On the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Hebrews 9.11-15, John 8.46-59

I’m getting this week’s lectionary reflection out in much timelier fashion — not least because this afternoon, Sarah and I head to Cambridge for the Society for Reformation Studies conference. If you’ll be around, give me a shout! Now, with no further ado:

I argued last week that we see a change in focus in the last three Sundays in Lent. No longer is the emphasis on holy living and sanctification, the shape that human lives take under the Holy Spirit’s power. We turn, as it were, from focusing on our individual crosses which God appoints as the means of our sanctification to the cross, to God’s strange and mighty salvation worked through the passion and death of Christ. Last week’s lessons lead us into this theme by their focus on grace as opposed to law. This Sunday’s place us right at the heart of it by giving us a meditation on Christ’s person and work.