Tag Archives: Sight

Pause – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinquagesima Sunday

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 Jesus. Amen.

Generally, when we let our imagination go wild, we like to be the heroes. Boys imagine hitting a grand slam in Game 7 bottom of the 9th two outs down by three, or they imagine they are the receiver who dives to catch the hail Mary as time expires to win the Super Bowl. Girls imagine they are Cinderella dancing the night away with Prince Charming, and getting engaged after he returns her glass slipper. Even when it comes to Bible stories, we like to imagine that we are Joshua toppling the walls of Jericho or David slaying Goliath or Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal.

In the two parts of today’s text – the Passion prediction and the healing of the blind man – the only hero is clearly Jesus, and He fully embodies the perfect love that was described in our Epistle reading (1 Co. 13:1-13). This is the third time Jesus explains to the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, flogged, crucified, and raised from the dead. But the disciples don’t understand Jesus, the saying is hidden from them, and they could not grasp what Jesus said.

Still, Jesus’ love is on full display. Jesus is patient with and kind toward them. He is not irritated or resentful at their thick skulls. Jesus is going to Jerusalem and will endure all these things because His love does not insist on its own way. Instead, Christ submits to His Father’s will in perfect obedience.

By going to the cross, Jesus will bear all things. All the burdens, all the sins, all the transgressions, all the iniquities, all the wrongdoings, all the evil, all the brokenness of this fallen world – Jesus will bear all of it in His body (1 Pet. 2:24). He does it all for you. Jesus’ journey from His throne in heaven, down into your flesh. His fasting and temptation in the wilderness. His path through the lands of Israel with no place to lay His head (Lk. 9:58). His teaching, healing, casting out demons, forgiving, and restoring. His triumphal entry. His betrayal. His suffering. His death. His burial. His three day rest in the tomb. His resurrection. His ascension. And His continual rule and authority over all things is a journey of love for you.

Jesus’ entire work is directed outward. He didn’t need to do any of that to benefit Himself, and He doesn’t do it for His own, personal gain. He does it because He loves you. And this love of Jesus wasn’t based on your loveliness. It was based on the fact that the God the Father loves you and wanted to rescue you. So, Jesus, God the Son, loved you and did everything necessary to save you.

God hated seeing what sin and death had brought to His creation, so He did something about it by undoing sin and death by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christ lived the life we were unable to live. He obeyed the whole will and Law of God that we were unable to obey. He took up His cross, endured punishment that you and I deserved, and gave up His dying breath. All of this is done for you.

Jesus does all of this with full knowledge. None of it surprised Him. Christ knew exactly what is going to happen to Him. And still, He goes and does all of this to love you with His perfect, pure love. 

Back in Lk. 9:51, we are told that Jesus had “set His face to go to Jerusalem.” In other words, Jesus is determined to do this loving thing for you. He was focused on redeeming creation, on getting there, and accomplishing it. He goes toward Jerusalem in love.

Day after day, Jesus gets closer to His goal until He arrives in the city of Jericho, which is about fifteen miles from Jerusalem. He’s close – about a day’s journey from the city. But Jesus isn’t in a rush. Sometimes, when you have to do things that you know are going to be unpleasant and painful, you just want to get it over with and put in your rearview mirror. Again, Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead, He paused along His way through Jericho.

Christ hears the blind man’s cry, “Son of David have mercy on me.” Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ve got more important things to do. I’m going to have mercy on you when I get to Jerusalem and go to the cross.” No. Our Lord stops.

The cry for mercy from any corner of His creation gets Jesus’ full attention. He commands that the blind man be brought to Him. Jesus asks him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And in love, Jesus gives the man the mercy he desired. “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus’ mission to be the Savior of all creation does not stop Him from pausing to give His mercy to the individual He meets along the way. He pauses and heals him.

Dear saints, Lent begins on Wednesday, and Lent is a good time for us to pause and consider all that God has done for us. Today, pause and ponder whom you are most like in this text. Again, we’re not the hero; we’re not Jesus. Instead, sometimes, we’re like the disciples who do not understand or grasp what God is doing for us and saying to us. Sometimes, even though God has plainly and clearly spoken, we are blind and don’t understand what God is doing.

Sometimes, we are broken like the blind man. Even though the blind man could not see with his physical eyes, he understands who Jesus is and what He has come to do. Despite his physical blindness, he has faith that Jesus can and will restore what is broken. So, when Jesus is present, he cries out for mercy. And Jesus gives him the mercy, restoration, and healing that he needed. Maybe, like the blind man, you look foolish to the world how you relentlessly call out to Jesus for His mercy.

Whom are you more like? It probably depends on the day, maybe even the moment.  Whether you don’t have any clue of what God is up to like the disciples or whether all you can do is cry out for mercy, the thing to do is follow Jesus.

Notice that even though the disciples don’t get all the things that God had said through Jesus and through the Scriptures, even though they are blind in their hearts and minds – what do they do? They go with Jesus. They follow Him to Jerusalem and the cross. The blind man, even though he could not see anything until Jesus gave him the sight he desperately wanted, what did he do? He followed too.

Whether you understand what God is up to or not, the conclusion is the same. Follow Jesus. Follow Him to the cross. No matter where you are in your journey through life, no matter how much you understand what God is doing, no matter how much you need from God, no matter how much God has already given you, follow Jesus to the cross.

Stay the course. And as you go with Christ, He will give you ample reasons to glorify God and give Him praise. Amen.

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

The King in the Wicked City – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinauagesima Sunday

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 Jesus. Amen.

Today, our text has us focus on two cities – Jerusalem and Jericho. Jerusalem was the city chosen by God to be the place where He would dwell with His people (1 Kgs. 8:10-11, 27-30). If anyone sinned; if God’s people were defeated in battle; if there was drought, famine, pestilence, or plague; they would pray toward God’s house in Jerusalem. God would hear their prayer and forgive (1 Kgs. 8:31-53; 9:3-5). According to Scripture, Jerusalem was a city firmly built together, and God’s people would go there to give thanks to God for all the blessings He had given them (Ps. 122:3-4). It was the city of King David, and God had promised that David’s line would never lack a man to sit on the throne as long as David’s sons walked in God’s ways (1 Kgs. 2:4).

Then, there is Jericho. God commanded His people, “Destroy Jericho. Never rebuild it. If anyone tries to rebuild it, I will consider that to be open idolatry and rebellion against Me. In fact, if someone tries to rebuild Jericho, laying the foundation will come at the cost of his firstborn, and setting up the gates will cost his youngest son,” (Jos. 6:2, 26). What happened? God led His people in battle against Jericho and its walls came tumblin’ down. But about 500 years later, Ahab was king of Israel and led God’s people into idolatry, and during Ahab’s reign, a guy named Hiel rebuilt Jericho. The foundation was laid, and his firstborn died. But Hiel kept going and set up Jericho’s gates at the cost of his youngest son (1 Kgs. 16:34). Whenever you read your Bible and come across Jericho after Joshua 6, think of it as ‘sin city’ because it is a city founded on idolatry and rebellion against God, and its very existence is wicked.

The cities of Jerusalem and Jericho could not be more different. But now, look at our text again. Jesus reminds His disciples, “Hey, we’re going up to Jerusalem. There, I’m going to be delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, flogged, and killed just as the Scriptures said.” In other words, Jerusalem has joined with Jericho and is in open rebellion against God. But Jesus is purposefully going to Jerusalem to bear the curse of our sin (Gal. 3:3).

And to get to Jerusalem, Jesus must first pass through the wicked, cursed city of Jericho. When God gave Joshua the battle plans on how to defeat Jericho, God instructed that His people were to march around the city in silence once each day for six days then seven times on the seventh day. Then, after circling the city seven times, they shouted, and the walls of Jericho fell down flat (Jos. 6:20). Only then did they enter the city and destroyed everyone in it except Rahab and her household.

Here in Luke, it is almost as if Jesus is doing a similar thing. He is passing by (Lk. 18:36), but there is this blind man crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Instead of quietly marching around Jericho, Jesus stops. It’s like Christ can’t help Himself. Even in the cursed city, Jesus doesn’t ignore cries for mercy because He is mercy embodied. He stops, stands still, and asks for the blind man to be brought to Him. There, in the wicked city, King Jesus, the Son of David, makes a kingly offer, “What do you want me to do for you?” Think of all the times throughout the Scriptures, a king will be pleased with someone and make an offer, “Ask me for anything, up to half my kingdom, and I will give it to you.” Here Jesus doesn’t put any limit on the request, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man answers, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus says to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well (lit. ‘saved you’).” Not only does the man get the sight he asks for, he gets more. Christ gives this resident of wicked Jericho life and salvation.

Dear saints, this same scene played out today just as it does every Sunday you gather here. Jesus comes into the midst of our wickedness. We beggars find ourselves in the presence of Jesus. We cry to Him for His kingly mercy, and Jesus doesn’t simply march around us and pass through. No. He hears your plea. He stops and stands still, and Christ the King answers your plea by absolving and saving you.

Jesus did that then, and He does that now because of what He is about to do in Jerusalem. Jesus could have, and maybe should have, marched around Jerusalem to destroy it with all their wicked plans for Him. But He doesn’t. Instead, He hangs still as He sheds His blood and pours out His mercy for you upon the cross.

Finally, notice the man’s response after his sight is restored. He can go wherever he wants with his new sight and salvation, but with every option open to him, he follows Jesus. The formerly blind man leaves his home in the wicked city of Jericho and follows Jesus to Jerusalem.

As we begin Lent this Wednesday, let us do the same as we follow Jesus as well. Let us abandon our wickedness and follow King Jesus to Jerusalem this Lent. He leads, and we follow with grateful hearts to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the empty tomb on Easter.

This same King Jesus invites you now to your seat at His table, where He pours His love and mercy into you by giving you His Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. Dear saints, your faith in the crucified and risen Jesus has saved you. Amen.

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