Isaiah 35:3-7/1 Corinthians 13:1-13/St Luke 18:31-43
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Lord’s predictions of His Cross and Passion never occur in a vacuum. The first time, according to St Luke’s Gospel, happens after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ and with the addition, If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. And then, eight days later, He took with Him Peter, James, and John and was transfigured before them on a high mountain.
The second, St Luke says, happened while the disciples were marveling at everything Jesus’ was doing. How He was through His Word and Spirit strengthening the weak hands, making firm the feeble knees, opening the ears of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the mute, in short, all the signs of the Messianic kingdom the prophet Isaiah had foretold in our Old Testament reading this morning. For the in-breaking of the reign of God has come in the person and work of Jesus. He comes to make right what has gone wrong; to restore fallen creation. But lest they be taken in merely by what their eyes see, He cautions them saying, Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.
Now our Lord’s third and final Passion prediction is set after His encounter with the rich man who asked Him, Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? And how did our Lord answer him? You know the Law: do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother. For the commandments indeed promise eternal life to those who keep them. Perfectly. Without fail. In thought, word, and deed.
Challenging Jesus the man says, “Oh, I’ve done all that since I was a boy. What else do I need to do?” And the Divine Physician diagnoses the man’s condition and prescribes, Sell what you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. The idolatrous rich man went away sad, unwilling to part with his mammon for the sake of following Jesus. He was too attached to this world. Who isn’t? The cost of discipleship is great indeed. And what the Law promises it cannot give. Rich men and heaven are like camels and needles.
To this Peter says, “Hey, what about us, Lord? We left everything to follow You. What will we have?” 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 finished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.” All the “ands” have the sound of a liturgical form. Jesus prays the litany of His Cross and Passion. And He couldn’t be more clear.
Where the disciples and the crowds are concerned with miracles and mammon, Jesus tells them, “For this purpose I have come: to complete the Law which accuses and condemns you and to fulfilled the word of the Prophets which speak of Me. In short, to reconcile the world to My Father by way of My innocent suffering and death and to be vindicated in My triumphant resurrection.” But the Twelve understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said.
They are as children, seeing into a mirror dimly, knowing only in part. For our Lord’s Cross and Passion are a stumbling block to faith that will be reversed only by His Resurrection, after which His Cross and suffering are the main article and confession of faith in Christ Jesus. It is not until after His resurrection that the crucified and risen Lord Jesus opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and expounds to them how the Christ must suffer and then enter into His glory. For now, however, they are blind to His Word and catechesis. For they cannot, by their own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him.
The divine irony, however, is that while the Twelve cannot see what is before their very eyes, it is the blind man of Jericho, named Bartimaeus by St Mark, who sees with the clarity of faith, which always beholds Jesus the Christ in His person and work. For He faith’s object. For faith, which alone saves, is never alone. It always grabs hold of Christ and never lets go; it takes His Word into ear and heart and firmly trusts it. Or else it is not true and saving faith at all.
And the litany of Jesus’ Cross and Passion is followed by the liturgy of the beggar, who cries out with the Kyrie, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
How is it that this blind man is able to see what the disciples with their eyes do not see? St Luke tells us: he heard the noise of the crowd and that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He heard. This is the manner by which faith is created: not with the eyes, but through the ears, through the hearing of the Word of Christ. This is a catechumen. A hearer of the Word; one who hears, marks, learns and inwardly digests. One who honors the preaching of the Word of Christ holding it fast, gladly hearing and learning it.
And though he is rebuked and ridiculed, the blind beggar will not cease to cry out to He who is the object of faith, Son of David, have mercy on me!
Now Jesus who hears the cries of His children - He who feeds the young ravens when they cry and clothes the grass of the field - listens and loves to the answer the prayers of His faithful ones. He stopped and commanded the man to be brought near. Is this, once again, not the picture of faith? Jesus speaks His Word and we are brought near? Does not the Holy Spirit call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian Church on earth and keep it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith?
And Jesus, the Suffering Servant, the Merciful King, asks, “My dear child, what is that you would ask of Me?” And the beggar asks not for alms, but for healing. Lord, let me recover my sight.
It is not as though Jesus were not aware of this man’s desperate need. But our Lord asks him in order that Bartimaeus might understand what it is he is asking. For to recover his sight may seem like an obvious request to us, but for this first century blind beggar, being able to see meant the end of his livelihood. No longer could he beg for a living, he would have to work. No longer would people have pity on him for his condition, he would be expected to provide for others. To recover his sight was to leave behind behind his entire former life.
It is as Jesus responded to the rich man: Go, sell your possessions, give to the poor, and come, follow Me. Or to his disciples, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. Jesus’ word, Recover your sight; your faith (that is, the object of your faith, which is Jesus) has saved you, is an invitation to leave your former life, to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Let us be plain: Jesus is inviting the man to come and die with Him! This is the cost of discipleship.
It is to this which our Lord Christ calls you again this Lententide: to set your face toward Jerusalem and journey to the Cross with Him. You are too attached to this world; too afraid to leave behind your former life, your little personal idolatries; to pick up your cross daily, and follow Him. Behold Jesus is not merely passing by, He is in your midst. You have cried to Him, Lord, have mercy upon me!
Beloved, He has stopped and brought you near to Himself in love, patient and kind. He has asked you, as He did for blind Bartimaeus: Do you want to be baptized? Not that it was something you did for yourself, but he was asking that you may realize, understand, and comprehend what is asked of you. Do you desire to be baptized is an invitation to come and die with Him. To drown your Old Adam in daily contrition and repentance and to arise in the new man, living before God in the righteousness and purity of Christ Jesus.
For in love He has removed the mountain of the Law and brought you up the mountain of Golgotha, gaining everything for you. In love He gave up all He had, even handing over His body to death, gaining for you an eternal inheritance. Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus does not end or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus has borne all things and endured all things for you, in love.
Come, die with Him that you might rise with Him. Set your face toward Jerusalem and abide in Christ who in love abides with you. Here is food for the journey and the fruit of His Cross, the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ handed over to death for you for the forgiveness of your sins, risen from the dead and given to you in love.
What is it that you want? To recover your sight? To be free from sin? Or simply to abide in the Word and the love of the Lord all the days of your life? Come, beloved, taste and see that the Lord is good.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Lord’s predictions of His Cross and Passion never occur in a vacuum. The first time, according to St Luke’s Gospel, happens after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ and with the addition, If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. And then, eight days later, He took with Him Peter, James, and John and was transfigured before them on a high mountain.
The second, St Luke says, happened while the disciples were marveling at everything Jesus’ was doing. How He was through His Word and Spirit strengthening the weak hands, making firm the feeble knees, opening the ears of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the mute, in short, all the signs of the Messianic kingdom the prophet Isaiah had foretold in our Old Testament reading this morning. For the in-breaking of the reign of God has come in the person and work of Jesus. He comes to make right what has gone wrong; to restore fallen creation. But lest they be taken in merely by what their eyes see, He cautions them saying, Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.
Now our Lord’s third and final Passion prediction is set after His encounter with the rich man who asked Him, Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? And how did our Lord answer him? You know the Law: do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother. For the commandments indeed promise eternal life to those who keep them. Perfectly. Without fail. In thought, word, and deed.
Challenging Jesus the man says, “Oh, I’ve done all that since I was a boy. What else do I need to do?” And the Divine Physician diagnoses the man’s condition and prescribes, Sell what you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. The idolatrous rich man went away sad, unwilling to part with his mammon for the sake of following Jesus. He was too attached to this world. Who isn’t? The cost of discipleship is great indeed. And what the Law promises it cannot give. Rich men and heaven are like camels and needles.
To this Peter says, “Hey, what about us, Lord? We left everything to follow You. What will we have?” 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 finished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.” All the “ands” have the sound of a liturgical form. Jesus prays the litany of His Cross and Passion. And He couldn’t be more clear.
Where the disciples and the crowds are concerned with miracles and mammon, Jesus tells them, “For this purpose I have come: to complete the Law which accuses and condemns you and to fulfilled the word of the Prophets which speak of Me. In short, to reconcile the world to My Father by way of My innocent suffering and death and to be vindicated in My triumphant resurrection.” But the Twelve understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said.
They are as children, seeing into a mirror dimly, knowing only in part. For our Lord’s Cross and Passion are a stumbling block to faith that will be reversed only by His Resurrection, after which His Cross and suffering are the main article and confession of faith in Christ Jesus. It is not until after His resurrection that the crucified and risen Lord Jesus opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and expounds to them how the Christ must suffer and then enter into His glory. For now, however, they are blind to His Word and catechesis. For they cannot, by their own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him.
The divine irony, however, is that while the Twelve cannot see what is before their very eyes, it is the blind man of Jericho, named Bartimaeus by St Mark, who sees with the clarity of faith, which always beholds Jesus the Christ in His person and work. For He faith’s object. For faith, which alone saves, is never alone. It always grabs hold of Christ and never lets go; it takes His Word into ear and heart and firmly trusts it. Or else it is not true and saving faith at all.
And the litany of Jesus’ Cross and Passion is followed by the liturgy of the beggar, who cries out with the Kyrie, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
How is it that this blind man is able to see what the disciples with their eyes do not see? St Luke tells us: he heard the noise of the crowd and that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He heard. This is the manner by which faith is created: not with the eyes, but through the ears, through the hearing of the Word of Christ. This is a catechumen. A hearer of the Word; one who hears, marks, learns and inwardly digests. One who honors the preaching of the Word of Christ holding it fast, gladly hearing and learning it.
And though he is rebuked and ridiculed, the blind beggar will not cease to cry out to He who is the object of faith, Son of David, have mercy on me!
Now Jesus who hears the cries of His children - He who feeds the young ravens when they cry and clothes the grass of the field - listens and loves to the answer the prayers of His faithful ones. He stopped and commanded the man to be brought near. Is this, once again, not the picture of faith? Jesus speaks His Word and we are brought near? Does not the Holy Spirit call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian Church on earth and keep it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith?
And Jesus, the Suffering Servant, the Merciful King, asks, “My dear child, what is that you would ask of Me?” And the beggar asks not for alms, but for healing. Lord, let me recover my sight.
It is not as though Jesus were not aware of this man’s desperate need. But our Lord asks him in order that Bartimaeus might understand what it is he is asking. For to recover his sight may seem like an obvious request to us, but for this first century blind beggar, being able to see meant the end of his livelihood. No longer could he beg for a living, he would have to work. No longer would people have pity on him for his condition, he would be expected to provide for others. To recover his sight was to leave behind behind his entire former life.
It is as Jesus responded to the rich man: Go, sell your possessions, give to the poor, and come, follow Me. Or to his disciples, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. Jesus’ word, Recover your sight; your faith (that is, the object of your faith, which is Jesus) has saved you, is an invitation to leave your former life, to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Let us be plain: Jesus is inviting the man to come and die with Him! This is the cost of discipleship.
It is to this which our Lord Christ calls you again this Lententide: to set your face toward Jerusalem and journey to the Cross with Him. You are too attached to this world; too afraid to leave behind your former life, your little personal idolatries; to pick up your cross daily, and follow Him. Behold Jesus is not merely passing by, He is in your midst. You have cried to Him, Lord, have mercy upon me!
Beloved, He has stopped and brought you near to Himself in love, patient and kind. He has asked you, as He did for blind Bartimaeus: Do you want to be baptized? Not that it was something you did for yourself, but he was asking that you may realize, understand, and comprehend what is asked of you. Do you desire to be baptized is an invitation to come and die with Him. To drown your Old Adam in daily contrition and repentance and to arise in the new man, living before God in the righteousness and purity of Christ Jesus.
For in love He has removed the mountain of the Law and brought you up the mountain of Golgotha, gaining everything for you. In love He gave up all He had, even handing over His body to death, gaining for you an eternal inheritance. Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus does not end or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus has borne all things and endured all things for you, in love.
Come, die with Him that you might rise with Him. Set your face toward Jerusalem and abide in Christ who in love abides with you. Here is food for the journey and the fruit of His Cross, the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ handed over to death for you for the forgiveness of your sins, risen from the dead and given to you in love.
What is it that you want? To recover your sight? To be free from sin? Or simply to abide in the Word and the love of the Lord all the days of your life? Come, beloved, taste and see that the Lord is good.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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