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Behold, Jesus says, He is going up to Jerusalem, and there will be accomplished — finished — the work of salvation, all the things that have been written through the prophets of the Son of Man. He will be led like a lamb before its shearers, to the slaughter. He will be so marred beyond human semblance once the betrayal, mockery, abuse, spitting, scourging, and killing was done, that He would not even be recognizable as a Son of Man. There would be no ruddiness, beautiful eyes, handsome looks to judge him by, as the prophet Samuel once wrote of the future King David, the humble shepherd boy.
Nevertheless, this humiliated, abused, betrayed Jesus is the Son of David. He is the true King of the true Israel. He is King, because His throne was our cross, His crown of thorns, His scepter a reed, His royal robe a blood stained purple cloak, His subjects full of unbelief, mockery, and His homage paid to Him our insults and betrayal and abuse.
This is not the story the disciples are ready to hear. They were able to see physically, but were blinded spiritually. They can see Jesus, even listen to Him, but for the Messiah to suffer and die does not register with them. They cannot put two plus two together in their mind and realize that Jesus' suffering and death fulfills the prophets. So, God hides from them the grand significance of it all until they see the resurrected Jesus. It was the way God allowed them to be prepared for their future office as preachers and apostles. The first thing Jesus reminds the two disciples of on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection is this: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”
A crucified Savior was a stumbling block to these Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Hail, King of the Jews, the Romans said as they spat upon Him who was forsaken by His own people, as they put the thorns on His head and drove the nails into His hands and feet.
The cross is still considered irrational and foolish by all manner of people today. The devil, this world, and the sinful flesh work against saving faith in Christ. They want you to think that no Savior would be crucified and resurrected and given over as a free gift in exchange for your sin. They don't want you to think anyone could show such sacrificial love for you. They, therefore, want this world to be blind not just to the gift of salvation, but to the whole way of life in Christ that follows along with that salvation by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The world does not believe that God would suffer and die, and does not believe that there is a resurrection and a life of a world to come. So the world tells us to do as we please, to live it up for today, to satisfy our every want and craving, no matter how many people we hurt or harm in the quest. The world will therefore denigrate and mock and abuse the good and the beautiful things in life that God has given over for our good in Jesus Christ, that reflects His selfless love for us, especially the Church, and then marriage, family, and the procreation of children. Just look at the furor raised by the enemies of life and family over the Tim Tebow Superbowl ad — a beautiful, innocent ad that upheld the value of human life and a family life as it is ordained by God. But the world held up its snobbish nose to such a message and pushed back with its supposed right to choose darkness and death and decay instead.
But the world is you, too. Your reason, your flesh and blood, cannot understand nor grasp that the Scriptures should say how Jesus must be crucified. Much less does your sinful flesh understand that His suffering and death is Christ's will and that He does it cheerfully. Your sinful flesh, in the end, does not believe it is necessary for Jesus to suffer for you. Your sinful flesh would rather deal with God directly through your own merits, upholding your own works in life, your own piety, morality, and your own high regard for your developed mind and character. (Passage paraphrased from Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 2, 126.)
You can see physically. But your sinful flesh, this world and its prince are wrong. Without Jesus and His Holy Spirit, you are really blind to the truth of God's Word. You need help. You need saving. You need mercy. You need His enduring, never failing, no–strings–attached love. You need the gift of faith in Christ.
The blind man of Jericho could not see physically. He was blind to this world. But the eye of faith in him was alive and well, seeing clearly with no problems. He trusted in God's Word.
As he is by the roadside begging, the people around him tell him that “Jesus the Nazarene” is coming by. This phrase was not just to identify Jesus as someone who was from Nazareth. The word used by the crowd is related to both the town, but also to Isaiah's prediction that the Christ would be a shoot, a “nazir” (Hebrew) out of the stump of Jesse, meaning the Christ would be the messianic Son of David. The crowd likely meant it merely as a simple identification.
The blind man knew that it meant Jesus was the promised Savior. He had heard God's Word and believed it. He was blind but could really see. He had the gift of faith in Christ. The disciples were the opposite. The crowd was the opposite. They all tried to stop the blind man from calling to Jesus.
Faith in Christ asks to see again with the eye of faith in His Word, asks to overcome being blinded by sin. Faith in Christ seeks to see God clearly, face to face, in the person of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ asks for mercy from God, because it knows that our God is one whose love is patient and kind with us, whose love for us never ends. Faith in Christ does not give up. It is persistent in praying for our Father in heaven to provide what He has promised.
See again, Jesus says. See what the fall into sin has hidden and taken away: that your Savior will be He who suffers in your place and saves you from your sins; that your Savior will rise on the third day to new life so that you, too, will rise to new life. Christ and His Word of life has come to you and shown mercy to you and has, indeed, saved you for all eternity, restoring you into a child of your Heavenly Father. Your faith in Christ has made you well and always means that you are well and right before God in Heaven.
At Jesus' Word of absolution and healing, sight is restored immediately. The formerly blind man could see God clearly in the face of Jesus Christ. He began following Jesus, all the while glorifying God for what God had done for him. But it's interesting: he followed Him right to His cross and empty tomb. Through suffering, into death, and then to life again. That must have been some journey for that man and the other disciples.
You, too, are blessed to have been baptized into Christ. The eye of faith in Jesus has been restored to sight in you. You, too, are baptized into His death and resurrection. You, too, follow Jesus right to His cross and empty tomb, through suffering, into death, and then to life again. We die to this life, only to rise again. It goes against the will of our sinful nature and this world, against all our reason and intellect, but to live under the cross of Christ is what it means to follow Jesus. This is what it means to see this world with the eye of faith in Christ.
This means there is suffering. There is heartache. There is temptation. There is still a desire to gratify the sinful flesh. There is still the life of repentance, cross–bearing, and trusting in our forgiveness in Christ, taking God merely at His Word. The glory of God is not yet fully revealed. We do not yet see our Lord fully face to face. For now, we see in a mirror dimly.
But our Lord knows what our suffering entails, what it means to suffer, because He Himself has loved us that He has undergone it all for us. When you feel weak, sad, downtrodden, He has felt it all with you. When you chafe at the ridicule, the mockery and insults of those who revile your faith, He has faced ridicule without reviling those who hated Him. When you feel your life weighed down by the trials of this broken world, He has himself been tried and felt the weight of sorrow unto death in His own soul. When you feel the piercing daggers of hatred, He has been pierced by the nails and spear of scorn upon a tree. (Paraphrased from Rev. Dr. Scott Murray, Memorial Minute, 2/11/10.)
You never face these trials alone, but through them are being built into Him who is the Head of His body, the Church. You die with Christ to this life. You live with Him in the glory of the life to come. Then, we will see Him face to face in all of His loving, splendid glory. It is as sure and as certain as anything can be, even though we are not there yet, not able to see it yet for ourselves. His Gospel tells you of it. His absolution forgives you and sets you aright. His Supper assures you of that life in Him.
Lent starts Wednesday. We hear of our Lord's passion journey for us once again. Lent prepares us to celebrate our Easter life in Him. But do not forget the one journey to cross and tomb for you has already been made for you, in your place. Continue to put your faith, hope, trust, and comfort in He who suffered and died and rose again for you, not just during Lent but throughout your pilgrimage with Christ, as you journey with Him through death into life, all the while glorifying God for all that you have seen Him do for you by faith.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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