Another student points out the rhetorical effect of the words of the parents of the blind man in John 9. When the Pharisees ask if the blind man was their son, and born blind, they say “Ask him. He is of age.” When they do ask him, the blind man says “I was healed by Jesus; He is a prophet; do you want to be His disciples?”

Despite their fear, the parents are directing the Pharisees to the right source. They are urging the Pharisees to hear the son, their son. When we mix in the fact that there is a generational theme here - the fearful parents, the bold son - we can get a deeper sense of the purpose of the parents in the story. They are the “old guard” and want to stay in the synagogue; but as the old guard they are pointing to the coming of the new. As Jesus said, Moses spoke of Me.