As we noted two Sundays ago, during the Season of Lent we omit the singing of the Alleluias. Why? It reinforces the somber tone of the season, reminding us of our Savior’s Passion History, what He endured to save us from our sins. We won’t joyfully sing Alleluia again until Easter Sunday morning, when we rejoice that our Savior’s suffering is over and His rising from the dead demonstrates He is victorious over sin and death.
In our Old Testament reading the LORD admonished the apostate people of Israel for their self-imposed spiritual blindness and warned them of His coming judgment. In His loving faithfulness, however, He promised to turn the darkness of sin into light of salvation through the coming Savior. In our Epistle lesson, Paul reminded Christians of the darkness of their former sinful way of life and the fruitless deeds it produced. Since Christ has shined on them with the light of the gospel, Paul urged them to “walk as children of light.” The gospel records how Jesus healed a blind man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees condemned Jesus showing their spiritual blindness.