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Luke 18:31–43

³¹ And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³² For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. ³³ And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

³⁵ As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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

The disciples are blind. Not physically but spiritually. Jesus plainly tells them where they are going – Jerusalem. Jesus plainly tells them why they are going to Jerusalem. So that everything written about Him in the Scriptures would be fulfilled. He will be mocked, shamefully treated, and spat upon. Jesus will be flogged, whipped, and beaten. He will be crucified, and He will die. But He will, He absolutely will, rise again on the third day.

Jesus gives turn-by-turn directions to His destination. But the disciples are blind, and Luke wants us to know this, and tells us three times. The disciples understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them. And they did not grasp what was said.

The road to the cross passes through Jericho. In the city where the walls had come-a-tumblin’ down, lived a blind man. Mark tells us that his name is Bartimeaus (Mk. 10:46). Bartimeaus heard all sorts of commotion and asked what it was all about. He is told nothing more than that Jesus of Nazareth is passing through. As blind as he is, Bartimeaus sees his opportunity and cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And don’t miss this.

By recognizing that Jesus is the “Son of David,” blind Bartimeaus recognizes that Jesus is his King and Lord. And Bartimeaus requests mercy. In Greek, it would be, “Kyrie eleison.”

Each week, part of our normal service to sing the Kyrie after the Confession of Sins. We ask God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to have mercy upon us. Maybe, you have done it so often that you don’t really think about it. Well, today, do think about it.

Think through our whole service. What would you say is the highest praise, the most worshipful thing we do? Is it when we sing songs and hymns or when we place our tithes on the Altar? Now, those things are good, and it is right to do them. But I would argue above them, and maybe the greatest worship we offer, is singing that God would have mercy upon us.

For one thing, asking God for mercy is one of the most common prayers in all of Scripture, trusting people who count such things. It also puts us alongside other people in the Gospels – two blind men (Mt. 9:27), the Canaanite woman whose daughter is possessed by a demon (Mt. 15:22), and the ten lepers (Lk. 17:12-13). We take their cries for mercy and put them on our lips.

Now, maybe you think the Kyrie isn’t too worshipful and more like begging. You have a point because we are. But also realize that this is high praise. When we ask God to have mercy, we are recognizing God as He wants to be recognized. He wants to be known as the God who is merciful. His truest character is that He has steadfast love and compassion (Ex. 34:6-7). He desires mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6; Mt. 9:13). God’s mercy, His steadfast love, endures forever (Ps. 136).

When we cry out, “Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.” We stand with the blind men, with the unclean lepers, and with those who are oppressed by the devil and the demons. We are saying, “Lord, we want You to be our Savior too. We want you to be Jesus for us. We want to receive what You gave to them. We want You to be what all the Scriptures reveal You to be. We want You to come to us in Your truest character.”

And Jesus delights in that prayer. He answers that prayer and is merciful. He gives sight, healing, deliverance, cleansing, life, and salvation. And because of that, we follow Him and give praise to God.

Dear Charlie. Today, you are Baptized. Today, your God and Lord has had mercy upon you. Today, God joined all His promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation to water and poured out all His love upon you. The perfect, Divine love we heard in our Epistle lesson (1 Cor. 13) has been given to you and to all your brothers and sisters in Christ.

All you saints, hear this. The love of Christ you have received is not simply empty words that echo like noisy gongs or clanging cymbals. In His great love and mercy, Jesus gave away all He had – every last ounce of strength, every drop of His blood, and His final breath.

To you, Christ has been patient and kind. Though Jesus was mocked, shamefully treated, and spit upon, He was not arrogant or rude. Even in the midst of all this He was thinking of you praying, “Father forgive them.” Jesus did not rejoice in the wrongdoing but rejoiced in the truth that God, in His mercy, would use all of this for your eternal good. On the cross, your Savior in love and mercy bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. His merciful love for you will never fail and never end.

And so, we sing in worship with Bartimeaus, “Kyrie eleison.” Lord have mercy. And He does. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.