Scripture: John 9:35-41 , 17th February,2008

1. The Healing of a Man Born Blind

We are continuing to lecture from the Gospel according to John, a Gospel story about the very character of God and how God makes himself known to the world through the life and death of Jesus.

Today’s reading is from chapter 9, which reports an episode about a man whose blindness was healed by Jesus. When Jesus meets the man and heals him from his blindness, his disciples became curious about the man’s disability, so they asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). (³¤­…)

10th February, 2008
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

1. The Temptations of Jesus

We are now at the commencement of Lent, which actually runs from the 6th of February to the 23rd of March. Lent is the period preceding Easter in which the Christian church is devoted to fasting, repentance, and abstinence, in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. It was originally called in Latin ‘quadragesima equal fortieth’ which signifies its duration. In the western church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes forty weekdays.

We will observe this occasion with special reverence in order to bring to mind what Jesus experienced, when he was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Today we will read together the story about this event, which has become widely known as, The Temptation of Jesus. (³¤­…)

1. To those who have lost hope

We are continue to focus on the Gospel according to John, who commenced his writing with these words: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12). When Jesus began teaching and preaching many people listened and observed Him, which encouraged some of them to believe Him to be the Son of God. However, others completely rejected him and his ministry. We must wonder what the elements were which caused people to react so differently. Today we will read portions of chapters 5 and 9 of John’s Gospel, in order to seek answers to the question. By describing human reactions to Gods’ merciful acts, these chapters raise the issues relative to physical healing and Salvation. (³¤­…)