‘And they asked them saying, “Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now see we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Judaisers, for the Judaisers had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be the Christ he should be put out of the synagogue.'
His parents were afraid of the Judaisers, and evaded the question. For the Judaisers had already agreed that if any man should confess Jesus to be the Christ he would be put out of the synagogue. That is why his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him”.'
Two questions were put to them. Firstly, is this your son whom you say was born blind? They wanted confirmation that the man really was who people thought he was, and that he really had been born in that condition.
The parents felt that they had to answer that question honestly. It was a matter of fact, and they were two witnesses. Once the Judaisers received that confirmation they then expressed their doubt by asking the second question, ‘if that really was the case, how does he now see?' They were testing out the witnesses. It would seem from what was said later that they finally did accept their testimony, even though they rejected its significance.
The poor parents meanwhile were fearful that they might be excluded from worship We know that a century later this would have involved being excluded from the privileges of the synagogue for up to thirty days, even though attendance was still required, but that may not have applied at this time. Thus while confirming that he had been born blind, they otherwise prevaricated.
‘For the Judaisers had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be the Messiah he was to be excluded from the synagogue'. This threat was now clearly well known, at least among the inhabitants of Jerusalem who attended their synagogues. John makes it quite clear that it was this fear that prompted them to evade a reply and pass the buck to their son himself.
Exclusion from the synagogue would later become an established penalty. Possibly at this stage it was only a temporary expedient.