Quinquagesima

Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  6:58
0 ratings
· 26 views
Files
Notes
Transcript
There are two parts to our Gospel text. In the first, Jesus tells his disciples of the suffering and death that awaits him in Jerusalem. In the second, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar obtains his sight from Jesus. In the first part, we see the lack of faith in the disciples, who are unable to understand Jesus’ plain words. And in the second, the blind beggar is an example of true faith, the faith that alone pleases God.
Jesus said to his disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished” (Lk 18:31). What’s the first word that Jesus says to his disciples here? “See!” The trouble is that the disciples can’t see. They have eyes that work perfectly well, but they are incapable of seeing what Jesus wants to tell them. “The Son of Man will be delivered 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” (Lk 18:32­–43). Did the disciples understand this? No. Not at all. Luke tells us in a rather repetitive way that “they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said” (Lk 18:34).
It seems simple enough what Jesus said. None of the words require a dictionary. The Son of Man will be mocked, spit upon, whipped, and killed. Simple enough for us, that is. Yet the disciples couldn’t understand what he was saying? Why not? Because human reason, natural wisdom, and the fleshly mind can never understand the words of Jesus. The disciples did not yet have the Holy Spirit, and their carnal understanding was incapable of hearing or believing the Gospel.
The same can be said for every one of us apart from the miracle of faith that God works within us. St. Paul writes, “The natural man (that is, the sinful, unregenerate mind) cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). That unbelieving mind lives within each one of us, and it cannot hear or understand the words of Jesus.
Natural reason cannot grasp the Scriptures, nor the love of God, nor the measure of his compassion for us. Human wisdom looks at the death of Jesus and doesn’t know what to make of it. Some people will accuse God of divine child abuse. Others look at Jesus’ ministry and see a movement that failed due to lack of a good PR department. Some imagine that the crucifixion is nothing more than a fairytale. But who would look at the bloody sacrifice and death of Jesus and see the love of God and the unfolding of his incredible plan of salvation? Who would look upon Jesus’ suffering and say, “This is my God, and here is the proof of his compassion for me?” Only those who have received the miracle of faith can understand the Crucifixion. Only those who have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit can look at the gory spectacle of death and call it good.
When in the history of dying has death been a good thing, a cause for rejoicing? Never. And yet we call the day our God died, Good Friday. Here is something that human wisdom will never understand. First of all, sinful man can’t understand why the Crucifixion was even necessary. “Sure, I’m not perfect, but I don’t actually deserve death and hell, do I? My life needs a bit of work, but surely I don’t deserve the death penalty.” Reason would rather deal with God according to works. “Just give me some time, and I’ll straighten things out.” Second, in the same way that human reason doesn’t understand the need for the cross, it looks at our own suffering and death and thinks that these things will be pleasing to God. “I’ve suffered a lot. God must be happy with me. I am paying for my mistakes. Surely this pleases God.” But nothing could be further from the truth. The only suffering that pleased God was the suffering of his Son upon the cross. My death will never accomplish anything for my salvation, but the death of Jesus accomplished everything. His passion is our only hope and comfort. His death, not your death, is the gateway to Paradise.
We don’t please God with our suffering. The only thing that pleases him is faith – faith in the suffering and death of Jesus. In fact, the Bible tells us that it is impossible to please God without this faith. God does not delight in the death of a sinner. He does not rejoice when we encounter grief and loss. God delights in faith, and that’s is the reason he allows and uses suffering to strengthen our faith.
The blind man in our text is an example of this faith. Unlike the disciples, he did not trust in human wisdom. He relied entirely on the words he had heard of Jesus. He had never seen Jesus. He couldn’t have; he was blind. All he knew about Jesus was what he had heard. Remember, faith comes by hearing. He had heard that Jesus was the Son of David, the promised Messiah and Savior of the world. And he believed that Jesus had the power to restore his sight. More than this, he believed that Jesus would be merciful to him. Did he deserve mercy? Had he earned the right to ask God for good things? Of course not. Yet, he cried out anyway, “Lord, have mercy on me!”
This is the prayer of faith, and God delights to hear it. Imagine what thoughts may have gone through the beggar’s head: “You’re a nobody. You’re a beggar, you’re blind, and a sinner to boot. God doesn’t care about you. Jesus has far more important things to do. You don’t deserve his attention or his mercy.” Guess what? All these things may be true. But that didn’t stop the beggar. Then, the people around him began to get irritated. “Bartimaeus, quiet down! Stop making a scene. Who do you think you are, anyway? Don’t bother Jesus with your problems. Be quiet!” Surely, this would have been enough to discourage most people. But not this man. He shouted out even more loudly, “Lord, have mercy on me!”
Only one thing pleases God: faith. And by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, the blind beggar who had none of the things that the world considers valuable—wealth, prestige, goods, health—had the one thing that matters—faith in Jesus. Listen to what he does: He freely confesses Christ and fears no one. He ignores the protests of his guilty conscience and the rebuke of others. He clings to the words of Jesus who had said, “Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.” The beggar stands firm in this faith, he prevails, and he wins. Jesus says to him, “Receive your sight” and even better, “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 18:42). The beggar appeared foolish to the crowd, yet he hung all his hope on the words of Jesus, and this simple faith pleased God.
God was not pleased with the beggar’s years of suffering and going without the blessing of sight. God was pleased with his faith in Jesus. And this faith, Jesus said to him, “has saved you.” Let us follow the example of Bartimaeus, who once was blind. With no regard for the wisdom of the world, against the protest of his guilty conscience, knowing that he did not deserve the goodness of God, he cast himself upon Christ’s mercy. The words of Jesus are folly to this dying world. His cross is foolishness. Yet to all whose ears have been opened by the Holy Spirit, his cross is our greatest treasure, and his words are life and salvation. Amen.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more