Fourth Sunday in Lent

1Verse 1. Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” 2Verse 2. “How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!” The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3Verse 3. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.” 4Verse 4. So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5Verse 5. “In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6Verse 6. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.” 7Verse 7. But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” 8Verse 8. Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9Verse 9. Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 10Verse 10. Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11Verse 11. And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” 12Verse 12. So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.” 13Verse 13. So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

8Verse 8. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9Verse 9. for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. 10Verse 10. Test and prove what pleases the Lord. 11Verse 11. Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12Verse 12. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13Verse 13. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. 14Verse 14. So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

1Verse 1. Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, 2Verse 2. and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Verse 3. Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. 4Verse 4. While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5Verse 5. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6Verse 6. When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes. 7Verse 7. Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing. 8Verse 8. At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Verse 9. Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” But the man kept saying, “I am the one.” 10Verse 10. “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11Verse 11. He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12Verse 12. “Where is He?” they asked. “I do not know,” he answered. 13Verse 13. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14Verse 14. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. 15Verse 15. So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” 16Verse 16. Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was division among them. 17Verse 17. So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied. 18Verse 18. The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents 19Verse 19. and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?” 20Verse 20. His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. 21Verse 21. But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22Verse 22. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23Verse 23. That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” 24Verse 24. So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25Verse 25. He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!” 26Verse 26. “What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?” 27Verse 27. He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” 28Verse 28. Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. 29Verse 29. We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.” 30Verse 30. “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31Verse 31. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. 32Verse 32. Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33Verse 33. If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.” 34Verse 34. They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out. 35Verse 35. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man ?” 36Verse 36. “Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.” 37Verse 37. “You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.” 38Verse 38. “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus. 39Verse 39. Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” 40Verse 40. Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?” 41Verse 41. “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”