Text: St Luke 18:31-43/1 Cor 13:1-13/1 Sam 16:1-13
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
It was not as if our Lord was unclear. He didn’t stutter. He didn’t shroud His prophecy in ambiguity or metaphor. He plainly told the Twelve, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the prophets foretold, all the sufferings and glory of the Messiah, will happen to Me. I will be betrayed and mocked and spit upon and flogged and killed; and on the third day be raised from the dead. No mystery to His words.
And yet, it seems, that the evangelist is at pains to record, They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
We want to say, “What? How could you be so dense? How much clearer could He have been?”
But the reason that they do not grasp what was said is that they are like the hardened, stony path from last Sunday – they do not allow the Word of Jesus to penetrate their ears and hearts because they have their own notions, their own ideas of how things were going to be.
Consider it – these men had seen in Jesus a power at work like no one else, ever. He spoke to the wind and it obeyed Him. He commanded waves. He changed water to wine and could multiply a few morsels of food to feed a multitude. He drove out demons with a word. His touch healed the sick; His voice alone raised the dead.
Why would they think this trip up to Jerusalem – one always went “up” to Jerusalem, geographically and theologically – why would this be any different? They would march into the city, Jesus leading the way like Hannibal Smith leading the A-Team; He would flex His muscle and send Pilate and Herod running back to their mothers!
And then? Why He’d take His rightful throne as the Son of David and the Twelve would sit beside Him. Isn’t this what the mother of James and John requested? Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at Your right hand and on at Your left, in Your kingdom? But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking.” His throne is the Cross. His power made perfect in weakness. And then spoke of His death as a baptism.
That was what was in their heads. All this talk of being handed over to flogging, to death, and then to resurrection – it didn’t fit with their notions. And so they tossed it out as some mystery they just didn’t understand. They thought His words had to have some deep or hidden meaning; not what they plainly said.
But they are not alone. Christians are always trying to read behind the plain words of Jesus; always trying to apply a deeper, more spiritual meaning. “Jesus can’t really mean that Baptism is rebirth. He just meant it symbolizes being born again.” “Jesus didn’t really mean the bread IS His body and the wine IS His blood; they must represent His body and blood.” Plain words hidden from the eyes of fallen reason.
This is happening not only with the Sacraments. Christians across our nation are now discussing what our Lord means when He says, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. When does life begin? And how are we to treat it?
Our own preconceptions, our own “scientific” ideas, assert that the mass of cells forming in the uterus is just that – a mass of cells; at certain times an inconvenience, at others, a choice. And the “loving” thing to do is provide, at all costs, the means for a woman to “chose” to rid herself of the inconvenience. But love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, or perhaps more aptly translated, Love does not rejoice at injustice.
Do you grasp what is being said by the government? They try desperately to hide it from you. Let us make it plain: they are attempting to mix the two kingdoms; they have inserted themselves into your conscience – a conscience that is captive and bound to the Word of God! And they would force you, against that Word, to adopt their own notions of power and love.
But man does not use love to define God. God defines love. God is love. And He does not bend to our notions of power. Love is not arrogant. Love does not insist on its own way.
Samuel thought he knew what God had in mind. He tried to mix the two kingdoms. He looked on Eliab and thought, “This is the guy God has chosen as leader for Israel. He’s tall and strong and handsome.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance, I have rejected him. I do not see as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” It was the youngest, the weakest, the “inconvenient” one, that the Lord chose – David.
Here’s the thing about our Lord: He always says what He means and means what He says. Baptism now saves you. Take, eat, this is My Body. I am the resurrection and the life, He who lives and believes in Me will never die. I formed your inward parts; I knit you together in your mother’s womb. His Word may not fit our preconceived notions or jive with the prevailing ideas of the culture. But He speaks the truth. And He never lies.
The disciples were blind to what was before them. The devil, the world, and our own fallen flesh attempt to avert our eyes and veil our sight to the truth. But in the Gospel it is the one who is physically blind that actually sees. And it is this beggar who cries out for what we severely need: Kyrie eleison; Jesu, eleison: Lord, have mercy; Jesus, have mercy.
The crowd, the cultural, the society relegated him to inconvenience. They attempted to silence his pleas; to force their will upon him. He was vastly outnumbered. He was a blind beggar – he relied upon the generosity of the society for his livelihood. Upsetting them meant great risk for his own personal welfare. But his conscience was bound to the Word of the Lord. And He cried out all the more, Kyrie eleison, Son of David, have mercy on me!
His pleas for mercy were heard. His cries of faith were answered. Jesus stopped and He asked the man, What do you want Me to do for you? Jesus places Himself in the position of service. It is the question of a slave, a servant; “How may I serve you?”
Notice the direction. This beggar has nothing to offer, nothing to give. He makes no deals, no bargains. He simply asks for mercy. He is on the receiving end of God’s gifts. And that, my friends, is Christianity. That is faith – to receive what God has to give. Do not be embarrassed at this, do not look for a hidden meaning, as if Jesus is passive aggressively asking for the man, for us, to serve Him. For He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
And that little phrase, “for you,” is the sum and substance of the Gospel, the very work of Christ. What do you want Me to do for you? Have mercy, Lord; compassion, love; forgive our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. In response to this question you pray, Our Father . . . do Thy will, bring Thy kingdom, feed us, love us, protect and deliver us for Jesus’ sake.
Our Lord gives daily bread and forgives sins. He cares for us in body and soul. And so He heals the man; but more than that He saves him, Be seeing; your faith has saved you. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Jesus.
All who seek mercy from Christ receive it. Our God is the God of the poor in spirit, of the outcast, the inconvenient, the broken, the beggarly, the miserable and dejected, of the least and insignificant. And He is not ashamed to be their God; to be your God. He loves you. For in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and gave His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And that which Paul wrote to the Corinthians is true: Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Jesus does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but always speaks the truth. And heading up the road to Jerusalem to do His Father’s will it is Jesus who bears all things and endures all things with a love that has no end.
He turns all our ideas and notions of power on their head. He does not mix the two kingdoms, but submits Himself to the governing authorities. His conscience and His life are bound to the Word of the Lord.
Almighty power is not routing the Romans, but bearing their sins, and the sins of the whole world, including the unborn, to death on a tree. Almighty power is not showing the Jewish leaders who’s the real boss, but pouring out His blood to blot out the sins of those who hate Him and ridicule Him.
Almighty power is praying for the forgiveness of your enemies and opening up the heart of God – love itself – to all humanity, from the fertilized egg in the womb to the centenarian living in hospice. For in love Christ delivered up His body to be consumed in the fiery wrath of the Father, and He gained everything. He gained you.
And He has anointed you with His Spirit in Holy Baptism that forgives all your sins. You cry out, Lord, have mercy, and He stops and says to you, Come, let Me serve you: Take and eat, this is My Body; take and drink, this is My Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Indeed your faith has saved you. For faith trusts the Word of Christ; it lays hold of His promises; faith captivates the conscience to nothing but the Word of the Lord and silences all cries of the world, the devil, and our flesh. It opens out eyes to behold Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our salvation; to see that all He does, He does for you.
Behold we are going up to Jerusalem. We are 50 days from Easter. We are three days from ash. We who were once blind, but now see in the Light of Light, have been given sight by the Son of David, the Lord who hears cries for mercy and answers. Let us so follow Him on this Lenten journey.
Embrace the Cross. Rejoice in it. For Skull Hill and the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea are not our final destination. They are the means. Our final goal is the New Jerusalem, our heavenly home, where blind eyes shall see face to face the beauty and joy of Christ. For when the Perfect One comes, the partial will pass away; then you shall know fully, even as you are fully known.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
It was not as if our Lord was unclear. He didn’t stutter. He didn’t shroud His prophecy in ambiguity or metaphor. He plainly told the Twelve, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the prophets foretold, all the sufferings and glory of the Messiah, will happen to Me. I will be betrayed and mocked and spit upon and flogged and killed; and on the third day be raised from the dead. No mystery to His words.
And yet, it seems, that the evangelist is at pains to record, They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
We want to say, “What? How could you be so dense? How much clearer could He have been?”
But the reason that they do not grasp what was said is that they are like the hardened, stony path from last Sunday – they do not allow the Word of Jesus to penetrate their ears and hearts because they have their own notions, their own ideas of how things were going to be.
Consider it – these men had seen in Jesus a power at work like no one else, ever. He spoke to the wind and it obeyed Him. He commanded waves. He changed water to wine and could multiply a few morsels of food to feed a multitude. He drove out demons with a word. His touch healed the sick; His voice alone raised the dead.
Why would they think this trip up to Jerusalem – one always went “up” to Jerusalem, geographically and theologically – why would this be any different? They would march into the city, Jesus leading the way like Hannibal Smith leading the A-Team; He would flex His muscle and send Pilate and Herod running back to their mothers!
And then? Why He’d take His rightful throne as the Son of David and the Twelve would sit beside Him. Isn’t this what the mother of James and John requested? Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at Your right hand and on at Your left, in Your kingdom? But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking.” His throne is the Cross. His power made perfect in weakness. And then spoke of His death as a baptism.
That was what was in their heads. All this talk of being handed over to flogging, to death, and then to resurrection – it didn’t fit with their notions. And so they tossed it out as some mystery they just didn’t understand. They thought His words had to have some deep or hidden meaning; not what they plainly said.
But they are not alone. Christians are always trying to read behind the plain words of Jesus; always trying to apply a deeper, more spiritual meaning. “Jesus can’t really mean that Baptism is rebirth. He just meant it symbolizes being born again.” “Jesus didn’t really mean the bread IS His body and the wine IS His blood; they must represent His body and blood.” Plain words hidden from the eyes of fallen reason.
This is happening not only with the Sacraments. Christians across our nation are now discussing what our Lord means when He says, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. When does life begin? And how are we to treat it?
Our own preconceptions, our own “scientific” ideas, assert that the mass of cells forming in the uterus is just that – a mass of cells; at certain times an inconvenience, at others, a choice. And the “loving” thing to do is provide, at all costs, the means for a woman to “chose” to rid herself of the inconvenience. But love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, or perhaps more aptly translated, Love does not rejoice at injustice.
Do you grasp what is being said by the government? They try desperately to hide it from you. Let us make it plain: they are attempting to mix the two kingdoms; they have inserted themselves into your conscience – a conscience that is captive and bound to the Word of God! And they would force you, against that Word, to adopt their own notions of power and love.
But man does not use love to define God. God defines love. God is love. And He does not bend to our notions of power. Love is not arrogant. Love does not insist on its own way.
Samuel thought he knew what God had in mind. He tried to mix the two kingdoms. He looked on Eliab and thought, “This is the guy God has chosen as leader for Israel. He’s tall and strong and handsome.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance, I have rejected him. I do not see as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” It was the youngest, the weakest, the “inconvenient” one, that the Lord chose – David.
Here’s the thing about our Lord: He always says what He means and means what He says. Baptism now saves you. Take, eat, this is My Body. I am the resurrection and the life, He who lives and believes in Me will never die. I formed your inward parts; I knit you together in your mother’s womb. His Word may not fit our preconceived notions or jive with the prevailing ideas of the culture. But He speaks the truth. And He never lies.
The disciples were blind to what was before them. The devil, the world, and our own fallen flesh attempt to avert our eyes and veil our sight to the truth. But in the Gospel it is the one who is physically blind that actually sees. And it is this beggar who cries out for what we severely need: Kyrie eleison; Jesu, eleison: Lord, have mercy; Jesus, have mercy.
The crowd, the cultural, the society relegated him to inconvenience. They attempted to silence his pleas; to force their will upon him. He was vastly outnumbered. He was a blind beggar – he relied upon the generosity of the society for his livelihood. Upsetting them meant great risk for his own personal welfare. But his conscience was bound to the Word of the Lord. And He cried out all the more, Kyrie eleison, Son of David, have mercy on me!
His pleas for mercy were heard. His cries of faith were answered. Jesus stopped and He asked the man, What do you want Me to do for you? Jesus places Himself in the position of service. It is the question of a slave, a servant; “How may I serve you?”
Notice the direction. This beggar has nothing to offer, nothing to give. He makes no deals, no bargains. He simply asks for mercy. He is on the receiving end of God’s gifts. And that, my friends, is Christianity. That is faith – to receive what God has to give. Do not be embarrassed at this, do not look for a hidden meaning, as if Jesus is passive aggressively asking for the man, for us, to serve Him. For He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
And that little phrase, “for you,” is the sum and substance of the Gospel, the very work of Christ. What do you want Me to do for you? Have mercy, Lord; compassion, love; forgive our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. In response to this question you pray, Our Father . . . do Thy will, bring Thy kingdom, feed us, love us, protect and deliver us for Jesus’ sake.
Our Lord gives daily bread and forgives sins. He cares for us in body and soul. And so He heals the man; but more than that He saves him, Be seeing; your faith has saved you. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Jesus.
All who seek mercy from Christ receive it. Our God is the God of the poor in spirit, of the outcast, the inconvenient, the broken, the beggarly, the miserable and dejected, of the least and insignificant. And He is not ashamed to be their God; to be your God. He loves you. For in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and gave His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And that which Paul wrote to the Corinthians is true: Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Jesus does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but always speaks the truth. And heading up the road to Jerusalem to do His Father’s will it is Jesus who bears all things and endures all things with a love that has no end.
He turns all our ideas and notions of power on their head. He does not mix the two kingdoms, but submits Himself to the governing authorities. His conscience and His life are bound to the Word of the Lord.
Almighty power is not routing the Romans, but bearing their sins, and the sins of the whole world, including the unborn, to death on a tree. Almighty power is not showing the Jewish leaders who’s the real boss, but pouring out His blood to blot out the sins of those who hate Him and ridicule Him.
Almighty power is praying for the forgiveness of your enemies and opening up the heart of God – love itself – to all humanity, from the fertilized egg in the womb to the centenarian living in hospice. For in love Christ delivered up His body to be consumed in the fiery wrath of the Father, and He gained everything. He gained you.
And He has anointed you with His Spirit in Holy Baptism that forgives all your sins. You cry out, Lord, have mercy, and He stops and says to you, Come, let Me serve you: Take and eat, this is My Body; take and drink, this is My Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Indeed your faith has saved you. For faith trusts the Word of Christ; it lays hold of His promises; faith captivates the conscience to nothing but the Word of the Lord and silences all cries of the world, the devil, and our flesh. It opens out eyes to behold Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our salvation; to see that all He does, He does for you.
Behold we are going up to Jerusalem. We are 50 days from Easter. We are three days from ash. We who were once blind, but now see in the Light of Light, have been given sight by the Son of David, the Lord who hears cries for mercy and answers. Let us so follow Him on this Lenten journey.
Embrace the Cross. Rejoice in it. For Skull Hill and the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea are not our final destination. They are the means. Our final goal is the New Jerusalem, our heavenly home, where blind eyes shall see face to face the beauty and joy of Christ. For when the Perfect One comes, the partial will pass away; then you shall know fully, even as you are fully known.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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