2026-03-12 Fourth Sunday in Lent

 

 

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a

Right from the start, Samuel warned the people about the dark side of choosing to have a king rule over them (1 Samuel 8), giving numerous examples of what kings could do when they get their hands on power. The eventual failure of Saul as king, where he disobeyed Yahweh as also the cost of war upon war, and the stark divisions rampant in the young nation - was very painful to Samuel.
And he was repenting for having brought these miseries on the people - but now God asks him to go out once more to anoint the new king. Initially Samuel is looking for someone like Saul - tall, strong and handsome but God tells him, "Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance  but the LORD looks into the heart.”. God directs him to anoint the youngest son of Jesse, the shepherd boy David.

Psalm 23

This evergreen popular Psalm 23, called the psalm of trust, speak powerfully to and for God’s people in troubled times. The putter is the essential club for golfers. The chef’s knife is the essential tool for cooks. And Psalm 23 is the essential text for the daily life of faith. Sure, you can golf without a putter, cook without a chef’s knife, and live the Christian life without Psalm 23. But who would want to?

Ephesians 5:8-14

Paul echoes Jesus’s “you are the light of the world” metaphor (Matthew 5:14) when he states emphatically: “now in the Lord you are light” (Ephesians 5:8). Like light and darkness cannot exist at the same time and place, Paul indicates the status of the believer has changed and a new nature opposite the old accords to their new identity. Literally, they “were darkness” but now “are light” (verse 8). Thus, based on their transference from the kingdom of darkness to the one of light, Paul commands them saying: “Live as children of light” (verse 8).
 

Job 24:13-17 explains how rebels of the light operate at night to kill, steal, and commit adultery when the darkness disguises them. In short, sinners are depicted as “friends with the terrors of deep darkness” (verse 17).
 

Another example of a treacherous act done in the dark is Jesus’ trial by night before the Sanhedrin. According to both Mark 14:53-65 and Matthew 26:57-68, Jesus was brought to trial after his arrest, following a time of prayer at night in the garden of Gethsemane. Fabricated charges were brought against him, and false witnesses testified, twisting Jesus’ words, unable to find fault with him (Mark 14:55). In the darkness of night, the Sanhedrin conducted an illegal trial and came to the decision that the Light who had brought life to the world (John 1:4-5, 9) was deserving of capital punishment! Such is the gravity of the biblical connection of sinful acts done in the darkness, and thus the significance of Paul admonishing the Ephesian church to live in the light.

John 9:1-41

Today's Gospel records many different reactions to the man’s condition. Initially, the disciples wish to instigate a theological debate using the man’s disability as a result of sin (9:2–5), as was commonly believed during the time of Jesus. But Jesus provides a new theological insight saying “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Indeed, illnesses and infirmities may be due to other causes. Some may be due to natural causes; others, as in John 9, may be due to the possibility of divine intervention. 

Following the healing, the neighbors debate the man’s identity (9:8–12). Then, after an initial conversation with the healed man, the Pharisees offer their tainted theological assessments of the healer (9:13–17). Eventually, the man’s parents are summoned and acknowledge the man’s identity and testify to the origins of his visual impairment but fail to recognize the presence of God in the healing choosing instead to focus on the breaking of the Sabbath (9:18–23). During a second interrogation of the man, the Pharisees fail to accept his testimony and ar angry that a sinful (disabled) man is lecturing them (9:24–34). In the final scene of chapter 9,we have a conversation between Jesus and the healed man where he acknowledges Jesus’s divine identity, and “worships” him (9:35–38) - this is a very important lesson for us to praise God for his graces and blessings. Jesus rebukes the Pharisees who are briefly divide (9:16) but soon reunite in opposition: “Surely, we are not blind, are we?” (9:40).