This section of Scripture illustrates how strongly religious tradition keeps people from learning and believing the truth. The man who was born blind and healed by Jesus confronts a situation where the religious leaders threaten to cast out anyone who confessed Christ. This threat persisted despite the obvious miracle that Christ performed. The issue of Sabbath keeping comes up yet again. The religious leaders called Jesus a Sabbath breaker because He healed the blind man on Sabbath. The irony is that only through faith in Christ can anyone have true, Sabbath rest. These religious leaders literally “cast out” the healed man (John 9:34) as if he were a demon to be expelled. They accuse him of being “born in utter sin” as if to answer the earlier question by the disciples about who sinned that he was born blind (John 9:2). The most important issue in John’s gospel is whether or not John’s readers believe and have life in His name (John 20:31). These rebellious leaders claimed that they were not the ones born “utterly in sin” and thus refused to believe and were rendered spiritually blind through the judgment of hardening. When the healed blind man was asked by Jesus if he believed in the Son of Man, he asked to be told who He is. Jesus revealed Himself as the promised Messiah and the man worshipped Him. He was healed of blindness in more ways than one!