1 Samuel 16:1-13/1 Corinthians 13:1-13/St Luke 18:31-43
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Well did Isaiah speak of this generation, In seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Is 6:9). Concerning the necessity of His suffering, death, and resurrection, our Lord Christ has indeed preached to His disciples of God’s holy will and Word, but they cannot comprehend it; rather it is foolishness to them. They gaze into the dim mirror, as if trying to puzzle out a riddle. For like you, they cannot, by their own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, or come to Him.
In this they are not unlike the prophet Samuel, who, in looking upon Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, presumed he was to be the Lord’s anointed. For he was tall and strong, fit and athletic, certainly possessing the masculine jawline of a political leader, a king. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
And you, beloved, were no different. As the hymn confesses, “You were before your day of birth, indeed from your conception, condemned and lost with all the earth, none good without exception, for like your parents’ flesh and blood, turned inward from the highest good, you constantly denied Him” (LSB 596:2). Our corruption is more than a mere flesh wound, it is so deep that in divine things having to do with our conversion and the salvation of our souls, we are by nature blind (FC SD II 5).
This, then is the incredible irony of not only this Gospel text, but the entirety of the Gospel - the necessity of the Cross and Passion, death and resurrection of the Christ, the Son of God, and the free forgiveness of sins attained by His death - for these things are hidden from the wise and learned, but have been revealed to babes! The disciples don’t see it. The prophet Samuel doesn’t see it. By your flesh and blood you don’t see it! But the blind man sees it! For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ (Rm 10:17).
And this blind beggar, whom St Mark names as Bartimeus, (which means “son of honor”) who heard the crowd passing by and upon asking, “What does this mean?” is told, Jesus of Nazareth is near. Only the blind man does not cry of for Jesus of Nazareth, but addresses Him as Ιησουσ υιε Δαυιδ, ελεηεσον με, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Why?
For in having ears to hear, the blind man gives honor to the very writing of the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For it is written, There shall come forth a nazar from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (Is 11:1). A nazar, a shoot from Jesse’s stump, a branch of royal David’s tree shall sprout and grow, bearing righteous fruit. Christ Jesus the Nazarene is the Shoot, the Righteous Branch! He is David’s Son and David’s Lord, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord has fallen, in fulfillment of the prophets Samuel and Isaiah.
For consider early in St Luke’s Gospel when Christ came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to Church on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled it and found the lesson for the day, reading, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.” And sitting down He preached, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:16-21).
And today this Scripture is fulfilled in the hearing of blind Bartimeus! Who, though rebuked, cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!, for faith continuously seeks Christ and His grace and mercy. Our Lord stops the procession, and orders that the blind man be brought to Him; and He asked Him, What do you want Me to do for you? Now this is not a waiter asking for your order; Jesus is not bussing tables; but He is a Servant, and the words for you, are the crux and heart of the Gospel.
For you, the Son of God came down from heaven. For you He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary. For you He was made Man. For you He suffered, died, and was buried. For you He rose again from the dead. For you He ascended to the right hand of the Father, leading a host of captives, giving gifts to men (Eph 4:8). For you He distributes these gifts - forgiveness, life, and salvation- through His Office of the Holy Gospel, through the preaching of His Word by which and in which His Spirit is at work to convert you, endow you with faith, and regenerate you according to His mercy.
So is with the bling beggar; Christ Jesus, by the Spirit, through the Word, gives sight to the blind man saying, Recover your sight; you faith has saved you. Faith, created by the Holy Spirit, saves, not because it does anything, but because it receives everything.
Today, beloved, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, for Jesus of Nazareth has drawn near to your road and path, close to you, beggars all. And He has given you ears to hear and eyes to see. The Holy Spirit has called you by the Word of the Gospel, enlightening you with His gifts, sanctifying and keeping you in the true faith together with the whole Christian Church on earth.
And this Christian Church which consists of once-blind beggars sitting on the Jericho Road, sitting with the city of palm trees, as it was called, takes up its cross and follows after Christ unto the City of Peace, unto Jerusalem. For there, in the shade of the Tree of the Cross you shall find rest for your souls. For the Son of Man must be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after being flogged, He must be killed. For this is the holy will of God on your behalf. This is what the Suffering Servant does for you. For He has loved you with an unending love, bearing all things and enduring all things for your sake.
But on the third day He will rise, bringing life and immortality to light; giving sight to once blind eyes that you may behold Him in faith. Behold, He has anointed you with the horn of His oil, the water and Word of Holy Baptism by which you are cloaked with His love. He has opened your minds to understand the Scripture, in order that you may see and hear, and understand with your heart and turn that He may heal you (Is 6:9).
Come, then, be prepared for the journey, as we set our faces toward Jerusalem; let us go that we may die with Him, that in dying, we may also rise and live with Him. Come, the Feast of His Love is prepared, His medicine of immorality is at hand, the healing Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
In the Name of the Father and of + the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Well did Isaiah speak of this generation, In seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Is 6:9). Concerning the necessity of His suffering, death, and resurrection, our Lord Christ has indeed preached to His disciples of God’s holy will and Word, but they cannot comprehend it; rather it is foolishness to them. They gaze into the dim mirror, as if trying to puzzle out a riddle. For like you, they cannot, by their own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, or come to Him.
In this they are not unlike the prophet Samuel, who, in looking upon Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, presumed he was to be the Lord’s anointed. For he was tall and strong, fit and athletic, certainly possessing the masculine jawline of a political leader, a king. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
And you, beloved, were no different. As the hymn confesses, “You were before your day of birth, indeed from your conception, condemned and lost with all the earth, none good without exception, for like your parents’ flesh and blood, turned inward from the highest good, you constantly denied Him” (LSB 596:2). Our corruption is more than a mere flesh wound, it is so deep that in divine things having to do with our conversion and the salvation of our souls, we are by nature blind (FC SD II 5).
This, then is the incredible irony of not only this Gospel text, but the entirety of the Gospel - the necessity of the Cross and Passion, death and resurrection of the Christ, the Son of God, and the free forgiveness of sins attained by His death - for these things are hidden from the wise and learned, but have been revealed to babes! The disciples don’t see it. The prophet Samuel doesn’t see it. By your flesh and blood you don’t see it! But the blind man sees it! For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ (Rm 10:17).
And this blind beggar, whom St Mark names as Bartimeus, (which means “son of honor”) who heard the crowd passing by and upon asking, “What does this mean?” is told, Jesus of Nazareth is near. Only the blind man does not cry of for Jesus of Nazareth, but addresses Him as Ιησουσ υιε Δαυιδ, ελεηεσον με, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Why?
For in having ears to hear, the blind man gives honor to the very writing of the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For it is written, There shall come forth a nazar from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (Is 11:1). A nazar, a shoot from Jesse’s stump, a branch of royal David’s tree shall sprout and grow, bearing righteous fruit. Christ Jesus the Nazarene is the Shoot, the Righteous Branch! He is David’s Son and David’s Lord, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord has fallen, in fulfillment of the prophets Samuel and Isaiah.
For consider early in St Luke’s Gospel when Christ came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to Church on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled it and found the lesson for the day, reading, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.” And sitting down He preached, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:16-21).
And today this Scripture is fulfilled in the hearing of blind Bartimeus! Who, though rebuked, cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!, for faith continuously seeks Christ and His grace and mercy. Our Lord stops the procession, and orders that the blind man be brought to Him; and He asked Him, What do you want Me to do for you? Now this is not a waiter asking for your order; Jesus is not bussing tables; but He is a Servant, and the words for you, are the crux and heart of the Gospel.
For you, the Son of God came down from heaven. For you He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary. For you He was made Man. For you He suffered, died, and was buried. For you He rose again from the dead. For you He ascended to the right hand of the Father, leading a host of captives, giving gifts to men (Eph 4:8). For you He distributes these gifts - forgiveness, life, and salvation- through His Office of the Holy Gospel, through the preaching of His Word by which and in which His Spirit is at work to convert you, endow you with faith, and regenerate you according to His mercy.
So is with the bling beggar; Christ Jesus, by the Spirit, through the Word, gives sight to the blind man saying, Recover your sight; you faith has saved you. Faith, created by the Holy Spirit, saves, not because it does anything, but because it receives everything.
Today, beloved, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, for Jesus of Nazareth has drawn near to your road and path, close to you, beggars all. And He has given you ears to hear and eyes to see. The Holy Spirit has called you by the Word of the Gospel, enlightening you with His gifts, sanctifying and keeping you in the true faith together with the whole Christian Church on earth.
And this Christian Church which consists of once-blind beggars sitting on the Jericho Road, sitting with the city of palm trees, as it was called, takes up its cross and follows after Christ unto the City of Peace, unto Jerusalem. For there, in the shade of the Tree of the Cross you shall find rest for your souls. For the Son of Man must be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after being flogged, He must be killed. For this is the holy will of God on your behalf. This is what the Suffering Servant does for you. For He has loved you with an unending love, bearing all things and enduring all things for your sake.
But on the third day He will rise, bringing life and immortality to light; giving sight to once blind eyes that you may behold Him in faith. Behold, He has anointed you with the horn of His oil, the water and Word of Holy Baptism by which you are cloaked with His love. He has opened your minds to understand the Scripture, in order that you may see and hear, and understand with your heart and turn that He may heal you (Is 6:9).
Come, then, be prepared for the journey, as we set our faces toward Jerusalem; let us go that we may die with Him, that in dying, we may also rise and live with Him. Come, the Feast of His Love is prepared, His medicine of immorality is at hand, the healing Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
In the Name of the Father and of + the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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