He answered them, I have told you already, and you did not hear. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also desire to be His disciples?
John 9:27
This question was asked of some Pharisees, who were the “Separatist” or “Exclusively Religious” leaders of the Jewish Synagogue. The question was asked because the Pharisees did not believe the words of a previously blind man, who claimed to have been healed and could now see. They even brought in the man’s parents to try to disprove his story. After a few times of asking the man the same question concerning how he had received his sight, the healed man assumed, or perhaps sarcastically inquired as to their desires. Did they desire to be His disciples too?
What made this question so offensive to them, as you will see in the few verses is that they were the disciples of Moses, and therefore would not be taught by anybody else. I was one of those people for years; refusing to be taught by anybody other than those that brought me into a personal relationship with Christ. I have seen this in others who started in one church and then moved to another, but was unwilling to learn anything that is different than what they had previously been taught, even if it is coming directly from the Word of God.
The truth is that no matter where we are, and where we’ve been, we need to always be open to the actual truth of the Word of God, even if it means leaving behind our past ideas and traditions to become true disciples, or, students of the truth, always seeking wisdom and knowledge which never changes.
The question is the same for us today: do we desire to be His disciples too?