The readings for the fourth Sunday in Lent are from Isaiah 42:14-21; Ephesians 5:8-14; and John 9:1-41.
Last Sunday, the lessons flowed from the parable of water; today from the parable of light. There is no hope for seeing when it is dark, nor can darkness create light. All three lessons bear witness to the hopeless condition of human nature corrupted by Adam’s darkness—the darkness of the attitude of pretended autonomy. Our ego is against God, against light, against truth. Notice Jesus’ final words to the Pharisees: “… now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”
The prophet Isaiah gave hope to the people who longed to see what God had promised. We see that in the many accounts of Jesus healing blind people. At the same time, like Jesus in the Gospel reading and Paul in the epistle, the prophet warns the false prophets and leaders of Israel with severe condemnation.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians that they were darkness; not just in the darkness, but darkness itself. The corruption of Adam in us is a force of attitude that is antagonistic to all things light and true. Look back at the first and second chapters of Ephesians to see how God’s grace and His choice for us made us alive when we were dead in trespasses and sins.
John spends a whole chapter on this account of Jesus healing a blind man. This narrative is about physical blindness, which made that man honest and humble and therefore eager for the healing that Jesus brought to him. It stands in shocking contrast with those who claimed to see things as they were, but hated the light of truth. They especially hated the true Light of God that had come into the world in the person, teaching, and work of Jesus.
I preached a sermon on this text, which you can listen to/view at this link, at minute 28.