1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message from God’s Word for us on this 4th
Sunday in Lent is taken from the readings for today from Isaiah 42:14-21, Eph. 5:8-14, and John 9:1-41. The message is
entitled, “Jesus Turns the Darkness into
Light,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Isaiah preached to a people that
were deaf and blind. Deaf to God’s Word that is. Blind to
His will to be their God and to save them. Israel turned her back on
God. And when you do that — you plunge yourself into
darkness. The deep, deep darkness of unbelief and
death! Israel got used to living in the darkness and death of her
sin. Very comfortable with the darkness and her sin! Loved
the darkness! Relished her sin. Used the darkness of
unbelief and death as a cover to shield her from God the Light.
3.
Israel went her own stubborn
way. Self-centered. Self-absorbed. Looked after her
self-interests. And when trouble came she ran after false gods –
idols. Israel became like the idols she worshiped – eyes that couldn’t
see. Ears that couldn’t hear. Mouths that couldn’t speak.
4.
We’re really no different than
Israel of old. If we’re not completely deaf to God’s own voice that
speaks to us in His most holy Word, we’re bored to death with it. We
put up every sort of excuse not to hear or study God’s Word. We listen to
ourselves with religious fervor. When ultimate issues confront us do
we turn to God’s Word? Instead, we look deep inside ourselves for
answers! Whatever idols we have built for ourselves we fanatically
obey! And then we wonder why hardly anyone is attracted to Christ
and His church! And why we’re all so strung out and have so many
nervous breakdowns.
5.
We’ve become quite comfortable and
cozy with the darkness! A deep spiritual darkness has overtaken
us! It is the separation from God because of our sin. Cold
hearts. Darkened minds. Adam’s sin and our sin blind our
eyes. We can’t see. We don’t know where we’re going. We’re
helpless. We can only grope in the darkness of
death. Eternal death.
6.
Enter Jesus. Light of the
World Jesus as we see Him in our Gospel lesson today from John 9! Pay
attention everyone! He’s going to use a man born blind as an object
lesson. The blind man’s eyes don’t work because of some horrible sin
he or his parents committed. Instead, it’s so “the
work of God might be displayed in his life.” After all,
the time for repentance won’t last forever. God won’t tolerate the
apathy, the boredom, the indifference and the blindness of unbelief forever. “As
long as it is day,” Jesus says, “we must do the work of him
who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While
I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
7.
So it’s time to listen up everyone! Now,
not later, is the time to fix your eyes on Jesus! Why? Because
He’s the author and perfecter of our faith! Because He’s the Light
of the world! He comes to bring the spiritually dead back to
life! He comes to give light to those spiritually blind. Jesus comes to turn our darkness into light!
8.
And Jesus will use a man blind from
birth to illustrate this truth. “That the work of God might be displayed in
his life.” So Jesus goes to work on the always been blind man. Spits
on the ground. Makes some mud. Puts the mudpack on the
man’s eyes. After shoving greasy mud
into the man’s eyes, Jesus commands: “Wash off all that mud I just
poked into your eyes at the pool called Siloam.” Good thing the
blind man has ears to hear! He’s not deaf to Christ’s
Word. He does what Jesus says and behold: “He returns
home! And he can see perfectly!” Physical
sight that is! The eyes work! For the first time in his
life! Jesus turns the darkness into light.
9.
And then comes spiritual sight.
Jesus asks him: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” And the seeing eyes for the
first time ever man asks: “Who is he that I may believe in him?” Jesus responds with an
astounding fact: “You have now seen him. In fact,
he is the one speaking with you!” Incredible! The
healed man standed before the eternal Son of God! And so he cries
out: “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Jesus! Jesus
turns the darkness into light!
10.
Jesus has come to you
too. You that were born blind. Spiritually
blind. Spiritually dead. Spiritually in the dark. Jesus
poked the mud of His Law into your eyes to show you your sin and your helpless
condition. Then He took you in His nail-scarred hands and washed you
in the cleansing and renewing water of Holy Baptism. Rescued you
from the darkness of damnation and brought you into His marvelous kingdom of
light! In Holy Baptism you were enlightened with the Spirit’s gift of saving
faith. Seeing Him for who He truly is: your Savior! Jesus turned your darkness into light!
11.
“Once you were darkness,” the
apostle says in today’s Epistle (Ephesians 5:8). “But now you are
light in the Lord” so that you “live as children of
light.” Life was never the
same for the blind man Jesus healed! Jesus called him to faith. Life
is never the same for you that are baptized into Christ, washed, cleansed, and
called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit through Baptism. You’ve
been brought from death to life in the wounds of Jesus. Jesus has turned your darkness into light!
12.
And so you live your lives
differently. What does that mean? It means living a life
of forgiveness. Who has hurt you? Who has sinned against
you? Someone at school? At work? In your
family? In our congregation? What was it that person
said? Or did to you? What are
you going to do? Go back to living in darkness and
death? Hold grudges? Plot revenge? Make threats
under your breath? Strike back? That’s not the way of
life. That’s all in the way of deep darkness and death. “It
is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret,” Paul
says in the Epistle (Ephesians 5:12).
13.
Because of Jesus and the faith He’s given
you, you are given to live as children of light! Forgive. Let
all the sin committed against you go. Christ died for
you. All your sin is forgiven in Him. One of the highest
and holiest divine callings in your life then is forgive those who have sinned against you just as Christ has forgiven
you. Let the light of Christ’s forgiveness melt your hearts and
those that have hurt you. Let Christ and His blood mediate between
you and those who have hurt you. Otherwise you will destroy each other,
your family, your society, our congregation. Darkness! Death!
14.
We who have been brought into the
light of Jesus are called to live differently in another way too. We
no longer cover our sin with fashionable fig leaves of every variety. We
no longer scurry like cockroaches into every dark corner when the light comes
on. Instead, we let the bright beams of Christ’s death shine
brightly into every dark corner of our lives.
15.
Do you get what I’m saying
here? It means this. Children of the Light of Jesus, with the
Holy Spirit’s help, fight against themselves. Daily using God’s holy
Word to go to war against your own sinful flesh and all your pet sins. God’s
Word is the sword of the Spirit that slays you and then raises you up to faith
in Jesus! And so each day you engage in a life or death struggle with your
old Adam, you old sinful nature. In such a tussle, sin will never be
as much fun again. Exposed in the Light of Jesus’ death on the
cross, sin is now seen for what it really is. It is a horrible, wicked,
deep dark monster. And so you are given to die to your sin! And
live to God through faith in Jesus! Every
day!
16.
Can you imagine being given the gift
of sight and then going back to being blind? Can you imagine being
given the gift of spiritual sight in Jesus but then going back to darkness and
death? May it never be! You belong to Jesus! He has
interrupted your existence. Died on a Friday called
“Good.” Rose from the grave! Buried you with Him into His
death and resurrection that counts for you in Baptism. He saved you
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom He poured
out on you generously. Called you by the
Gospel. Enlightened you with faith in Him!
17.
What is there left to
do? I would suggest exactly what the man Jesus healed said and
did: “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Jesus. That’s “fixing
our eyes on Jesus” as the Gradual for Lent teaches us. And, so we worship Jesus all our lives and we
thank Him for turning our darkness into
light! Amen.
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