Lent 4A (RCL) – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Sin and sight

Fourth Sunday in Lent; 19 March 2023; Lent 4A (RCL); 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41.

This episode in John’s Gospel provides a prime example of how the whole Gospel is structured, with the beginning and the end of the story as reflections of one another (the question of the blind man’s sin, bracketed by the question of the Pharisee’s sight). Along the way, John changes the definitions of both sin and sight, and frames them in reference to Jesus alone.

Who sinned?

Fourth Sunday of Lent; 22 March 2020; Lent 4A; 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41.

Greek drama works a bit like Shakespearean drama – the critical bit happens in the middle scene. This chapter and the next forms the center of John’s Gospel, so it feels like something really important. And right in the center of this chapter comes the crisis.

Now I see

26 March 2017
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lent 4A (RCL)
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

This is the central chapter of John’s Gospel and pulls together many of the themes of the Gospel. And central to the chapter is the encounter between the Jews and the parents of the man born blind. The parents refuse to answer “for fear of the Jews,” because the Jews have already agreed that anyone who confesses the Christ will be thrown out of the synagogue. The chapter takes up the question of the nature of sin. The chapter opens with the disciples asking, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” and closes with Jesus telling the Pharisees that since they claim to see, their sin remains. The action in this chapter points to the disciples after the resurrection, locked in the room, “for fear of the Jews,” when Jesus appears, breathes on them, and says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. The sins of whoever you forgive are forgiven them. The sins of whoever you retain are retained.” Continue reading “Now I see”