2. Investigation by the Pharisees (9:13-34)

A remarkable feature of this narrative is the positions taken by the actors in the drama. The parents of the man cured by Jesus abandoned their son to his own devices rather than risk excommunication (vv.20-23). The Pharisees, divided at first about the significance of Jesus' action, quickly and increasingly became entrenched in their hostility to Jesus and to the man they were interrogating. The man himself is one of the best examples of response to Jesus in this gospel. Holding firm to what he knew to be true (v.25), he refused to be browbeaten and moved from blindness to an enlightened and costly defense of his Healer (vv.30-34).