1 Samuel 16:1-13; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; St Luke 18:31-43
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
See, we are going up to Jerusalem. This is the Lenten way. The way of the Cross. The way of the Lord who sees not as man sees, who looks only on the outward appearance, on the perception and the image, but fails to see the heart of the matter, the reality hidden in the unimaginable, the love hidden in loss.
For now the Master of the House goes out, now the Sower goes out, now Jesus sets His face toward the Holy City and goes up to Jerusalem in order to fulfill all Scripture. He will betrayed by His closest friends. He will be handed over to an angry mob. He will be shamefully treated and flogged and finally gruesomely killed. This is what He came to do. This is the purpose of His “going out.” But on the third day He will rise.
For the Spirit of the Lord is upon this Son of David to accomplish His Father’s will. He has been anointed as the Prophet from among His brothers who speaks the very oracles of God as His beloved Son. He shall be raised up on the throne of the Cross as King and by His priestly sacrifice and passion, by His death and burial, by His glorious resurrection and ascension, He shall bring forth a bounteous harvest in the very bodies and souls of those who follow after Him.
Of course this is easy enough for you to grasp and comprehend, if you are only thinking of the historical facts, the Bible stories, the life of Christ Jesus. But when it comes to following Jesus up to Jerusalem, to denying yourself and bearing the Cross after Him, then you might be just as blind as the disciples were to what it all means.
Even the Twelve were oblivious to what was really going on. It was hidden from them. They could not understand the Cross of Christ. You, however, know the Cross of Christ in the light of His Resurrection. And yet, you are no different, no better than the disciples were when it comes to the Cross in your own life.
How are you mocked and mistreated? Spit upon, scourged and even put to death? Its one thing to suffer for your own mistakes and failings, and to consider that you are getting what you have deserved. But how do you deal with the Cross that you bear and suffer precisely for your faithfulness? Do you really understand true love as St Paul writes to Corinth?
What about those times when your own family and friends criticize and ridicule you for doing what is good and right, what you are given to do? And what about the infirmities of your flesh, over which you have so little control, and which render you so powerless and helpless? Do not kid yourself. You can’t rise above it all and ride out the storm alone.
But do consider the irony, that a blind man knows and understand Jesus and sees Him by faith in a way the disciples could not perceive or comprehend. The blind man, like you, had only the Word of Christ on which to cling and rely. And that is good, right, and salutary. Exactly as it should be; by faith and not by sight.
Do not listen to the voices, whether inside or out, which tell you to sit down and shut up. No, just as Christ is risen from the dead, you also rise, and come to Him at His Word. For He is coming to you in mercy and He is calling for you. You, then, call upon His Name. Keep crying out to Him for mercy.
The Kyrie is the simplest, yet profoundest of prayers. It is the natal cry of all newborn Christians and the elderly wail of those whose flesh is not long for this earth. It sets you on the way of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. Whether when you rise in the morning or go to sleep at night. When you commend yourself, body and soul and all things into the almighty hand of the Father, who gives His holy angels charge over so the wicked foe may have no power over you, circle back around, then, dear Christians, to this little prayer, to the kyrie, petitioning for the Lord to have mercy on your family, your classmates, your friends and neighbors, the sick and the infirm. For the Kyrie is the manner in which you approach the Altar of the Lord and it is the manner in which you return from His Altar as well. In His mercy. For He hears and answers your prayers.
This prayer stops Jesus in His tracks. The kyrie of the blind man halts Him from His urgent date with death. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, pauses for the lowly needs of His creation. Know that the Lord is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. He lays down His life for the sheep. He loves them to the very end. For while He sets His face toward Jerusalem, in faithfulness to His Father and in the hope of the Resurrection, His love, dear Christians, His love abides for you.
This is what He does for you. Before you even ask. Before you even knew. He lays down His life in a love that never ends. For He, Jesus, Son of David, is patient and kind. Jesus does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on His own way. Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. For you. Jesus never ends.
And in His merciful love He gives you by His Word eyes to see. The eyes of faith to see again His Cross and Passion, His precious death and burial. To see with the eyes of faith the blood of His New Covenant, shed for the forgiveness of your sins. In His never ending, death defying love for you, dear ones, He has taken you from your childish, worldly ways, to see the true love of the GodMan who knows you fully, even while you see in a mirror dimly.
For though this blind man’s eyes are opened to see Jesus face to face, it is only temporary. It won’t be long until his eyes sleep the sleep of death. What matters is not that he sees Jesus standing before him, but that in faith he clings to the Word and promise of the Him who is going up to Jerusalem to be crucified. And in saving faith he follows Him.
So it is for you, beloved. Do not merely see Jesus in the history of the Bible, in the stories and accounts, in the bare facts of the life of Christ. But with the eyes of faith behold Him who is present there for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Who has gone up to Jerusalem and laid down His life, in order to take it up again and share it with you. He has consecrated you by His sacrifice and comes to you in peace. He has given up His body in love and has gained you in both body and soul. In His mercy He helps you. By His Cross He bears your pain.
Take up your Cross and follow Him. Continue in that procession through Lent to Jerusalem, lead by and to the Cross of Jesus Christ by which the world is crucified to you and you to the world. Glorify God and give praise to His name, for according to His steadfast love and tender mercy, He is your Rock and your Fortress, and He will guard and keep you forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
See, we are going up to Jerusalem. This is the Lenten way. The way of the Cross. The way of the Lord who sees not as man sees, who looks only on the outward appearance, on the perception and the image, but fails to see the heart of the matter, the reality hidden in the unimaginable, the love hidden in loss.
For now the Master of the House goes out, now the Sower goes out, now Jesus sets His face toward the Holy City and goes up to Jerusalem in order to fulfill all Scripture. He will betrayed by His closest friends. He will be handed over to an angry mob. He will be shamefully treated and flogged and finally gruesomely killed. This is what He came to do. This is the purpose of His “going out.” But on the third day He will rise.
For the Spirit of the Lord is upon this Son of David to accomplish His Father’s will. He has been anointed as the Prophet from among His brothers who speaks the very oracles of God as His beloved Son. He shall be raised up on the throne of the Cross as King and by His priestly sacrifice and passion, by His death and burial, by His glorious resurrection and ascension, He shall bring forth a bounteous harvest in the very bodies and souls of those who follow after Him.
Of course this is easy enough for you to grasp and comprehend, if you are only thinking of the historical facts, the Bible stories, the life of Christ Jesus. But when it comes to following Jesus up to Jerusalem, to denying yourself and bearing the Cross after Him, then you might be just as blind as the disciples were to what it all means.
Even the Twelve were oblivious to what was really going on. It was hidden from them. They could not understand the Cross of Christ. You, however, know the Cross of Christ in the light of His Resurrection. And yet, you are no different, no better than the disciples were when it comes to the Cross in your own life.
How are you mocked and mistreated? Spit upon, scourged and even put to death? Its one thing to suffer for your own mistakes and failings, and to consider that you are getting what you have deserved. But how do you deal with the Cross that you bear and suffer precisely for your faithfulness? Do you really understand true love as St Paul writes to Corinth?
What about those times when your own family and friends criticize and ridicule you for doing what is good and right, what you are given to do? And what about the infirmities of your flesh, over which you have so little control, and which render you so powerless and helpless? Do not kid yourself. You can’t rise above it all and ride out the storm alone.
But do consider the irony, that a blind man knows and understand Jesus and sees Him by faith in a way the disciples could not perceive or comprehend. The blind man, like you, had only the Word of Christ on which to cling and rely. And that is good, right, and salutary. Exactly as it should be; by faith and not by sight.
Do not listen to the voices, whether inside or out, which tell you to sit down and shut up. No, just as Christ is risen from the dead, you also rise, and come to Him at His Word. For He is coming to you in mercy and He is calling for you. You, then, call upon His Name. Keep crying out to Him for mercy.
The Kyrie is the simplest, yet profoundest of prayers. It is the natal cry of all newborn Christians and the elderly wail of those whose flesh is not long for this earth. It sets you on the way of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. Whether when you rise in the morning or go to sleep at night. When you commend yourself, body and soul and all things into the almighty hand of the Father, who gives His holy angels charge over so the wicked foe may have no power over you, circle back around, then, dear Christians, to this little prayer, to the kyrie, petitioning for the Lord to have mercy on your family, your classmates, your friends and neighbors, the sick and the infirm. For the Kyrie is the manner in which you approach the Altar of the Lord and it is the manner in which you return from His Altar as well. In His mercy. For He hears and answers your prayers.
This prayer stops Jesus in His tracks. The kyrie of the blind man halts Him from His urgent date with death. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, pauses for the lowly needs of His creation. Know that the Lord is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. He lays down His life for the sheep. He loves them to the very end. For while He sets His face toward Jerusalem, in faithfulness to His Father and in the hope of the Resurrection, His love, dear Christians, His love abides for you.
This is what He does for you. Before you even ask. Before you even knew. He lays down His life in a love that never ends. For He, Jesus, Son of David, is patient and kind. Jesus does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on His own way. Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. For you. Jesus never ends.
And in His merciful love He gives you by His Word eyes to see. The eyes of faith to see again His Cross and Passion, His precious death and burial. To see with the eyes of faith the blood of His New Covenant, shed for the forgiveness of your sins. In His never ending, death defying love for you, dear ones, He has taken you from your childish, worldly ways, to see the true love of the GodMan who knows you fully, even while you see in a mirror dimly.
For though this blind man’s eyes are opened to see Jesus face to face, it is only temporary. It won’t be long until his eyes sleep the sleep of death. What matters is not that he sees Jesus standing before him, but that in faith he clings to the Word and promise of the Him who is going up to Jerusalem to be crucified. And in saving faith he follows Him.
So it is for you, beloved. Do not merely see Jesus in the history of the Bible, in the stories and accounts, in the bare facts of the life of Christ. But with the eyes of faith behold Him who is present there for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Who has gone up to Jerusalem and laid down His life, in order to take it up again and share it with you. He has consecrated you by His sacrifice and comes to you in peace. He has given up His body in love and has gained you in both body and soul. In His mercy He helps you. By His Cross He bears your pain.
Take up your Cross and follow Him. Continue in that procession through Lent to Jerusalem, lead by and to the Cross of Jesus Christ by which the world is crucified to you and you to the world. Glorify God and give praise to His name, for according to His steadfast love and tender mercy, He is your Rock and your Fortress, and He will guard and keep you forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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