Today’s Gospel is the whole of John chapter 9. Just like last week with the Samaritan woman, it is an account that drips with meaning as it twists and turns. It starts with a conversation about sin and finishes with a statement about spiritual blindness. Essentially, those who remain spiritually blind to who Jesus is (even though they think they can see) are those still stuck in sin. In the season of Lent, which customarily has a strong focus on repentance, it’s a fitting text for re-examining our condition before God. Luther wrote this in a letter to a friend, and it’s always a handy reminder: ‘Beware of ever aspiring to such purity that you do not want to seem to yourself, or to be, a sinner. For Christ dwells in sinners’. This is not suggesting we sin purposely. Only that we continually live a life where we are aware of our need for Christ’s righteousness. This is what it is to not be blind! And it was Jesus working through his Living Water the Holy Spirit (John 4:11,13; 7:38-39) that has given us this sight. Praise be to God.
March 23, 2017
Pastor Matt Bishop