²⁰ His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don’t know how it is that he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders,^[a] since the Jewish leaders^[b] had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus^[c] was the Messiah^[d] would be thrown out of the synagogue.