John 9:41

Then to show that it was better for them to be blind than seeing, He saith, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin." Since they deemed the calamity a matter to be ashamed of, He turneth this back upon their own head, telling them, that "this very thing would have rendered your punishment more tolerable"; cutting away on every side their human thoughts, and leading them to a notion high and marvelous. "But now ye say, We see." As He saith in that other place, "Of whom ye said that He was your God" (c.viii. 54); so too here, "Now ye say that ye see, but ye see not." He showeth that what they deemed a great matter for praise, brought punishment upon them. He also comforted him who was blind from his birth, concerning his former maimed state, and then speaketh concerning their blindness. For He directeth His whole speech to this end, that they may not say, "We did not refuse to come to thee owing to our blindness, but we turn away and avoid thee as a deceiver."

The Saviour once more confounds them, tempering His reproof with skill. For He holds aloof from all reviling and puts them out of countenance by setting before them the force of the truth: He shows them that they derive no advantage from possessing sight, or rather that they fell into a worse condition than one who could not see at all. For the blind man, saith He, by not beholding any of the deeds miraculously wrought, escaped without sin, and is so far blameless; but they who have been watchers and beholders of the marvellous deed, and through great folly and evilness of disposition have not accepted the faith in consequence of them, make their sin difficult of removal, and it is really hard to escape from the condemnation which such conduct incurs. Therefore it is not hard to understand the meaning of this as regards bodily blindness and restoration to sight: and when we pass to that which is to be understood by analogy, receiving our impressions from the argument itself, we shall again repeat the same signification: that the man who does not understand may claim his pardon with excellent reason from the judge, but he who is keen of intellect and understands his duty, and then, having indulged his debasing inclination in the baser principles of his mind, and given himself to the sway of pleasures and not of duty, shall shamelessly claim compassion,----the request for which he ought to be punished shall in no wise be granted, and he will very justly perish for having kept in himself a sin without excuse. For instance Our Lord Jesus Christ signifies exactly the same thing in the Gospels, saying: He that knew Ms lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. For the charge against him that knew not is merely that of ignorance; but against him that understood and yet inconsiderately refused to act, the charge is that of overweening presumption. Observe again how guardedly accurate was the language of the Saviour on this occasion also; for He does not say plainly, "Ye see," but He says: Ye say, We see. For it would of course have been very much beside the mark, to ascribe understanding to those who possessed a mind so blind and emptied of light as to dare to say concerning Him: We know that this Man is a sinner. Self-condemned therefore are the Jews, who affirm of themselves that they see, but do not act at all as they ought; aye, most…