Sermon - Quinquagesima 2020 - Luke 18:31-43

“As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.” Have you ever met and gotten to know a blind person? Not just someone who can’t see very well, but someone who is completely blind, can’t see a thing, their eyes don’t work. I’ve only gotten to know a few folks who’re blind. 

One such gentleman I met at seminary: Greg. Such a kind and intelligent man, with a very difficult disability. Simply getting around on our small campus was a challenge for him. Even after a few months of memorizing the layout and creating a mental map of the campus, he would still occasionally get turned around and lost. 

You’d see Greg out wandering in the grass or the parking lot calling out for help. So you’d go out to him, “Hi Greg, this is John, can I help you get somewhere?” You’d explain to him where he is and where he’s trying to go, then you’d take him by the arm and lead him there. 

In a way, you and I are not unlike Greg wandering in a parking lot or blind Bartimaeus sitting on the side of road begging. The difference is that our blindness is more severe because it’s not of the eyes, instead, it’s a spiritual blindness which is much more severe and debilitating. We are like blind beggars on the side of the road, in need of a guide, and Christ Crucified is our guide who leads us to our heavenly Jerusalem.

Just as we’re not unlike blind Bartimaeus, neither are we that unlike the apostles. At times they say the dumbest things, they make you want to pound your head on the wall! But when you think about it, you can’t help but conclude: “I kinda do the same thing.” Here they are, receiving divine teaching straight from God, “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”

Such all of us are by nature unable to grasp these things and see them as the truth. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Sin’s sundry effects upon us means more than just condemnation, but influences our minds and the way we think. Satan convinced Adam and Eve that if they sinned they would be enlightened and know what God knows, but it was actually the opposite that happened; sin blinded them, it didn’t open their eyes but closed them! 

Sin blinds us today as well. Every person, every human being, every one of us has been blinded by sin. But perhaps worse than being blind is being blind but not knowing that you’re blind and so is everyone else! Blind Bartimaeus and Greg, they know that they’re blind and that they need help. Sin so blinds us that often we can’t even see how blind we are or others are. 

Imagine a blind man who doesn’t know he’s blind and tries to live as though he can see perfectly. He’s gonna fall and trip over everything! He’ll wander into a lake. He’ll get lost in a cornfield. He’ll get run over while walking in the middle of the highway. If you’re blind you gotta acknowledge it so that you can follow your guide. As sinners we need to acknowledge and confess our sinfulness so that we might follow our guide.

But which guide should we follow? Which guides do you follow in life? If it’s any other person or yourself, then Christ says that you’re following a blind guide. “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” So if we shouldn’t follow ourselves or others in life, who should we follow? Who should guide us?

Blind Bartimaeus answers this for us so clearly when He calls out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Even though his eyes couldn’t see the Christ, by faith He could see more clearly than even the apostles. Jesus is our guide through this life and unto our everlasting home. 

But who is this Jesus that we follow? What’s He like and what does He do? Praise the Lord, Jesus teaches us exactly what He’s like and what He does, and He teaches this multiple times in the scriptures throughout His earthly ministry. “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 accomplished. For he 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.”” Jesus is one who is crucified and dies for the forgiveness of His people. He’s the suffering servant, the sacrificial Lamb of God, the Scapegoat, the Savior of the world who bleeds and dies for us. 

Our guide who takes us blind people by the hand and leads us through this life isn’t one who leads us into happy prosperity, but who brings us to Calvary with Him and invites us to carry our crosses beside Him. Your guide through life is Christ crucified. Your life is seen within the light of the gospel. It’s as though the lense which makes your vision clear is the cross. 

The death Jesus died upon the cross is for you, in order to forgive your sins and restore the sight of faith to your blind eyes. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross is like a cleansing salve for your eyes so that you might see and believe. Since we’re Christians it’s like wearing glasses with a cross in place of the lenses. Through the cross we see ourselves as sinners in need of Jesus’ salvation, we see this world as one doomed to death, we see that Jesus is the Christ, we see that the road to the New Jerusalem of heaven leads through the crucifixion of Jesus. Through the cross we see both our sins and our Savior.

The only thing which makes our eyes clear is the Gospel, the only thing which enlightens this dark world is the cross upon which Christ hung. Jesus went to Jerusalem in order to bleed and die for you. Everything that was written about Him in the prophets of the Old Testament attested to the fact that He would be sacrificed in order to turn your blindness of sin into the sight of faith. Jesus repeatedly told His apostles that He was going to be crucified, over and over again He told them it was all about the cross. 

So it is all about the cross. All our lives are seen within that light of Christ crucified. You have life in heaven because of the cross. You have life on earth right now because of the cross. You have loved ones and people around you because of the cross. You have food, clothing, shelter, air, light, everything because of the cross. All good things are made whole and exist because by the death of Jesus Christ who redeemed our lives from blind darkness unto eternal light and joy. It’s all about Christ crucified.

This is why St. Paul declared: We preach Christ crucified. This is why one of the oldest symbols of the Chrsitian faith is a crucifix. This is why our churches are filled with hundreds of crosses and crucifixes. This is why we wear them around our necks and place them on the walls of our houses. The cross of Christ crucified is central to the Christian faith because it’s all about Jesus on the cross who is our guide throughout this life. The one thing that pierces our blind hearts is Jesus bleeding and dying for us. 

So as we embark upon our Lenten journey this Wednesday with Jesus towards Jerusalem, to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we know what awaits us: the cross. Spoiler alert: Jesus is going to die and rise again! No surprises! Just as Jesus walks with you and leads you to Jerusalem during Lent, so does He lead you throughout this life to the New Jerusalem, to the heavenly Jerusalem. There we will gather around Christ, the slain Lamb who is standing, because He has brought us with Him to heaven through the cross.