, "Son of man" was Christ's usual way of describing Himself, so a copyist would be very likely to change "Son of God" into "Son of man." ... Godet also holds to the reading "Son of God," because of the worship the man gave Him.
The man does not work himself up into believing. He discovers someone worth trusting.
Saving faith does not come by trying to believe in Christ, or by any religious effort at all. One thing clears away doubt: the heart's own discovery that He is completely trustworthy... Then he discovered that it was the One whose gracious power had done what no one else on earth could do for him. He said, "Lord, I believe," and worshipped Him. Such a Person was well worthy of his trust; and without any trying or striving or resolving, he trusted Him.
And what the man does next settles who he was talking to.
The Lord fully received the worship of this man. Peter would not receive worship (Acts 10:25-26). An angel would not let John worship him (Revelation 22:8-9). Only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 4:10). The Lord received worship on many occasions without hesitation, for He is God.
- Cast out — the synagogue expelled him. That only put him where Christ already was: in the company of the One rejected before him.
- Found — the meeting was no accident. He did not know where the Lord was. The Lord knew where he was, and came when sympathy was most needed.
- Asked — the question moves him past the miracle to the Person. He had known the work of Christ; now he meets Christ Himself.
- Told — older translations read "Son of God" here. Commentators defend that reading, pointing to the worship the man then gives.
- Worshipped — faith came by discovery, not by striving. The Lord accepted the man's worship, and that tells us who He is.
He answered and said, And who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?
The man born blind has just been thrown out of the synagogue for defending Jesus, who now seeks him out and asks about the Son of God. His reply is not a yes or a no but a request: tell me who He is, and I will believe.
The man does not push the question away. He asks for the one thing he lacks — a name to attach his faith to. In verse 35 the ESV reads "Son of Man." The writers quoted here read "Son of God," and where the ESV has him say "sir," they read "Lord." One writer puts the sense of his words plainly, and notes how rare such a moment is.
The Lord says to the man who was trying to witness for Him, "Do you believe on the Son of God?" He replies, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?" — that is, I should like to believe on Him... There are only two souls in the gospels to whom the Lord told who He really was.
His eyes work, yet he does not know the face in front of him. That gap is not about intelligence.
So with the blind man; though the Lord had given him sight, and afterwards talked with him, he did not know that it was Jesus. He knew Him only after Jesus said, "You have both seen Him, and it is He who talks with you." This failure to recognise the Lord is not the result of natural stupidity or lack of culture or education. Saul of Tarsus was a man of great natural intelligence, and highly educated. But when the Lord speaks to him out of heaven, this same cultured Saul has to ask, "Who are You, Lord?" Only when he hears the answer, "I am Jesus," does he know whose voice it was that spoke.
He had already called Jesus a prophet. So he had accepted the authority of what Jesus said before he knew who was saying it.
Notice here that the man had received the Lord's word as the word of God; he had said, "He is a prophet." To speak like that was, like the Samaritan woman at the well, to believe what Jesus said. He did not only admit that something He said was true; he admitted the authority of what He said. Further, this man's heart was drawn. He was fully convinced of the folly of his religious leaders, and he sought what the prophet of God would say to him. To receive the word as having God's authority, and to long for it and for what it reveals, is of the greatest importance... He had already experienced the power of Jesus for himself, and grace was acting in his heart along with this work. That disposes the man to believe what Jesus would say to him.
The man never tries to work up belief. He waits to find out who the Person is.
Saving faith is not reached by trying to believe in Christ, nor by any religious effort of any kind. What clears doubt away is the heart's own discovery that He can be trusted beyond question. The man whose blind eyes the Lord had opened found out who this was. It was the One whose gracious power had done for him what no one else on earth could do. So he said, "Lord, I believe," and worshipped Him. Such a Person was well worthy of his trust; and without any trying or striving or resolving, he trusted Him.
He asks this after losing his place in his religion. What looked like the end became the setting for his fullest sight of Christ.
But they cast him out into the arms and heart of the Lord... This is the final step of God's grace in working with the blind man. He is thrust outside Judaism for the truth's sake, because of the work done on his person. There Christ finds him, and leads him to know and believe on Him, far beyond any thought, however true, he had formed before. It was faith in His own testimony and Person.
His question is one rung on a ladder. Watch what he calls Jesus across the chapter.
First, he owns that Christ is "a Man that is called Jesus." Then, with further light, he states that He is "a Prophet." Afterwards, faced with the Jews' condemnation of Christ, he boldly declares that Christ is "of God." Finally, in the presence of Jesus, he comes fully into the light. He owns Christ as Lord, and worships Him as the Son of God. So the man is brought from blindness and beggary to faith and worship.
- Ignorance — He could see, and still he did not know Jesus by sight. Even the educated Saul had to ask who was speaking to him.
- Readiness — He had already taken Jesus' word as carrying God's authority, and that prepared him to believe the Person.
- Revelation — Thrown out of the synagogue, he is met with far more of Christ than he had ever thought.
- Discovery — Faith came not by trying or resolving, but by finding out who had done for him what no one else could.
- Worship — The road runs from "a Man called Jesus" to "a Prophet" to "of God" to "Lord, I believe." Blindness and beggary end in worship.
And Jesus said to him, Thou hast both seen him, and he that speaks with thee is he.
The leaders had just thrown this man out of Judaism for refusing to deny the One who healed his blindness. Jesus found him, asked if he believed in the Son of God, and then answered the man's own question by pointing to Himself.
The man loses his religious standing and gains something better. One writer links the two times Christ came looking for him:
To be cast out of corrupt religious Judaism for confessing Christ was to be thrown into the company of the Son of God. The Lord had found him in his blindness to give him sight; now He finds him in his loneliness to give him the glorious company of the Son of God. The Lord draws out the man's confidence, and then reveals Himself, not only as a Prophet, but as the Son of God.
The words "you have seen Him" carry weight because this man once had no sight at all. The eyes he received were given for one purpose — to look at the Son Himself:
The eternal Son was there. He was not in that dazzling glory which would have destroyed all men with a single ray. He was there to be seen and heard — seen by eyes given for the very purpose of seeing the Light, seen in all His grace and power. The man worshipped; that is, he now had a divine religion.
The man had already met Jesus and obeyed Him, and he still had to ask who the Son of God was. That gap is not stupidity. Only Christ's own word closes it:
The woman of Samaria failed to recognise the Lord, though she had Him in her mind and stood speaking with Him face to face. She did not know Him until He said, "I who speak to you am He." It was the same with the blind man. The Lord had given him sight and later talked with him, yet he did not know that it was Jesus… And then he knew Him. This failure to recognise the Lord does not come from stupidity or lack of education. Saul of Tarsus had great natural intelligence and a fine education. But when the Lord speaks to him out of heaven, this same cultured Saul has to ask, "Who are You, Lord?" Only when he hears the answer, "I am Jesus," does he know whose voice had spoken.
No synagogue, no teacher, no crowd stood behind him now. All he had was what Jesus said about Himself:
Such is the final step of God's grace in working with the blind man. He is thrust outside Judaism for the truth's sake, because of the work done on him. There Christ finds him, and leads him to know and believe on Him — far beyond any thought, however true, that he had formed before. It was faith in His own testimony and Person.
His understanding grew in stages. The last stage brings something the earlier ones could not — and notice what Jesus does not refuse:
In John 9:11 the blind man obeyed the Lord's instructions and received his sight. He then calls the Lord "the man called Jesus." But when the Lord later came to him, He asked, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" The man asked who this was, and the Lord answered, "You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you." At once he answered, "Lord, I believe," and he worshipped Him (v. 38). The Lord fully received this man's worship. Peter would not receive worship (Acts 10:25-26); nor would an angel allow John to worship him (Revelation 22:8-9), for worship belongs to God alone (Matthew 4:10). The Lord accepted worship on many occasions without hesitation, for He is God.
What the man receives is not a doctrine to hold but a Person to know:
He is following the track of the light that has come to him, and now he has reached its Source… He has not found merely a creed: he is brought to God… He is enlightened morally and spiritually, not only physically. He is in the light, and the light is also in him.
- Cast out — Losing his place in Judaism for Christ's sake put him in Christ's company. The Lord who found him blind now finds him alone.
- Sight — His new eyes were given for one purpose: to see the eternal Son, present in grace, not in glory that would destroy.
- Spoken to — He had met Jesus and still did not know Him. Like the woman of Samaria and like Saul, he learns who Christ is only when Christ speaks.
- Believing — Every human support was gone. His faith now rests on Christ's own testimony and Person, and reaches far past anything he had worked out before.
- Worship — Once he knows Him as the Son of God, he worships, and Christ receives it. Peter and the angel both refused such worship, because it belongs to God alone.