John 9:17

17. What sayest thou of him, [in view of the matter,] that he hath opened This shows that there is but one question. And the crooked question brings a straight answer.

A prophet The man had heard from the readings of the Old Testament (though his own eyes had never seen a letter) that there were prophets of old, who did works by the power of God, and whose words, as from God, were thus divinely authenticated. Nothing less than such a one, even before this spiritual court, he avers, could this restorer of his sight have been. And this firm confessor shows himself prepared for that humble reception of Jesus’s words which he exhibited in John 9:36-38. He is a predestined sheep of Christ; predestined, that is, by predisposition and free volitional purpose before he is by full regeneration. And this confession disconcerts these lords spiritual for the moment. But they fall back upon a pretext; perhaps his parents will admit that he was not born blind.