Luke 18,31-43. Estomihi Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Luke 18,31-43 (Matthew 20,17-19.29-34; Mark 10,32-34.46-52)   1213

Estomihi 022 (Psalm 31,3)

Silas, Fellow worker of St. Peter and St. Paul, Bishop of Corinth, Martyr 50 

Scholastica, Virgin, sister of Benedict of Nursia, Italy. Abbess, † 543

10. February 2013

1.  O Lord, who has taught us that all our doings without charity are worth nothing: Send Your Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever lives is counted dead before You:  Grant this for Your Only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. 

2. And taking the Twelve, Jesus said to them: „Behold, 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, will be mocked, shamefully treated and spit upon. After flogging Him, they will kill Him and on the third day He will rise.“ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. As He drew near to Jericho, a blind man was seated by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him: „Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.“ And 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!“ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he came near, He asked him: „What do you want Me to do for you?“ He said: „Lord, let me recover my sight.“ And Jesus said to him: „Recover your sight; your faith has saved you well.“ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And  all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 

3. The Gospel according to Luke tells us of the healing of  a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus bar-Timaeus. We may not normally think of blind people, or others with disabilities, to be cursed by God, but such was how 1. century Jews understood illness and disease. Bartimaeus is blind, therefore he must be cursed by Yahweh. To be cursed means to be punished by Yahweh for some heinous sin. Our 21. century culture does not perceive handicapped people as cursed or punished people. In fact, people with disabilities often lead normal lives. I had a great uncle who was blind, but he nevertheless taught music and was a Lutheran organist in a Baltimore City church. 

4. The Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke place the healing of Bartimaeus in the context of Jesus’ 3. Passion prediction. In this 3. prediction, Jesus told His Twelve Apostles that He will go up to Jerusalem to be delivered over to the Gentiles, specifically the Roman Pontius Pilate, where He will be mocked, shamefully treated and spit upon. The Romans will whip Him and crucify Him, but He will rise up in new life on the third day. Jesus says all this is written in the Prophets and that He will accomplish, complete and fulfill the Prophets. 

5. These were harsh and difficult words for the apostles to hear, and this for the 3. time. Such a description of the Messiah was at odds with their popular understanding of the mission and the ministry of their Messiah, for Jesus describes His ministry as that of the Suffering Servant which the Prophet Isaiah so meticulously detailed. 

6. Immediately following Jesus’ 3. Suffering Servant prediction, He is approached by another suffering servant, the blind Bartimaeus. Yahweh’s grace through His Christ is not easily understood. In Jesus’ day, the blind suffered the stigma of being cursed by Yahweh. Their healing and restoration into the community did not often happen. The question was not: „Could Yahweh heal a blind man?“, for as the Omnipotent God He certainly had the power to heal the sick. The pertinent question, therefore, was: „Would Yahweh heal a blind man?“ Since such healings were not commonplace, it was understood that Yahweh was punishing the infirm. The law is harsh in its condemnation, but the old testament also provided grace for those oppressed by the law. Moses told the Israelites on the eve of their entry into the Promised Land: »The poor will not cease to be in the midst of the land; therefore I command you, saying: „You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your poor and needy in your land“« (Deuteronomy 15,11). Yahweh’s grace and providence were shown to Bartimaeus each day as he collected shekels and Roman coins to pay for his food and other necessities that day. 

7. Luke is particular to point out that Bartimaeus addressed Jesus twice as „Son of David“ and once as „Lord“. These are specific and deliberate Christological titles that indicate the popular Jewish belief that the Christ is the Son of David and the Lord (Matthew 22,42-45). For Bartimaeus to address Jesus as both Son of David and Lord is to address Him as the Christ. Such an address is to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Such a confession is a proclamation of faith. 

8. Jesus healed Bartimaeus of his blindness, and Bartimaeus was saved through faith. His eyes were opened to behold the God and Savior in whom he believed. God was praised.

9. Jesus bar-David has shown mercy upon us. We were blinded in our sinfulness, but with His suffering and death Jesus saved us and healed us, with His resurrection He gives us everlasting life. We understand this through faith, and through faith we receive all that Jesus promises us, which includes life, health, forgiveness and salvation.

10. God be praised! We worship Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He is our Rabbi and Redeemer. We confess Him as the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, yes our sin. Jesus has made us righteous. 

11. The Holy Scriptures tell us that »the righteous person will live through faith« (Habakkuk 2,4; Romans 1,17; Galatians 3,11; Hebrews 10,38). Martin Luther commented on this verse, saying: „We want to retain and to extol this faith which God has called faith, that is, a true and certain faith that has no doubts about God or the divine promises or the forgiveness of sins through Christ. Then we can remain safe and sure in Christ, the object of faith, and keep before our eyes the suffering and the blood of the Mediator and all His blessings. Faith alone, which takes hold of Christ, is the only means to keep us from permitting this to be removed from our sight“ (Luther 270). 

12. Jesus has made us righteous and has given us the faith to receive this righteousness. God be praised! Jesus be praised!  Amen. 

13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Fulfillment of the Prophets, help us to understand that everything is written about You in the Holy Scriptures so that we take comfort that all the Scriptures have been accomplished by You.  Amen.

To God alone be the Glory 

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

Cynewulf, Crist. Copyright © 2000 In parentheses Publications. Translation © 2000 Charles W. Kennedy

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand. 

Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 26:  Lectures on Galatians, 1535 Chapters 1-4. (Jaroslav Pelikan, Ed). Copyright © 1963 Concordia Publishing House.