John 9:41

41 Jesus said to them, "1If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, '2We see,' your sin remains.

John 9:41 Meaning and Commentary

John 9:41

Jesus said unto them, if ye were blind
And sensible of it, and knew yourselves to be blind, and were desirous of light and knowledge,

ye would have no sin:
or your sin would not be so aggravated; it would not be imputed to you; it would be pardoned and taken away from you: for the sense cannot be, that their blindness would not have been criminal, or they should have no sin in them, or any done by them; only, that had this been barely their case, there would have been some hope of them, that their sin might be forgiven, and put away, and be no more; see ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ) ;

but now ye say we see;
they thought themselves to be wise and knowing, and stood in no need of any illumination from him, but were obstinate and hardened in their infidelity, and wilfully opposed and shut their eyes against all the light and evidence of truth:

therefore your sin remaineth;
untaken away, yea, immoveable, or unpardonable; the guilt of it abode upon them; nor was there any hope of its being removed from them; owning that they saw, and yet believed not: sinning wilfully against light and knowledge in rejecting Jesus, as the Messiah, they sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is never forgiven. And so the Ethiopic version renders it, "your error shall not be forgiven you"; see ( Matthew 12:32 ) .

John 9:41 In-Context

39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?"
41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

Cross References 2

Footnotes 1

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.