John,
I don’t understand why the priests made this statement (Jn. 9:34): “They answered and said to him [the healed blind man], “You were altogether born in sin, and you are teaching us?”
Wendell
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Hi Wendell,
Those priests felt that the healed blind man was a lower creature and, therefore, unworthy and unable to teach them anything, especially about God.
It was commonly held by the Gentiles of the time that the rich and/or powerful were what amounts to a different species, superior to those of the lower classes. The Greeks and Romans even invented fantastic myths about their great men, such as The Aeneid, to show that those people were descendent from the gods, with divine blood running in their veins.
The priests would not have gone that far, but they were clearly influenced by the spirit of their age to consider lower classes as inferior to them. I recall that in John 12, the leaders of Israel even considered those in Israel who were not skilled in the law to be cursed by God. That would mean, of course, that they were the blessed ones, God’s favorites, if you will.
Pride is a sneaky thing. It will even use knowledge of the Scriptures to puff men up if they do not stay low at the Master’s feet.
Thank you for the question.
Pastor John