The Pharisees heard that Jesus' words were aimed at them and they took offense. Gill says they "perceived he pointed at them, and therefore with indignation ask this question," taking it as an affront. The Pharisees had just told the healed man, "dost thou teach us?" (John 9:34). They could not imagine that they, the teachers, might be the blind ones. The question expects the answer "No."

Jesus answered: "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:41). He did not call them blind in their eyes. He said their claim to see was the problem. Barnes explains "If ye were blind" as meaning, if you "were truly ignorant, and were willing to confess it, and to come to me for instruction."

The Pharisees were known for their knowledge of the law, and they took pride in it: "we are Moses' disciples" (John 9:28). Barnes explains that Jesus' words about judgment in John 9:39 do not mean He came to condemn, since He said He came not to condemn the world (John 3:17; John 12:47). He spoke of what happens when people meet Him: the humble receive sight, while those who think they already see are hardened into deeper blindness.

This question shows that the most dangerous blindness is the kind that does not know it is blind. The man born blind admitted what he did not know (John 9:25, 36) and came to see. The Pharisees insisted "we know" (John 9:24, 29) and stayed in the dark. Barnes concludes, "People's sins will always be unpardoned while they are proud, and self-sufficient, and confident of their own wisdom."

Matthew Henry puts the hope of the passage plainly: "Christ came into the world to give sight to those who were spiritually blind." The door is open to anyone willing to say, "I need Him to open my eyes."