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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. (Amen.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
Today’s Gospel Reading about Jesus’s healing a man born blind is the whole 41‑verse ninth chapter of St. John’s Gospel account, but it could have been even longer, as the resulting divisions both between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, and among the Jewish leaders themselves, seem to continue at least partway into, if not all the way through, the tenth chapter, in which Jesus, among other things, speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd (see especially John 10:19‑21). Today’s Gospel Reading, as we had it, at a minimum reports another miraculous sign that Jesus did in order to manifest, or “show forth”, His glory so that His disciples believed in Him (confer John 2:11). At the same time, however, Jesus’s giving physical sight to the man born blind revealed that the Jewish leaders and others were spiritually blind. And, there was division at nearly every conversation and confrontation in the Gospel Reading, both over the miracle itself and between those who were spiritually sighted and those who were spiritually blind. In today’s Gospel Reading we even heard Jesus Himself say that He came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and that those who do see may become blind. Considering primarily today’s Gospel Reading, with the help of the Holy Spirit, this morning we direct our thoughts to the theme, “Dividing the sighted from the blind”.
As I said, there was division at nearly every conversation and confrontation in the Gospel Reading. Jesus and His disciples were divided on why the man was blind. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were divided on whether the man who could see was the same man or someone like him (confer John 7:43). The Pharisees were divided on whether Jesus was a sinner for not keeping their rules about the Sabbath or whether He was from God since He did such miraculous signs (confer John 12:42). The man’s parents apparently did not confess the truth because they feared the Jewish leaders would put them out of the synagogue, as the Jewish leaders then did with the man. But, the man believed and worshiped Jesus, arguably seeking and receiving the forgiveness of sins, and so the man was united with Jesus and forgiven, separated from the Pharisees who wrongly thought that they could see spiritually but could not and so remained in their sin (confer John 8:24).
In various ways, sin is certainly a theme that runs throughout today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus’ disciples asked Him whether the man or his parents sinned with the result that he was born blind, and Jesus said that neither so sinned. The Jewish leaders and the man debated whether or not Jesus was a sinner. And, towards the end of today’s Gospel Reading, the Jewish leaders told the man that he was born in utter sin, and Jesus spoke about whose “sin” remained, although the English Standard Version that we heard read translated those two instances of the same Greek word with the English word “guilt”. Although we would not know apart from God’s revelation to us (Smalcald Articles III:i:3; confer Solid Declaration I:8), clear in today’s Gospel Reading is that we are born in utter sin (confer Psalm 51:5), and so we are hostile to God and separated from Him. Our sinful nature leads us to all sorts of sinful thoughts, sinful words, and sinful deeds, including our not confessing the truth about ourselves and about Who Jesus is, what He has done, and how He works, maybe even not confessing the truth because we fear consequences from the organized church of our day. For our sinful nature and all of our actual sin, we deserve both death here and now and torment in hell for eternity. But, as Jesus gave physical and spiritual sight to the man in today’s Gospel Reading, so God also gives us spiritual sight now and complete physical healing later.
As with the man in today’s Gospel Reading, the works of God are displayed in us who are sinful and suffering because of our sin‑ful‑ness. God in human flesh, Jesus is sin‑less, however, and so Jesus is able to be the spotless Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36), including your sin and my sin. Out of God’s great love for even our fallen humankind, Jesus both reveal‑ed Himself to the man in today’s Gospel Reading and reveal‑s Himself to us today as “the Son of Man”, Who, especially in St. John’s Gospel account, came down from heaven and was lifted up on the cross and draws all people to Himself that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life (John 3:13-15; 8:28; 12:32, 34). Divinely necessary for our salvation is God’s working in us these works of our justification, His making us righteous, His forgiving us, when we are sorry for our sins and trust Him to forgive us for Jesus’s sake. On the seventh day, God truly finished and rested from all His work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3), but God never stops upholding and restoring His creation, especially by means of His Word and miraculous signs.
In the early Christian catacombs, those are, underground burial places, artwork associated today’s Gospel Reading especially with Holy Baptism, and still today some religious traditions continue special preparation of candidates for Holy Baptism on this Fourth Sunday in Lent, either because of the appointment of today’s Gospel Reading or the other way around, with today’s Gospel Reading’s being appointed because of the special preparation of Baptismal candidates. Regardless, in today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva—what the Jewish leaders considered work forbidden on the Sabbath Day—and Jesus anointed the man’s eyes with the mud, and Jesus told the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Putting mud made of spit on the eyes may gross us out today, but those people of that time reportedly had a higher regard for spit because of what they thought was its value for healing. In this case, anyway, the spit came from Him Who gives living water, or the water of life, as we heard in last week’s Gospel Reading (John 4:5-30, 39‑42), which water takes us back to creation, when God formed the man of dust from the ground (Genesis 2:7). Even though the spit and the washing in the pool of Siloam were not Holy Baptism, they point us to Holy Baptism, whereby God forgives our sins and recreates us. Likewise today’s Gospel Reading reminds us both of the exercise of the keys in excommunication and Holy Absolution (for example, John 20:21-23) and of the need for us, in the Holy Supper, miraculously to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood in order to have life in us (John 6:53).
Historically this Fourth Sunday in Lent both used St. John’s account of the miraculous feeding of the five‑thousand as its Gospel Reading (John 6:1-15) and had an Introit that began with the Latin word Laetare, meaning “rejoice” (Isaiah 66:10). We honor that history with our custom of using rose‑colored bulletin covers today, as on the Third Sunday in Advent, with its rose‑colored candle. None of today’s Propers as we had them today specifically mention “rejoicing” or “joy”, but we might readily imagine that the man born blind rejoiced at being able to see and being forgiven, and likewise we should have joy over both the forgiveness of our sins and the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body on the Last Day and its glorification in the unrestricted vision of God that we will have for eternity. Until then we try to live as God would have us live, including confessing the truth about ourselves and about Who Jesus is, what He has done, and how He works, maybe even, as a result of our confessing, suffering consequences from the organized church of our day. People such as Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus’s ten closest disciples also for a time did not confess because they feared the Jewish leaders, but they were forgiven and overcame their fears (John 19:38; 20:19). With daily contrition and faith, we live in God’s forgiveness of sins, and we know that whatever afflictions we suffer God can use for our good, if we let Him.
Considering primarily today’s Gospel Reading, with the help of the Holy Spirit, this morning we have directed our thoughts to the theme, “Dividing the sighted from the blind”. Out of God’s love, mercy, and grace for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ, God has given us spiritual sight and, by fellowship with Him, separates us from those who are spiritually blind. Let us thank Him for that separation, now and forever.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Amen.)
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +