John transforms this healing story into an intricately constructed framework for discussing the human condition and divine salvation. John's theology of light provides the backdrop for this text, with its images of vision and blindness. The entire chapter, as well as being a confessional text, is a tribute to John's disciplined artistry as a writer. It is such a closely woven, tightly knit narrative that 9:1-41 need not necessarily have been placed here at the end of chapter 8. However it does fit logically after Jesus' confrontation at the tabernacle.

There is much debate over to what extent John's Gospel was shaped and determined by conflicts between the Johannine community and the synagogue. Here is reported one of the most vitriolic exchanges between those confessing Jesus and those es…