Quinquagesima (02.10.2013)
St Luke 18:31-43/1 Corinthians 13:1-13/1 Samuel 16:1-13
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord’s third prediction of His coming crucifixion in Jerusalem could hardly be more explicit. Everything written about the Son of Man by the prophets will come to its completion, its telesthetai, its finish, its finale. Between our Lord’s predictions, the entire history of Israel, including the personal history of David, and all that the prophets wrote, there should be no real surprises. But is not hard to surprise a blind man, and the disciples are blind.
Their blindness doesn’t stop our Lord, though – thanks be to God! He doesn’t need their understanding. They are not worthy of His love, but that doesn’t stop Him, either. He loves them anyway.
As they make their way through Jericho, a crowd gathers. A blind man, named Bartimaeus by St Mark, hears the noise and asks who is coming. He is told only, Jesus of Nazareth. He is known by His hometown. But the blind man reveals his sight. He will not be hushed. He cries out not for alms, but for mercy. His cry is not to some rabbi or miracle worker, but to the Son of David, the One who goes to Jerusalem as a sacrifice, the One who rules as king by grace and mercy.
He who feeds the young ravens when they cry and hears the prayers of all who are in distress, hears the Kyrie Eleison of the blind man. He commanded that he be brought to Him. Then He asks him, What do you want I should do for you? The blind man gives the obvious answer, That I should see again. Our Lord says, See again; your faith has saved you. The now seeing man follows along to Jerusalem, glorifying God.
Here is what we are usually blind to: If the blind man gains his sight, he loses his employment, his way of life. We see only what the blind beggar would gain. To behold the beauty of creation, glorious sunsets and twinkling stars; to be relieved of having to beg, It is easy for us to realize that life with sight is better than blindness; especially those among us who are blind – they would ready to give up most anything to regain their sight.
But consider this: the blind beggar is giving up all he knew. He’s giving up his sole source of income, the only trade or skill he has. And that trade, that income, was pretty reliable, especially for someone blind or lame. Beggars were an important aspect of life and society. They weren’t seen just as someone to avoid.
Beggars were seen as an opportunity for people to render service to God by giving to and having mercy on the poor, the lame, the blind, the deaf. People gave not because they felt sorry for them, but because it was their duty to God. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. We serve Christ in our neighbor; becoming daily bread to one another. But if the blind beggar could see again, he was giving up everything, leaving behind the only world he knew. Is he willing to risk it?
Plato was known for his allegories. His most famous is the cave. A group of people have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives. In front of them is a blank wall. They watch shadows projected onto the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them. They never see the real things. They see only the shadows, but they think the shadows are reality.
Plato explains that the philosopher is like a prisoner who has been freed from the cave and has learned that the shadows on the wall are not reality. But when he goes back to tell the other prisoners and free them, they ridicule and kill him. For those who don’t read Plato, just watch the movie “The Matrix,” it’s the same premise; Cypher doesn’t like the world he’s awoken in and plots to kill Morpheus. The point is this: people don’t like having their worldview challenged.
But Plato is on to something. We reveal in our ignorance. It is bliss. When our Lord asked the blind man what he wants Him to do for him, it is not that the Lord is uncertain. He heals lepers and the sick, restores the lame without question. Why, then, does He ask? He wants to be sure that the blind beggar knows what he is in for. Is he willing to give up everything he knows?
It is not at all unlike the baptism rite when we ask the child, “Do you desire to be baptized?” Why do we ask that? Because Holy Baptism is going to take you out of the cave, and you can never go back. This will make the devil a lifelong enemy. You will no longer sit by the side of the road with your friends. You will leave behind the comfortable cave of your sin and your false notions of reality. After awhile, prison stars to feel like home. In Baptism you will go to bloody, traitorous Jerusalem. The servant is not above the Master. Pick up your cross and follow Me, means, “Come, you are going to die with Me.”
To be sure the blind beggar sees more clearly than the disciples. He recognizes the way to life through death. They follow with their feet, but their hearts are not in it. They are still too attached to this world. Who isn’t? They wanted a miracle worker, not a Sacrifice. They wanted a rabbi who would blow their minds with insightful teaching, not a Messiah. The blind beggar knows by faith Jesus of Nazareth to be the long foretold Son of David who was anointed in His baptism and the Spirit rushed upon Him.
The beggar sees where the disciples are blind. He knows the cost, but he also sees the value. So he gives up his life, everything that he has known, and follows Jesus to the gallows in Jerusalem, giving glory to God.
The hateful gallows in Jerusalem are the most beautiful architecture ever set up on earth. They are the tree of life, from which comes our life, our communion with God. There is a Lenten practice known as the Stations of the Cross which follows the path of our Lord down the way of suffering to Golgotha. In it we pray over and over again, “We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee, because by Thy holy cross, Thou has redeemed the world.”
What has all this to do with us? We mourn for our sins, come as beggars pleading for mercy. We have been impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, irritable, resentful. Everything that is the opposite of love. We have lusted, and used others for our own selfish gain. In doing so we have hurt ourselves and our loved ones. We have failed to love and serve our neighbors in unselfish mercy.
Ash Wednesday looms close. Let us repent and set our faces toward Jerusalem. We prepare for the journey. For we know that we have been too attached to this world; too afraid to leave behind the pleasures of the flesh. We are desperately in need of a Savior.
But for all that, let us not sorrow. For the Lord who looks upon the heart has seen fit to reveal to us His own merciful heart. And according to His unfailing love He sent His Son to be handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon and flogged and crucified. In this, let us give thanks and rejoice. Let us be like the cured blind man, following to Jerusalem, giving all glory to God, knowing that leaving behind our sins is like leaving behind blindness. What do you want? To be free of sin, O Lord!
We go to Jerusalem, for there on the holy cross is the love of God Incarnate, who gave up His body to be burned, gaining everything. There is the love that purifies and saves and declares sinners like us to be the saints of God. Do not forget the end of that prophecy – for all the sorrows and agony that our Lord suffered, on the third day He rose again. We go to Jerusalem not just because there Jesus pays for our sins with His blood and death, but also because He lives, never to die again!
Whether we understand these things as well as the blind man or are as confused and stubborn, uncertain and fearful as the disciples, let us follow to Jerusalem and the holy Cross of Christ. You follow not simply by some effort of the imagination or emotion. You follow Christ by partaking of His holy Body and Blood. Here is the fruit of the Cross, the gift of the resurrection.
What do you want? To recover sight? To be free of sin? Come, abide in perfect Love. For all prophecy has been fulfilled for you. Everything is accomplished. It is finished.
In the Name of the Father and of + the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St Luke 18:31-43/1 Corinthians 13:1-13/1 Samuel 16:1-13
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord’s third prediction of His coming crucifixion in Jerusalem could hardly be more explicit. Everything written about the Son of Man by the prophets will come to its completion, its telesthetai, its finish, its finale. Between our Lord’s predictions, the entire history of Israel, including the personal history of David, and all that the prophets wrote, there should be no real surprises. But is not hard to surprise a blind man, and the disciples are blind.
Their blindness doesn’t stop our Lord, though – thanks be to God! He doesn’t need their understanding. They are not worthy of His love, but that doesn’t stop Him, either. He loves them anyway.
As they make their way through Jericho, a crowd gathers. A blind man, named Bartimaeus by St Mark, hears the noise and asks who is coming. He is told only, Jesus of Nazareth. He is known by His hometown. But the blind man reveals his sight. He will not be hushed. He cries out not for alms, but for mercy. His cry is not to some rabbi or miracle worker, but to the Son of David, the One who goes to Jerusalem as a sacrifice, the One who rules as king by grace and mercy.
He who feeds the young ravens when they cry and hears the prayers of all who are in distress, hears the Kyrie Eleison of the blind man. He commanded that he be brought to Him. Then He asks him, What do you want I should do for you? The blind man gives the obvious answer, That I should see again. Our Lord says, See again; your faith has saved you. The now seeing man follows along to Jerusalem, glorifying God.
Here is what we are usually blind to: If the blind man gains his sight, he loses his employment, his way of life. We see only what the blind beggar would gain. To behold the beauty of creation, glorious sunsets and twinkling stars; to be relieved of having to beg, It is easy for us to realize that life with sight is better than blindness; especially those among us who are blind – they would ready to give up most anything to regain their sight.
But consider this: the blind beggar is giving up all he knew. He’s giving up his sole source of income, the only trade or skill he has. And that trade, that income, was pretty reliable, especially for someone blind or lame. Beggars were an important aspect of life and society. They weren’t seen just as someone to avoid.
Beggars were seen as an opportunity for people to render service to God by giving to and having mercy on the poor, the lame, the blind, the deaf. People gave not because they felt sorry for them, but because it was their duty to God. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. We serve Christ in our neighbor; becoming daily bread to one another. But if the blind beggar could see again, he was giving up everything, leaving behind the only world he knew. Is he willing to risk it?
Plato was known for his allegories. His most famous is the cave. A group of people have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives. In front of them is a blank wall. They watch shadows projected onto the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them. They never see the real things. They see only the shadows, but they think the shadows are reality.
Plato explains that the philosopher is like a prisoner who has been freed from the cave and has learned that the shadows on the wall are not reality. But when he goes back to tell the other prisoners and free them, they ridicule and kill him. For those who don’t read Plato, just watch the movie “The Matrix,” it’s the same premise; Cypher doesn’t like the world he’s awoken in and plots to kill Morpheus. The point is this: people don’t like having their worldview challenged.
But Plato is on to something. We reveal in our ignorance. It is bliss. When our Lord asked the blind man what he wants Him to do for him, it is not that the Lord is uncertain. He heals lepers and the sick, restores the lame without question. Why, then, does He ask? He wants to be sure that the blind beggar knows what he is in for. Is he willing to give up everything he knows?
It is not at all unlike the baptism rite when we ask the child, “Do you desire to be baptized?” Why do we ask that? Because Holy Baptism is going to take you out of the cave, and you can never go back. This will make the devil a lifelong enemy. You will no longer sit by the side of the road with your friends. You will leave behind the comfortable cave of your sin and your false notions of reality. After awhile, prison stars to feel like home. In Baptism you will go to bloody, traitorous Jerusalem. The servant is not above the Master. Pick up your cross and follow Me, means, “Come, you are going to die with Me.”
To be sure the blind beggar sees more clearly than the disciples. He recognizes the way to life through death. They follow with their feet, but their hearts are not in it. They are still too attached to this world. Who isn’t? They wanted a miracle worker, not a Sacrifice. They wanted a rabbi who would blow their minds with insightful teaching, not a Messiah. The blind beggar knows by faith Jesus of Nazareth to be the long foretold Son of David who was anointed in His baptism and the Spirit rushed upon Him.
The beggar sees where the disciples are blind. He knows the cost, but he also sees the value. So he gives up his life, everything that he has known, and follows Jesus to the gallows in Jerusalem, giving glory to God.
The hateful gallows in Jerusalem are the most beautiful architecture ever set up on earth. They are the tree of life, from which comes our life, our communion with God. There is a Lenten practice known as the Stations of the Cross which follows the path of our Lord down the way of suffering to Golgotha. In it we pray over and over again, “We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee, because by Thy holy cross, Thou has redeemed the world.”
What has all this to do with us? We mourn for our sins, come as beggars pleading for mercy. We have been impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, irritable, resentful. Everything that is the opposite of love. We have lusted, and used others for our own selfish gain. In doing so we have hurt ourselves and our loved ones. We have failed to love and serve our neighbors in unselfish mercy.
Ash Wednesday looms close. Let us repent and set our faces toward Jerusalem. We prepare for the journey. For we know that we have been too attached to this world; too afraid to leave behind the pleasures of the flesh. We are desperately in need of a Savior.
But for all that, let us not sorrow. For the Lord who looks upon the heart has seen fit to reveal to us His own merciful heart. And according to His unfailing love He sent His Son to be handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon and flogged and crucified. In this, let us give thanks and rejoice. Let us be like the cured blind man, following to Jerusalem, giving all glory to God, knowing that leaving behind our sins is like leaving behind blindness. What do you want? To be free of sin, O Lord!
We go to Jerusalem, for there on the holy cross is the love of God Incarnate, who gave up His body to be burned, gaining everything. There is the love that purifies and saves and declares sinners like us to be the saints of God. Do not forget the end of that prophecy – for all the sorrows and agony that our Lord suffered, on the third day He rose again. We go to Jerusalem not just because there Jesus pays for our sins with His blood and death, but also because He lives, never to die again!
Whether we understand these things as well as the blind man or are as confused and stubborn, uncertain and fearful as the disciples, let us follow to Jerusalem and the holy Cross of Christ. You follow not simply by some effort of the imagination or emotion. You follow Christ by partaking of His holy Body and Blood. Here is the fruit of the Cross, the gift of the resurrection.
What do you want? To recover sight? To be free of sin? Come, abide in perfect Love. For all prophecy has been fulfilled for you. Everything is accomplished. It is finished.
In the Name of the Father and of + the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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