‘The neighbours therefore, and those who saw him in the past, and knew that he was a beggar, said, “Is this not the one who sat and begged?” Others said, “It is he”. Others said, “No, but he is like him”. '
The man was clearly well known. He had been begging since he was a child. So those who had known him in the past, especially those who lived nearby, were amazed to see him walking about as a seeing man. They found it hard to believe, so much so that some merely thought he was the man's double. John is conveying the impression of the great stir caused by the incident locally. The series of questions parallels those asked about Jesus. It is intended to indicate people who hesitate about whether they will believe. It mirrors a hesitant world in the face of truth. vv. John 9:9-12 ‘He said, “I am he”. So they said to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, and said to me ‘Go to Siloam and wash', so I went away and washed and received sight”.' And they said to him, “Where is he?” He says, “I do not know”.'
When the man met some who had known him as a beggar, the general stir made them discuss whether it could indeed be the same man, and if so what could have happened to him. So he answered their questions by outlining in full the way in which he had been healed. This detailed repetition confirms that the details of the cure are all to be seen as significant.
‘A man who is called Jesus.' This makes specifically clear that the blind man previously knew little about Jesus. Sitting where he did in his blindness the world had passed him by. He was simply ‘a man called Jesus'. Yet within a short while the same man would be a full disciple of Christ. This was in strong contrast with the Pharisees who had had many chances to know Him but had refused to let their eyes be opened. They were still questioning.
We must wonder what brought him to respond in this way to a stranger. It was no easy thing for a blind man. It is clear that there was something in the voice of Jesus that the blind man immediately responded to. He could not see but he knew at once that he could trust this man. And no doubt he had heard rumours about Him. How different from the Pharisees. Perhaps if they had taken the time to listen to His voice they too might have responded differently. But they did not have the discernment of the blind.
We are reminded of the young untrained asses' colt who also responded to Jesus. It too, unlike the Pharisees, submitted to hands that it could trust.