‘He therefore answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that whereas I was blind, now I see”.'
Without actually criticising them he brought home the important point that they must recognise that what he had said happened, did actually happen. He insisted that he was in no position to judge religious conformity, but that he did know that what had happened had happened, and that it was extraordinary. However, they could not accept that any credit should go to Jesus, and so they tried again.