John 9:30
The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
The words belong to the man born blind whom Jesus healed, answering the Pharisees with marvel that they claim not to know where Jesus is from even though He has opened his eyes, even the eyes of one born blind. He meets their scorn without fear, pointing out the contradiction in their position and exposing their ignorance in a pointed witness for Christ. The opening of his eyes is a wonderful, clear and convincing evidence of the truth of Christ's mission and of Jesus' divine origin and power and mission.
The Pharisees' response reveals spiritual blindness, for prejudice and unbelief keep them from receiving the meaning of the evidence and lead them to reject it and to oppose both Jesus and the man He healed. They are hardened by envy and jealousy over His popularity, hating Him because He would not accept their ideas and fearing He would be honored above them, and they make no effort to receive enlightenment but choose to remain in darkness and seek to make themselves even more blind, and, not content with closing their own eyes, try to close the healed man's eyes and smother his testimony.
The healing displays Jesus' compassion toward people who do not yet know Him, and the man learns who performed it only when Jesus reveals Himself to him as the Son of God. The man restored to sight by the compassionate Shepherd pictures the poor sinner wandering far from the fold, the lost sheep whom the Shepherd seeks and is anxious to save, one purchased by Christ's blood who draws the sympathy of all heaven. The Pharisees picture the self-righteous who, instead of working in harmony with God, hold such a one in contempt as worthy only of sneers and hatred and despise him. His place is in the conflict between light and darkness, where looking to Calvary and the cross and contemplating the love of God brings repentance and transformation of character from glory to glory.