=35-38. When Jesus heard that they had cast him out.= Perhaps he purposely waited, that the man’s fidelity to the truth might be fully tested. This trial of the blind man symbolizes the trial to which Christ subjects his church (1 Pet. 1:7). When men cast the faithful witness out, Christ comes to him (Ps. 27:10). Thus the man realizes the promise of Luke 6:22.--=Dost thou believe on the Son of God.= There is an emphasis on _Thou_ in the original, which cannot well be repeated in the English. Christ contrasts his belief with the disbelief of the Pharisees. “Believest thou, whilst so many others are disbelievers” (_Trench_).--=Who is he, Sire, that I might believe on him.= The word translated lord (κύριος) is only a general term of respect. It is sometimes translated _Sir_ (Matt. 21:30; chaps. 4:11, 15, 19, 49; 5:7; 12:20; 20:15). It does not imply here that the man recognized in Jesus the Son of God. But his language, _That I might believe on him_, indicates that he was ready to believe when the Messiah should be made known to him. This spirit of desire always brings the answer of disclosure (Matt. 5:6; Acts, ch. 10).--=Thou hast both seen him.= A reminder of the benefit which has been conferred upon the man.--=And it is he that talketh to thee.= To no one did Christ disclose his divine nature more clearly than to this blind man, whose fidelity to truth showed him worthy to receive the disclosure of further truth, and one which even the disciples but imperfectly apprehended.--=Sire, I believe. And he reverenced him.= Not necessarily _worshipped_. The original does not necessarily signify anything more than a form of salutation paid by an inferior to a superior, by falling upon the knees and touching the forehead to the ground. For meaning of both words, “lord” and “worshipped,” see Matt. 8:2, note. It is clear, however, that the man accepted fully Christ’s declaration respecting himself, though not so clear that he fully comprehended his meaning. * * * * *