"Seeing in a New Way" Quinquagesima Commemoration of Philemon and Onesimus February 15, 2015 Luke 18:31–43
In the Gospel reading Jesus was helping the disciples to see in a new way. In going up to Jerusalem Jesus knows why they are going up. They’re not aware of it, even though Jesus has told them before what will be happening. He says that all things concerning the Son of Man that were written in the prophets will be fulfilled. Seeing things in a new way requires seeing the Old Testament in a new way. It is all about Christ. It is all pointing to Him. Everything written about Him will be fulfilled when they go to Jerusalem. That is why He is going, and at some point they will begin to see it. Jesus says that He will be handed over to the Gentiles. He will be mocked, mistreated, and spit upon. They will flog Him and then they will kill Him. On the third day, though, He will be raised. It was all laid out there in the Old Testament Scriptures and it will all now be fulfilled. But the disciples were blinded to this. They saw only in their old way, through the eyes of their sinful nature. Luke says in the Gospel reading that they understood none of these things. That, in fact, this saying was hidden from them and they did not know what Jesus was talking about. There was no way they could understand how the Scriptures would be fulfilled in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. It wouldn’t be until after those things actually happened that they would be seeing in a new way. For now, it was actually hidden from them. They were kept from understanding, from seeing in a new way, because any understanding they would have of Jesus would be based on their false notions of how God saves people. If the disciples were unable to see in a new way, there was a blind man sitting on the side of the road who was. His seeing in a new way began with hearing. As he was sitting there he heard the commotion of Jesus and many followers passing by. What was going on? He asked someone and was told it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by. Notice the contrast between who Jesus is according to the crowds and who He said He was to the disciples. According to the Scriptures He is the Son of Man. He is the one in whom all things would be fulfilled in His suffering, death, and resurrection. To the crowds He is simply Jesus of Nazareth. At the mention of this, though, the blind man cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus of Nazareth to this blind beggar isn’t just Jesus of Nazareth, He is Jesus, the Son of David. He isn’t just a miracle-worker, He is the Messiah, the one who brings mercy. Who’s really blind here? The people in front scolded him. They tried to silence him. Don’t cry out to Jesus, just sit there and keep begging. But the blind man cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Now the crowds are really going to see something! Jesus stops dead in His tracks. He calls for the blind man to be brought to Him. Well, what are the people going to do? The blind man is brought to Jesus and Jesus asks him, “What would you like for Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I wish to receive my sight.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.” Most translations say, “Your faith has healed you, or made you well”; something along those lines. And certainly this blind man was made well, he was now able to see again. But was Jesus just giving this man eyes to see the world around him, or was He also giving him a new way to see? Was the blind man able to see something in this man from Nazareth that others were not seeing? Certainly he did not understand the full import of what would happen to Jesus, that He would suffer, die, and rise again, as no one did. We have the benefit of being on this side of those events, unlike those who were believing in Him before those things were accomplished. But in this blind man who could now see we are shown how we see in a new way. The man saw in Jesus what others did not see, even though he was physically blind and they could physically see Jesus. The blind man saw Jesus by faith, that is how he saw in a new way. He saw in Jesus the promises of the Old Testament, the things that would be fulfilled in the Messiah. He saw this in Jesus, that is why he cried out to Him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” When Jesus gave him his sight the man followed Jesus. He saw things in a whole new way. But Jesus didn’t give that man his sight just so he could see again. He didn’t tell the disciples what would happen to Him just because He had to pass the time while waiting to actually be betrayed and suffer and die and rise. Jesus did these things in order to accomplish salvation for you. The Holy Spirt inspired Luke to write these things down in order to bring you to faith so that you may see in a way. What is it you see? You see first that nothing has been hidden from you. All that was written in the Scriptures has been fulfilled in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. It has been revealed to you. You know that Jesus died on the cross for all of your sins. You know He was vindicated in His perfect sacrifice by His conquering of death in not staying in the grave. You see Him by faith. You see Him not because you have seen Him as the disciples and the blind man did, face to face. You see Him in the ways in which He has revealed Himself to you. While nothing is hidden from you in regard to your salvation, His way of revealing Himself to you is in ways in which He hides Himself. But, really, this is no different than when He did so with His disciples, and the blind man, and everyone else He came into contact with. This was God—eternal, almighty, present everywhere—hidden in human form. He remains almighty and yet continues to come to you hidden in certain ways. In your Baptism He was hidden in the water. His word was brought together with that water to bring you new life and new sight. In your Baptism you were given eyes to see, so that you see no longer with the eyes of your sinful nature, which was crucified in Baptism, but with the eyes of faith. You see that in Baptism, it truly was God giving you new birth and new life. He will always be the Lord of all, and yet in bread and wine He comes to you in these simple elements. His body and His blood are present in these simple things of His creation. Though He is hidden in them and therefore you can’t see Him, you know He comes to you with His very self, His body which suffered and died on the cross and which rose from the grave, and His blood which was shed on the cross and continues to flow through His veins in His glorified state, having ascended to heaven. Because you are Baptized and because He feeds you with His body and blood you see in a new way. You see that your life is not your own but that your life is lived out in following Him, just as the blind man did. You see that so much of what passes for a life of following Jesus amounts to nothing more than what Paul says in the Epistle reading, a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. So much of what seems to be holy, or worthy of aspiring to is nothing more than the eyes of our sinful nature seeing what we want to see rather than just simply seeing Christ and Him crucified. How does Paul say it? So much of what seems important in this life will pass away. But not love. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” It is only by seeing with the eyes of faith that we can see in this new way. It is only in Christ, as Paul goes on to say in the Epistle, that we can see in this new way. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” You can’t see it yet in the fullness of its glory. But you can know and believe and see in this new way that it’s true. You can see the amazing opportunities there are to love others and bear with them. You might feel at times you’re stumbling around in the dark as a Christian. Don’t look by sight or by reason or by the world’s standards. Look simply at the places where your Lord has promised to be, for you. He is hidden, but very present, in your Baptism, which you continue to live in. He is hidden, but fully present, in His Holy Supper, in which He forgives you, gives you strength, and enlightens your heart and mind to see in a new way. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
