Sermon: Quinquagesima – 2023

19 February 2023

Text: Luke 18:31-43

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Luke tells us something that Jesus said, and something that Jesus did – in that order. 

Our Lord tells “the twelve” what is going to happen.  But not what is going to happen right away.  He tells them how the kingdom of heaven is going to come to earth.  He begins with a little word that’s easy to miss in the text.  He says, “See.”  It could also be translated as “behold” or “look.”  But Jesus isn’t showing them something to look at with their eyes.  He is not asking them if they see the magnificent sunset, or telling them to look at a beautiful flower.  Instead, He is telling them, “Look, this is what is going to happen.”

He is, in a sense, asking them to see it in their mind’s eye.  He is asking them to see something unexpected, and unpleasant, something different from their expectations, as they are headed to Jerusalem.  He tells them to see, “Everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.”  He tells them to see His betrayal to the Gentiles, His being mocked, shamefully treated, and spat upon.  He tells them to see His flogging and murder, and that “on the third day He will rise.” 

We can see all of these things in hindsight, dear friends.  For these events have happened.  They changed the world.  They changed us.  We have read and we have heard and we know the story, but Jesus is asking the Twelve to “see” something unexpected in their future.

For they probably see themselves through a lens of worldly glory.  They probably see Jesus going to Jerusalem to be crowned with gold instead of with thorns.  They probably see Jesus using His miraculous powers to kill the Romans rather than to be killed by them.  They probably see themselves as the new ruling council instead of as being scattered after their Master is declared a criminal by the old ruling council, and put to death. 

And they can’t even begin to see the resurrection, let alone what that means for us.

And “they understood none of these things,” says St. Luke.  “This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”  He asked them to see, but they could not.  At this time, their eyes have not yet been opened. 

But as they “drew near to Jericho,” they ran across a beggar.  And this is the part of the text where Jesus does something.  The beggar is a blind man.  He hears a ruckus, and finds out that it is Jesus of Nazareth.  He has never seen Jesus.  He has never seen Jesus perform a miracle.  He has only heard this good news with his ears.  He has only heard eyewitness reports.  But based on his belief that what he has heard is true, he calls out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Some people tell him to “be silent,” but instead, he repeats his prayer that the Lord Jesus would have mercy upon him – which we do at the beginning of the liturgy: “Lord, have mercy upon us.  Christ, have mercy upon us.  Lord, have mercy upon us.” 

He hears with his ears the Word of Jesus: “What do you want Me to do for you?”  And so He answers our Lord’s question with a prayer: “Lord, let me recover my sight.”  And “Jesus said to him, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.’”  And St. Luke says that without hesitation, “immediately,” in fact, the man “recovered his sight and followed [Jesus], glorifying God.”  And those who saw this miracle, “gave praise to God.”

This is remarkable, dear friends! 

For the Twelve, our Lord’s closest disciples, who have seen Him perform miracle after miracle, sign after sign, for three years, cannot “see” what Jesus asks them to see.  Their lack of faith in His Word and in His Father’s will, their own pride and preconceived notions, all conspire to blind them.  “See,” Jesus said to them.  But they cannot.  And so they do not understand.

But compare this to the blind beggar, dear friends.  He cannot see, but he can hear.  And St. Paul told us in Romans, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”  He heard the good news of Jesus Christ, and he believed what he heard.  And this Word, and his belief in it, dared him to “see” in his mind’s eye that Jesus would hear his prayer, and that Jesus would restore his sight.  Maybe he even “saw” that he would become a disciple himself.  He was blind, but could “see,” unlike the Twelve, who could see, but could not “see.”  The blind man’s faith was kindled by the good news of Jesus being proclaimed to him, though he saw nothing with his eyes.

But in God’s kingdom, dear friends, we don’t see with our eyes, but rather we see by faith, we live by faith, and we receive God’s gifts by faith.  For with our eyes, we see water.  But we hear the good news attached to it.  And we believe Jesus when He promises to work mightily through His Word and promise, combined with the water.  We hear this good news, and we “see” salvation and redemption with the eyes of faith.  And with our eyes, we see bread and wine.  But we hear the good news attached to them.  And we believe Jesus when He promises to work mightily through His Word and promise, combined with the bread and wine.  We hear this good news, and we “see” salvation and redemption with the eyes of faith. 

And as our Lord told the blind beggar, “Your faith has made you well,” so too is this message for us, dear friends.  The beggar’s belief in the Word of God allowed him to see that Jesus could heal him.  And by God’s grace and by our Lord’s mercy, this beggar would no longer have to beg – for he received his sight.  He would “see,” and now he can see.

We do not see Jesus at work with our eyes.  He has ascended to the Father.  Like the blind beggar, we hear the eyewitness reports.  We hear the Word of God.  We hear of His going to Jerusalem to fulfill the prophets.  We hear of His arrest, passion, and crucifixion “also for us under Pontius Pilate.”  We hear that “He suffered and was buried.”  We hear that “on the third day, He rose again, according to the Scriptures.”  We hear that He “ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.”

We hear this, but cannot see it.  But we do “see” it, dear friends, with the eyes of faith.  For “faith comes from hearing.”

And so the kingdom comes to us.  Our blindness that we suffer at the hands of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh is taken away, as we “recover [our] sight.”  Our sins are forgiven.  Our separation from God is no more.  Our hope is no longer in this fallen world and its empty promises of wealth and glory, but rather in Jesus, in His Word, in His promise, in His blood, in His resurrection, and in “the life of the world to come.”  As Dr. Luther said as he neared death: “We are beggars.  This is true.”  Lord, have mercy upon us.  Christ, have mercy upon us.  Lord, have mercy upon us.

Let us hear the Good News.  Let us believe the Word.  And let us see the kingdom. 

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.