This weekend we celebrate the 4th Sunday in Lent . In yesterday’s post we considered the purpose of miracles (signs) in the fourth gospel. Today, we will see how St. John treats the category of “sin.” In our passage, the concept of sin will be quickly introduced via the disciples’ question in v.2 : “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  This reflects traditional Jewish speculation on the relationship of illness and sin. In 1st century Palestine, people commonly assumed that disease and disorders on both the personal and national level were due to sin, as summarized in the rabbinic saying from around 300 CE that “there is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity” (b. shabbat 55a). Continue reading →