John pt. 58 | John 9:13-34

John 9 and the Rejection of Christ’s Signs

If you will take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to John chapter nine. John chapter nine, we will consider verses 13 through 34. Verses 13 through 34, and I know it seems like a lot of scripture here, and it is.

This is a narrative, and we've spent so far, I believe it's four or five weeks in John chapter nine, getting to verse 13. And we'll have one more message in John nine next week.

Let me open up in prayer.

Oh God, Lord, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we ask that you give to us the ability to worship you through your word. Lord, your word is precious to us. Lord, we are led and guide and sanctified through your word.

God, I pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ and by the power of your Holy Spirit that you will use your word through me, a weak and broken vessel to feast and to feed your people. Lord, we love you, and we thank you.

Please speak to us, in Jesus' name, amen. Again, it's good to see everyone who is able to make it this day. And I, again, wanna express my thanks to everyone who helped me this past week with the death of my sister, Elijah's mother, and for the food that was provided for my family yesterday at the funeral.

Thank you so much.

Let's begin.

Spiritual Blindness and the Purpose of the Miracle

So in John nine, chapter 13, well, John nine period, our theme has been the rejection of a miracle, the rejection of a miracle. And today we're going to see this rejection. Remember, the miracle was that Jesus healed a blind man.

He gave him sight by spitting on the mud, and with the mud, swirling it and making, spitting on dirt and swirling it, making it mud, putting it on his eyes and anointing him. And he goes and he washes and he comes back seeing.

Now, this narrative is going to not end in chapter nine. So as you read, you see in chapter 10, chapter 10 is Jesus still speaking and correcting the Pharisees. But this portion that we're in today is basically the ending of a long portion of a narrative that we have been going through.

We've touched on some of the things, but we're going to just kind of encapsulate everything today so we can continue next week. And then the week after we'll begin in chapter 10, and we'll be looking at God's sovereignty in salvation and in depth and how Jesus explains this.

This chapter, chapter nine, oh, better get the time on there, sorry. Chapter nine, like I said earlier, is an historical narrative, but it's also a spiritual narrative. This chapter has been setting out a pattern.

This book actually has been setting out a pattern for us, how Jesus has been comparing the physical with the spiritual, right? We've been seeing the earthly versus the heavenly. That's what this gospel has been breaking down to us.

We saw things like natural birth and spiritual birth. We saw natural water and spiritual water. We saw natural bread and spiritual bread, so on and so forth, all throughout this gospel. And we also saw that this gospel, in particular, is evangelistic.

John wants people to be saved when they read this work, when they read his letter, he wants people to be able to pick up the gospel of John and read through it, and God give them faith. As we know that faith comes by hearing, and it's hearing through the word of God.

John's gospel, in particular, is telling you about who it is that Jesus claimed to be, who it is that Jesus is. And as we've been walking through this, that's where we've discovered the physical and the spiritual.

John tells us why he wrote this gospel in chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, and it's for the purpose of evangelism. So let's read that verse, chapter 20, verses 30 through 31.

It says this,.

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, speaking about the book of John. But these, speaking of these seven signs that the gospel of John gives to us, these seven signs are written so that, here's the reason, you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

Faith alone, and Jesus Christ gives to you life. The last time we were in this book doing the exposition, I mentioned, although dead, John's been dead for nearly 2 ,000 years, although dead, John is still one of the greatest evangelists of our time, because this wonderful, glorious gospel was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.

And I've mentioned that as an evangelist, as someone who actively goes out and speaks to people, when asked, where should we start reading, I point them to the gospel of John. I want them to know who Jesus is.

That's the most important thing that we can ever know in life, is who is Jesus the Christ? John's whole life, his calling on up to his death was about Christ. His whole life to his death was nothing but Jesus Christ.

Ladies and gentlemen,.

Can that be said about us? From the moment when you were born again to your death, will the people say his whole life was about Christ? I fear for myself that that's not going to be said. But of John, we have to say these things.

His whole life, from the moment he was converted, was about Christ. This gospel is not only a gospel of belief, it's also a gospel of unbelief. In this gospel, we discover people believing in Jesus, but we also see in this gospel, people refuse to believe in Jesus.

We sometimes saw wrong kinds of belief, right? People were believing in Jesus for the wrong reason. And that's a hard, not only believing in him for a wrong reason, but Jesus refusing to accept their belief.

We get a lot of people in our time and day who claim to be Christian, they claim to believe in Jesus. And as you read the gospel of John, Jesus refuses a lot of people's belief. He rejects it. No, you don't really believe in me.

You profess with your mouth that you believe in me, but in your heart, you're wicked. You do not believe what is written. And so if you would look in John chapter two, it'll show you one instance of this, and we'll kind of look at some others here in a minute.

John chapter two, beginning in verse 23. It says, now when he, speaking of Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, right here, listen, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

So when they saw Jesus performing miracles, they believed in his name. Look at verse 24. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about him for he himself knew what was in man.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you believe in Jesus because of a miracle, that's the wrong reason to believe. We saw this with the feeding of the 5 ,000 men plus women and children, right? So Jesus feeds a large group of people with a sack lunch, upwards to 20 ,000 people, and they believe because of the sign.

But they did not believe that he was the Christ of God. What you believe about Jesus matters. And you can believe right things about Jesus and not truly believe in Jesus and not truly have your faith accepted by God.

That's why theology matters. And in John chapter eight, we saw that some Jews believed in him and Jesus tells them that their father is not God, but their father is the devil. Could you imagine that? And I mentioned to you how when I was growing up, and I don't know if y 'all ever heard this, but I'm about to be 44.

When I was in kindergarten, I think they still have kindergarten these days, everyone in my school were saying that we're all brothers and sisters. And they would say, in God's way. In God's way, we're all brothers and sisters.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible is clear. You're either a child of God or a child of the devil. And the only way to be a child of God is to believe in Jesus Christ. We're all born children of the devil because we're in Adam.

We need rescue. Why is it that God would send his Holy Son to live the life that we could not live, to take upon himself the punishment that we deserve?

If not for a reason.

The reason was we're captured, we're enslaved, we're bondage to our sin, following the imaginations of our mind, following after the devil. So God sends his son to live the life that we could not live, to take our punishment in his death.

He was buried and on the third day, he rose again from the dead. The Bible says that those who believe that message are children of God. And if you don't believe that message, you're a child of the devil.

I mentioned that you should structure your days, that we should structure our days based upon Christ, who he is and what he has accomplished. That Christ should be our all and in all. You and I should not be our all and in all.

I should not be my all and in all. My wife should not be my all and in all. And my kids should not be my all and in all. Christ should be my all and in all. And when Christians start thinking like that, I mentioned, you won't need me and I won't need someone to tell me to go out and make disciples because I would be following Christ.

And Christ made disciples. And again, we all play that game when we was kids, follow the leader. We ride in our bicycles and whoever was in the lead, if they ride with one hand in the air, then everyone rode with one hand in the air.

If they rode with one foot out,.

Everybody rode with one foot out. You're following the leader. And if we structure our life around Christ, he is our all and in all, we're following him. We're going to be doing what he has done. Being an evangelist and making disciples is an overflow of Christ in us.

This is what this book has been teaching. Jesus says in chapter eight, verse 12, to follow him. That he is the light of the world. And if you follow him, you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life.

I also mentioned, excuse me, I also made mention of why I believe Jesus made mud. Why did Jesus spit on the ground, swirl it, make mud, and put it on the person's eyes? And I believe it had to do with the purpose of making the Pharisees angry.

We see those commercials sometimes and you have a guy that wants to start some stuff and he'll say to the person, here, hold my beer. I'm going to go raise some cane, right? I just, that's just, again, right, I'm from the streets.

This is kind of how I imagine Jesus saying, hold my wine. You know, they didn't have beer then, right? Like, I see some, I see a blind person and I see some Pharisees. Oh, and guess what? It's the Sabbath.

These Pharisees then made a strict rule built around the Sabbath and he's wanting to make them mad.

So what does he do?

Hey, Peter, hold my wine. I'm about to go start something, right? Anyone here have that kind of attitude? Am I the only one, right? Amen, amen. Jesus was a godly troublemaker. And listen, if you're a man and a woman of God, guess what you're called to be?

A godly troublemaker. You are. We're called to tell people to repent, turn from trusting in yourself, turn from your evil ways and put your trust in Jesus Christ. You cannot save yourself. God sent his son.

Believe. And you might think to yourself, well, there's nothing wrong with that message. Well, that's because you're born again. The Bible says that that message is foolishness to those who are perishing.

It's not foolishness if you're being saved, but if you're perishing, calling someone to believe in Jesus Christ is foolishness. And now we live in a day and time where everyone needs a safe space. I thank God that I was born in a trailer park, that I was raised in a trailer park, man.

I really do.

There's no safe spaces in a place when your place is on a hitch. There isn't.

Our living room had wheels.

I'm thankful for the hard times.

Amen.

They build character. I believe he spits on the dirt, he swirls it around, makes mud for the purpose of making the Pharisees mad. Look in verse nine, verse 39 of chapter nine.

Nine.

Chapter nine, verse 39. Jesus said, for judgment I came into this world that those who may not see, I mean, excuse me, for judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind.

He said, speaking to the Pharisees, I came into the world to heal the blind and for you religious leaders, you stiff-necked people who have physical sight, I came so that you may be blind. Ladies and gentlemen, people don't say these kind of words these days.

They're afraid of the church attendance. They're afraid that you'll stop giving. They're afraid that you'll stop coming. They're afraid of God's word. Let God be truth and every man a liar. Now, I'm gonna read verses one through 12 just so we know where we have been and I'll give just a little bit of commentary.

So verse one, as he, speaking of Jesus, passed by, he saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? Remember, as we were walking through this, this was something that they believed that could either be passed down or that a child must have had sinned in this parent's womb.

There was this thing going around at this time that if your child was kicking the mother real hard in the womb, that that child was a sinner. It's not gonna be an easy birth that this child was going to be wayward.

Imagine that. And so it was imagined that if a kid came out and something was wrong with him, they would ask the mother, well, did he kick a lot when he was in the womb? But those were real conversations taking place in Judaism.

And I also mentioned that, you know, with a sexual transmitted disease such as gonorrhea, at this time, 98 of children were born blind. It's 48 today in America, and it's still upwards to 75 in third world countries, where if a woman has gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease, if she gives birth, the baby is born blind.

That if you are pregnant and if you're doing meth or if you're doing heroin or if you're doing crack cocaine, your child can be born addicted to that drug. Your addiction can be passed on to the child.

And so there's this thing, who sinned? Why is this child born blind? Is it because he kicked too hard? Or is it because his mother had some sexually transmitted disease? This is the conversation behind the conversation that's taking place in the text.

Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God may be displayed in him. This man was born blind, has lived most of his life blind for the purpose of this moment when Jesus sees him.

Him being blind was for the glory of God. And for people today, that is a hard pill to swallow.

Why?

If God is so good, you ever heard that question? Why is this happening? If God is so good, why are the people starving? If God is so good, why did someone pass away in my family? Listen, everything is done for the glory of God.

The Bible says that all things work together for the good of those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose. And that's why yesterday at my sister's funeral, I was able to lift my hands and worship God.

Because I don't understand it one bit, but I know that her death was for our good and for the glory of God. And if I was to enter into eternity and see the mind of God, I wouldn't be able to see how it could have happened any other way.

But right now I'm trapped in this skin-layered vessel, right? And there's still things that I don't understand. But I know one thing, God is good and everything is for his glory. Verse four, we must work, Jesus still speaking, the works of him who sent me while it is day, night is coming when no one can work as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Having said these things, he spit on the ground, made mud with saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud. And he said to him, go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sin. So he went and washed and came back seeing the neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg?

Some said, yes, it is he. Others says, no, but it is like him. He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, then how were your eyes open? And he answered, the man called Jesus, made mud, anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash.

So I went and washed and received my sight. And they said to him, where is he? And he said, I do not know. He was so different after receiving his sight, after receiving eyes to see that those who knew him did not recognize him.

Can that be said about us?

Right?

We're born into this world spiritually blind and in the new birth, we're given eyes to see. Jesus says, no one can see the kingdom of heaven unless they're born again. You cannot see the kingdom of God.

You don't even have an idea that there is a kingdom of God unless you're given eyes to see. Now, when people see you today, they say, hmm, that's not the same person. So, well, he's like him. And you're over here saying, hey, I am the guy.

Something's happened. Is that true in our lives? I pray it is. Sometimes I have doubts about myself. Let me tell you. The miracle was he was given eyes to see. And so too, you and I in salvation. Now, in our outline, the outline hasn't changed.

We're going to compare and contrast what seems to be taking place in this chapter. And it is physical blindness versus spiritual blindness and physical sight versus spiritual sight. In verse four, we see the word day mentioned in the historical context.

The day here, it's not a literal 24-hour day. It represents the three and a half years of Jesus's ministry. And the night here represents Jesus's three days and three nights in the earth when he was crucified and put into the tomb.

And last week, we looked at the timeline concerning application for us today. We saw that the three days, excuse me, that the day was a representation of our own ministry while you're still alive. The ministry that you have while your heart is still beating, that's this day.

We must work while it is day. You must do the works of Christ while you are alive. Night is coming, your death, when you will no longer be able to do the work of God. You will not be telling people about Jesus in heaven.

Five minutes after my sister passed away, she knew more about God than I will ever know until I die. And I've been studying the Bible since 9 -11 when the towers fell. Daily, five minutes after her death, she knew more than I could imagine.

She could teach me something. I spoke about how you and I are only here for a short time and how we need to run the race faithfully and finish well. So let's take some time and walk through this. And as we do, I want you to see that the Pharisees begin their investigation.

The Pharisees’ Investigation and Sabbath Controversy

Look at verses 13 through 15. No, excuse me, 13 through 16. It begins with the neighbors. You see the word they. They brought to the Pharisees. So who is the they? You look back in the context, it's the neighbors, those who recognized him, begging, but they wasn't sure if it was the same man.

And so they bring him to the Pharisees, the man who had been formerly been born blind. Now, it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees asked again. Now, right here, the text is not clear.

It says asked again. So either they asked him already and the text didn't record it, or the again is speaking about whenever he was questioned by the neighbors or those who recognize them. The text doesn't say.

Commentaries kind of go back and forth. I'm going to say, I have no idea. I want to say, since it says that they, speaking of Pharisees asked again, that this is probably the second time that they ask and the text doesn't record the first time they ask.

They asked again, him, how he received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes, I washed and I see. And some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath, speaking of Jesus.

But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was division among them. As you know, the Pharisees had a, and I spoke about it just recently, a real strict view of the Sabbath.

They actually believed that you could help someone on the Sabbath, but you couldn't heal someone on the Sabbath. You could help, but not heal. For instance, let's say that today there was a strict view of the Sabbath.

If someone was to cut themselves real bad, we would be allowed to wrap the wound, put a Band-Aid on it, but we would not be allowed to stitch it. Not saying that I stitch wounds. Maybe she can, I cannot, okay?

I asked my wife, I will, that ain't good. It's hard for me to watch a movie and see someone get cut. I'm over there, my eyes are going back and I'm freaking out, right? Which you imagine that you're allowed to bandage someone, but you wouldn't be allowed to actually properly take care of the wound.

They were allowed to, they were not allowed to fill up a lamp with oil, light a wick, or blow out a lamp on the Sabbath. They couldn't fill one up, they couldn't light it, and if one was lit, they couldn't blow it out.

Oh, you think that's weird? They were not allowed to cut their fingernails, pluck a hair from their head, or pluck a beard hair on the Sabbath. I would have been stoned to death. Amen? I mean, there's just sometimes, like there'll be an eyebrow hair just kind of like floating.

Am I the only one?

Come on!

I would have been stoned. Now I'm gonna be honest with you, this one right here hits me hard. Imagine being stoned to death for clipping your fingernails. This hits home for me because when I was growing up, in I would say a secular Christian home, my dad wouldn't let us cut our fingernails on Sunday.

He said, it's the Lord's Day, you can't cut your fingernails. When I finally understood that that was garbage, and I could freely cut my fingernails on Sunday, you know how liberating that was? The bondage that we put ourselves under.

And as we know, in Matthew 12, verse eight, Jesus tells the Pharisees that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. He says, Sabbath was not made for man, but man for the Sabbath. Jesus says that in this, in this verse, he says, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

He is saying, I am the master of this day. I am the master of this day. And it says the word Son of Man. So Son of Man, as we've been walking through this, means the Messiah, right? When you say, I'm assuming you're not, I'm sorry.

Son of David means Messiah. When you hear someone say, Jesus, Son of David, they are saying, Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. If you hear someone say, Jesus is the Son of God, they are pointing to Jesus's humanity.

And when you hear them say that Jesus is the Son of Man, they're pointing to his deity. It seems like it should be reversed, but that is how it is. When Jesus takes on flesh, he is the Son of God. That's the title for him taken on flesh.

And Jesus ruling and reigning in heaven, given the keys of the kingdom, given the kingdom, it's Jesus, Son of Man. Now look with me in chapter five of this gospel. Chapter five, we're going to see Jesus once again, say, hold my wine.

So in chapter five, Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath. This man was laying by the pool, waiting for this ritual that they believed that would take place, that an angel would come down and swirl the water once the crippled people saw that the water was dry.

Saw that the water was moving, if they were able to get into the water, then they believed they could be healed. Whether that's true or not, the Bible doesn't say, but this was a belief going around in that day.

Jesus heals this man. And in verse 16 says this of chapter five. And this, speaking of what Jesus did, and this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things, healing that man on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them, my father is working until now, and I am working. Meaning that God, the father is working in heaven, so I work. And as you read on through it, he says, I can only do what my father does.

I do what I see my father doing. And then verse 18 says, this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

That's why when we pray, we pray our father. Right, so we're including everyone in here. There's nothing unique about me where I can say that God is my father. Although he is, but we are the church. We are a body of believers.

And so at this time, if you would have said my father, that was blaspheme. They would stone you to death. And so Jesus says that, calls God his own. He says, my father is working until now, to them that's blaspheming, and he deserves to be stoned to death.

Of course, in the Lord's prayer, Jesus tells us to pray our father because it's seen as blaspheming. So in our text, we see that there's a division. Some believed he was from God. Some believed that he wasn't from God.

Some believe that still today, right? Nothing's changed. Some still today believe, some don't. Some things just never change. Now let's go back to our chapter. I'm trying to get through this as quick as possible, but you know how I wrote.

Verse 17. So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes? He said, he is a prophet. So verse 17 again. So they, the Pharisees said again to the blind man, what do you say about him?

Speaking of Jesus, since he opened your eyes, he said, he, speaking of Jesus, is a prophet. This blind man has good theology. This blind man could very well be pointing to Jesus being the prophet that was spoken about by Moses.

Moses tells the people that there is going to come one like him from among them. And when he comes, they, the Jews, are to listen to him. Jesus, the book of Hebrews tells us that he had to be made like his brothers in every way so that he, Jesus, could become the faithful high priest.

Jesus fulfills the prophecy that was spoken about by Moses. And this man calling Jesus a prophet could be speaking about this, him, fulfilling the word spoken by Moses. And I believe it does. And we'll, as you get into chapter five, chapter six, and chapter seven, I believe it proves that, but we don't have time to go back and revisit that.

Again, verses 18 through 23, we're trying to get through this narrative today. The Jews right here is speaking of the Pharisees. A lot of times in this, particularly in the Gospel of John, when it just says the Jews, it's speaking about the religious Jews.

It's not talking about every single Jew. So in this conversation, according to verse 12 and 13, he is speaking to the Pharisees. So the Jews, the Pharisees did not believe that he had been born blind and had received his sight until they called his parents, the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, is this your son, who you say was born blind?

How then does he now see? And his parents answer, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age.

And while, and he will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews for the Jews had already agreed. If anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

Therefore, his parents said, he is of age, ask him. Now in their investigation, they presupposed that this man was not born blind and was not healed. It would have been easy enough to prove that this man was a liar by contacting his parents and his parents telling the Pharisees that this was not their child.

But in this, we'll see the cowardness of their parents.

That's what we see.

We saw the cowardness of their parents concerning them being removed from the synagogue. These parents feared the Jews, but they didn't fear God. They feared the Jews. In chapter 12 of this glorious gospel, beginning in verse 42, it says this, nevertheless, many, even the authorities, believed in him, speaking of Jesus.

But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. Verse 43, for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Ladies and gentlemen, we can be that way sometimes. You ever been in a position where you know you need to speak up, but you don't? It's the fear of man. It's the fear of man. We know that we should say something.

We know that we should take a stand, but instead, we allow our cowardness to take control. Wait, am I the only one guilty?

Forgive us.

That's right, forgive us. Now, at this time, it was probably already well known that if you confess Jesus to be the Messiah, you are not going to, you're going to be removed from the synagogue. Jesus has been in his ministry for quite some time by now, but I want to show you something from Romans 10 that's very important concerning the confession here.

Romans 10, beginning in verse nine. We'll read verse nine and 10. Verse nine, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart, one believes and is justified and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. Confession is a powerful thing. They were afraid of the Jews out of fear of being kicked out of the synagogue.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you believe that Jesus Christ lived a life that you could not live, was buried, and on the third day, he rose again, if you believe that's faith. Bible says that we are justified by faith, right?

Romans chapter five, verse one. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. And it says, and you confess with your mouth, confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be saved.

The power of confession. Now, let me give you a scenario to where we could probably feel for these parents. Because we all know that we've failed, right? We've failed to confess Jesus sometimes because of the fear of men.

And it's real easy as you're reading through this chapter to say, oh, those parents suck, right? They're cowards. And not really see ourselves in the story. Remember, I told you at the beginning here that, when someone, they believe that someone was born blind, it's either that the baby kicked too hard or that the parents had some kind of sexually transmitted disease.

It's believed that this man was never allowed into the synagogue because of his blindness, they would have considered him to be unclean. This man was not a part of the synagogue because he could not see.

Because they had no real definite answer of why he could not see, they would have labeled him unclean. Go back to verses one and two. As he, Jesus, passed by, he saw a man born blind from birth, from birth.

And the disciples asked, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents? Like this was a real issue taking place during this time. Who sinned, him or his parents? Now, of course, because of his blindness, he was not allowed at the synagogue, but could you imagine at the time that this child was born and his parents being members of a synagogue, their child being born blind, and the Pharisees of that synagogue asking, who sinned, this man or his parents?

There could have been a time, now this is just a could have been, this is nothing that I know for sure, but there could have been a time where they questioned the parents. Is this woman sleeping around on her husband?

Did she have gonorrhea? Is she passing this blindness off to her children? And if that took place, the parents would have been considered unclean and not allowed in the synagogue. So there could have been a time where this family was removed from the synagogue because their son was born blind.

And at this moment in our text, since their child is grown, they do not want to be removed from the synagogue once again and listen, that is all speculation. The text doesn't say. In narratives like this, we kind of have to look into the text.