John 9:35-41 35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36That man answered and said, “And who is he, sir, so that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and then who is speaking to you is that one.” 38And he said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
The healed man had been thrown out by the religious establishment. These verses are more than historical narrative. The man’s experience serves as a warning of what might happen to believers in Jesus. Those who come to believe in Jesus should expect similar opposition as this man experienced. Fortunately, Jesus sought out the man to offer him hope. Jesus’ actions in these verses serve as a model of grace. The man’s understanding of Jesus was limited. His blindness likely had confined him to a specific location, and he had to rely on others to get him around. Even though Jesus had healed him, he did not know much about Jesus. Light had come to his eyes but not to his understanding.
Jesus asked the critical question: Do you believe? The man believed but did not know personally who had healed him. Jesus had put mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, so the man had never actually seen what Jesus looks like. As far as the man went, the one talking to him now was a complete stranger. Faith must have an object. In this case, the man had faith but needed to connect it to a person. Jesus uses the self-designation of Son of Man. This title has the nuance in John of special revelation from God (1:51; 3:13–14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28). Verse 36 suggests that the man had some concept of what this title meant. Based on his conversation with the Jewish leaders, evidently, he had some theological and biblical training and may have connected this title to the Messiah. It was important that the man connect Jesus to prophecy and confess openly his faith (see Luke 12:8). The man wanted to believe but needed to know in whom to believe.
The once blind man could now see. In John’s Gospel, Jesus explicitly declares his identity, while in the Synoptic Gospels, he keeps it quieter. This man needed to know so that his healing could be complete. Jesus’ response in verse 37 gets to the heart of the issue with the perfect tense verb have seen (heōrakas), which implies that the man was in the process of coming to realize what had started back in his healing. Full revelation had now come. His healer was right in front of him. Full faith came at that moment. The man uses the Greek kyrie twice. The first one in verse 36 has the nuance of politeness, like how one might greet a stranger with sir. The second use in verse 38 is more the confession of faith that Jesus is Lord. The man’s words are the call of John’s Gospel: I believe.
The man’s response could be interpreted either as deep respect or in the religious sense of worship. Worshiped (prosekynēsen) can simply mean to bow down in respect, but when it is used in reference to Jesus’ divinity, it indicates worship. The man’s response serves as an example of what it means to believe. God’s grace, truth, and revelation came in Jesus. The Jewish leaders rejected this revelation and remained blinded in their hard-heartedness. They should have been the first to recognize Jesus as the Son of Man with their knowledge of the Law and the Prophets. There are still people today, like the Pharisees, who are comfortable in their religious practices and traditions but fail to believe and worship in the simple faith of the healed man. God’s grace is offered, but we must accept it in faith.
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