A Commentary Presentation

4th Sunday of Lent (A)

Courtesy of Fr. Geoffrey Plant

Terms & Concepts

4th Sunday of Lent (A)

1st Reading

1st Reading – Search

2nd Reading

2nd Reading

Gospel Reading

Gospel

Scripture Scholars

4th Sunday of Lent (A)

Brant Pitre

Jesus Heals the Blind Man

Jesus heals the blind man in the Gospel of John, chapter 9.But what does Jesus healing the blind man disclose to us about how first century Jewish viewed chr...

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THE MASS READINGS EXPLAINED

Catechism References

4th Sunday of Lent (A)

1st Reading

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

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Courtesy of Catholic Cross Reference Online

2nd Reading

Eph 5:8-14

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Gospel Reading

Jn 9:1-41

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Featured Content

4th Sunday of Lent (A)

1st Reading

The Lord’s Anointed

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

The choice of the shepherd boy David isn’t the first time God showed a special love for a shepherd. Men described as shepherds in salvation history, who had a special relationship with God, include Abel (Gen 4:4), Abraham (Gen 13:5; 24:34-35), Isaac (Gen 26:14), Jacob (Gen 30:32-43), Moses in Midian (Ex 3:1), David (1 Sam 16:11-19; 17:14-15), the Prophet Amos (Amos 1:1), and Jesus the Lord (Ps 23:1; Jn 10:1-3, 11, 15, 17).

There is a connection between David “shepherding the sheep” and the way David will describe Yahweh as shepherding the “flock” of His people (for example, see Ps 23:1; 80:1). It will become a reoccurring image not only of God as the Divine Shepherd but of the role of Israel’s kings and priests as the good shepherds or failed shepherds of their people (1 Kng 22:17; 2 Chr 18:16; Jer 23:1-4; Ez 34:5, 8). It is also an image of the Redeemer-Messiah who the prophets promise will come as the “Shepherd of His people” (Is 40:11; Ez 34:12, 23-24). The shepherd imagery is one of the most frequently used symbolic images of the prophets. One of the most significant “shepherd” passages is from the 6th century BC prophet Ezekiel who lived four centuries after David. God instructed Ezekiel to write: I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd (Ex 34:23). This passage is a prophecy of the coming of God’s anointed, Jesus of Nazareth. See the chart on the symbolic images of the prophets.

The New Testament will use the same “shepherd” imagery to describe Jesus’ role as the Redeemer-Messiah:

Jesus identifies Himself as the Shepherd sent to find the “lost sheep” of His people (Mt 15:24).
Those who belong to Jesus recognized His voice and are obedient in the same way sheep know the voice of their shepherd (Jn 10:1-3).
Jesus is the “Good Shepherd” who lays down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15, 17).
Jesus is the Divine Shepherd of the sheep by “the blood that sealed an eternal covenant” (Heb 13:20).
Jesus is the Chief Shepherd who seeks the lost who have “gone astray like sheep but who are returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls” (1 Pt 2:25).
Jesus will return to give the faithful sheep of His flock the crown of glory (1 Pt 2:25; 5:4).
Jesus will make His Vicar, St. Peter, the shepherd of His earthly kingdom and responsible for “feeding” the lambs and sheep of Jesus’ Church (Jn 21:15-17).

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2nd Reading

Be Children of Light

Ephesians 5:8-14

In Ephesians 5:3-7, St. Paul wrote about those Christians whose sins led them into darkness, but now he writes about the proper course for a believer enlightened by faith. The true Christian is a “child of light” because Christ gives him insight into the kind of behavior that is pleasing to God (verses 5-10). Instead of taking part in the unfruitful and shameful works of darkness, the Christian’s right behavior exposes those bad works and makes them visible for what they are (verses 11-13).

Then, in verse 14, Paul seems to be quoting from an early Christian hymn that depicts Baptism as raising the believer from the death of sin and into the light of Jesus Christ. It is only through the Sacrament of Christian Baptism that one can attain a new life as a child of God and the gift of eternal salvation (Mk 16:16). Paul compares the sinner’s conversion to his “rising up” out of the sleep of death into a new existence illuminated by Christ, who radiates the light that is the glory of God.

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Gospel

Belief and Unbelief in the Healing of the Man who was Born Blind

John 9:1-41

The healing of the man born blind is the fifth of the seven public “signs” recorded in St. John’s Gospel. St. John designates these as “signs” because what each event signifies is greater than the supernatural event itself.

#1 Jn 2:1-11	The sign of water turned into wine at the wedding at Cana
#2 Jn 4:46-54	The healing of the official’s son
#3 Jn 5:1-9	The healing of the paralytic
#4 Jn 6:1-14	The multiplication of the loaves to feed the 5,000
#5 Jn 9:1-41	The healing of the man who was born blind
#6 Jn 11:17-44	The raising of Lazarus from the dead
#7 Jn 2:18-20*	The Resurrection of Jesus fulfilled in Jn 20:1-10

* Jesus prophesied this sign in John 2:18-20, but it remained unfulfilled until chapter 20. Jesus’ calming of the storm and walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee will be a private “sign” for the Apostles. In total, John records 8 “signs,” demonstrating that Jesus is “greater than Moses” and the promised Messiah. In Scripture, 7 is the number signifying perfection, especially “spiritual” perfection. 7 is also the number of the Holy Spirit and the number of covenant; to swear a covenantal oath is to “seven oneself. 8 is the number of rebirth, salvation, redemption, and resurrection. For more information on the importance of numbers in Scripture, please see the document “The Significance of Numbers in Scripture.”

The seven Sacraments and their physical signs: