Sermon - Quinquagesima 2026 - Luke 18:31-43

The Crucifixion from Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald, 1516

Blessed contemplation on the Crucifixion

1. We do not understand the cross as we should

2. The cross is seen most clearly through suffering

3. Don’t be silenced and pushed away from the cross, but draw near to contemplate the death of Christ for you

“See… the Son of Man.. will be delivered over to the Gentiles… But they understood none of these things.” I suppose we often think of ourselves as knowing and understanding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus completely. Afterall, little children know to sing: “Jesus loves me, He who died, heaven’s gate to open wide, He has washed away my sin, lets His little child come in.” Even little kids know that Jesus died to forgive our sins, and because He rose we will rise with Him. But because we think it’s so simple, so easy, we often just leave it there and quickly grow tired of thinking of Jesus' death.

But it’s more than just growing tired of the crucifixion, it’s that we don’t really like the crucifixion. Many will marginally tolerate looking at an empty cross, because they don’t have to be confronted with God’s tortured corpse, but many others are militantly opposed to the crucifix. They say he’s not on the cross anymore, and that’s true enough, I guess, but by that logic we shouldn’t have any pictures of Jesus since He’s ascended to heaven. So it’s not that people are opposed to historical artwork, instead it’s that they’re opposed to the image of Christ crucified; they don’t want to meditate on a crucified Jesus.

Yet today we are on the precipice of Lent, anticipating the sorrows of Holy Week and the joys of the Day of Resurrection. Today our Lord sets the course and He tells us where we must look: “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 Himself points us to His holy passion, bids us to reflect on His suffering and death, because His passion is a mystery to be pondered and contemplated until He comes again in glory. The cross of Jesus is the sweet milk and the solid food of the Christian. In the cross of Jesus the tender Christian is nourished and refreshed, given joy and gladness. The Lenten meditations on the cross are a delight to the soul as our Savior bids us follow Him through this grand adventure.

One reason we have a difficult time understanding the cross is that it is only seen mostly clearly through suffering. Of course we say in the creeds that we believe in the life everlasting, and we might even say we long for everlasting life, but we only want eternal life after this temporal life. First we want to accomplish all of our worldly goals before we enter into paradise, we have career ambitions, and plans for our house, and family milestones we want to see. We have a list of things we want to do and see before we kick the bucket, as they say. I can’t die yet, I need to see my children grow up, I need to meet all of my grandchildren, I need to go on this next summer vacation, I need to live to 80, 90, 100! Life can be good, no doubt, and every day is a blessing from the Lord, but the aim for which we strive isn’t found in this world and the next temporal milestones, but in the resurrection of the dead when Jesus returns. Oh dear Christians, how greatly do we need to meditate on the cross of Jesus and contemplate the eternal victory He won for us!

Through the cross Jesus opens our eyes so that we may see beyond this fleeting age and unto the joys of everlasting paradise. In God’s mercy and wisdom He often compels us to bear the burden of the cross. Blind Bartimaeus is just such a man burdened with sorrows through which God gave him sight beyond what normal eyes could see. “As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging… He cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” 

Through his suffering eyes, which couldn’t even yet see the contours of Jesus’ face, he perceived in faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, and He it was who would deliver him from the sufferings of this life which he had long endured. Though he was rebuked and scorned by all around, still He cried out all the more, clinging in faith to the blessed Savior. Through faith in Jesus, his eyes were restored to sight, but more importantly he was saved eternally.

The crosses we bear in this life often serve as a strong correction, bidding us to call out to Jesus all the more. It’s beyond humbling to sit beside suffering Christians, who are not terribly dissimilar from our blind brother Bartimaeus, who in their suffering long for the joys of paradise more than any of the pleasures of this life. Perhaps younger persons, in the prime of life, with only mild pains and problems and seemingly endless entertainment options before them, could learn a great deal from the wisdom of their elders who have learned through their crosses that true joys are found in Jesus and not in this age.

You who are suffering and bearing your crosses, when you meditate on the cross of Jesus you are given a glimpse into God’s heart for you. See that your Jesus was mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, and flogged. When He was crucified the Gentiles not only attempted to strip Him of His divinity, but His humanity. When you suffer it is degrading and demeaning, like Bartimaeus having to beg instead of work, and Jesus being stripped and tortured, treated worse than an animal. In love your Lord Jesus willingly endured the humiliation and the shame of the cross for you; He was degraded and defiled so that His blood would cover the multitude of your sins and bear them all away. 

Through the agony on the cross He has earned you the robe of righteousness which covers all of your shame. Our crosses in this life take away our dignity, and His cross clothes us with heavenly dignity. Instead of stripping you, He clothes you in His robe of righteousness. His flesh and blood is the medicine which makes you whole again, restores your flesh and blood to perfection. Instead of these shameful bodies disfigured by sin, He restores to your body His heavenly divine image of the Son of God.

You who can’t fathom dying because you only want to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this world, look to the cross of Jesus like a mirror which exposes the shame of sin that lies beneath this thin veneer of civility. Perhaps you love this world, and you yearn for the honor and the dignity that this world has to offer you. So remember that Jesus was delivered over to the Gentiles! He was delivered over to the Romans, the civilized and powerful, the elite and wealthy! One of the greatest empires man has ever built! Those elites whom you love and yearn for their approval mocked God to His face, stripped Him naked, flayed the flesh from His bones, and spit on Him. This world we love hates Christ and hates God’s Christians.

This world does not love you, but Christ does. So continue to look into the mirror of the cross of Christ. See in the distorted body of your Lord the distortions of your own soul. He was not stripped, beaten, and pierced for nothing, but for you. He was crushed for our iniquities! The horrid image of Christ on the cross reveals the depravity of our own souls because there is the cost of our sins. Though we clothe ourselves in worldly wealth and splendor, beneath it all we are but poor miserable sinners who have wrought the horrors of the cross on the Son of Man. 

So again, look to the cross of Jesus, and see Him who willingly, out of His own love for you, bore the burden of the cross as His sacrifice for you. Every bruise and every drop of blood that dripped from our Savior’s body He intentionally shed so that you, dear Christian, may enter into the unspeakable joys of heaven. He is indeed the Son of Man, the Son of David, the Lord, who descended from His kingdom to earth, walked among us sinners in the flesh, lovingly listens to our pleas for mercy, binds up our wounds, and then descends to the grave so that all who have the eyes of faith may rise from their graves. 

What love! What mercy! Who can understand and grasp the enormity of what our Lord has accomplished for us upon the cross! All that has been written by the prophets, all that the patriarchs hoped for, is here fulfilled in the death of Jesus. There is no greater image, with more comfort, more joy, more peace, more encouragement and contentment than that of my dear Lord Jesus shedding His blood for me upon the cross. For there, in Jesus’ cross, is my greatest treasure. Who could ever mine all the depths of God’s love revealed in the cross? Who could ever grow bored with this, the hope of all the world? Whose tongues could remain silent and refrain from God’s praises? Indeed, not us, God’s people, who set our eyes on the cross of Christ and follow Him through all.