Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.
It
has been said before that if mankind wants to understand the Bible accurately,
a person should read it with a very commonsense approach, interpret it
according to a most basic and reasonable way, and then completely reverse what
they comprehended from the Bible. What did
you just say Pastor? Yes, when reading
the Bible mankind naturally reads it according to the wisdom of man; what
sounds reasonable. However, in order to
obtain what the Bible is actually saying, mankind’s natural interpretation needs
to be reversed, typically 180 degrees.
Truly,
the ways of God are not the ways of mankind and mankind’s ways are not God’s
ways. The way God sees things and
defines reality, is typically the very opposite to how mankind sees things and
understands reality.
Let
me give you a couple of examples. We
believe that the greatest is the one who is first; however, the Bible says that
the last shall be first and the first will be last. We believe that one who wins is victorious;
however, the Bible says that victory is found in surrendering. We believe that the spiritually rich are
blessed; however, the Bible says blessed are those who are spiritually
bankrupt. We believe that those who
laugh and have joy are the ones who are truly comforted; however, the Bible
says that those who mourn shall be comforted. We believe that an example of
greatness is an independent, autonomous, and self-sustaining adult; however,
the Bible says that the greatest are dependent, subservient, and needy
children. We believe that mankind is
intrinsically good; however, the Bible says that mankind has an evil
heart. We believe that mankind is free;
however, the Bible says that mankind is bound.
We believe that life happens as we truly live; however, the Bible says
that we must die to truly live.
As I
have already mentioned, the ways of God are not the ways of mankind and the
ways of mankind are not God’s ways. Indeed,
the way that God sees things is the very reverse to how mankind generally see
things.
So,
why is this the case? It is because
mankind is by nature spiritually blind. Surely,
from birth you and I are born spiritually blind; having eyes to see, but not
truly seeing. Yes, due to the sinful
fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, you and I are stained with sin and
have a warped capability to grasp who God is, what his temperament is to us,
and what reality is all about. Otherwise
stated, your nature and mine is weak, our view of truth is tainted, our reason is
warped, and our view of reality is distorted; mankind, which includes you and
me, loves carnal things because mankind is blind in sin and easily enticed by
the deceptions of the evil one. Things
that are evil according to God are perceived as good by us; things that are
good according to man are typically perceived as evil according to God. We make evil – good and good – evil.
What
this means is that apart from God giving us eyes to see, apart from God
revealing to us truth, apart from God speaking into us, we are blind people
leading other blind. We are blind people
stumbling through the maze of life, not fully understanding sin, righteousness,
ourselves, and especially the Gospel.
Apart from being given eyes to see, we are totally and utterly blind; we
are helpless like the blind beggar in our Gospel reading from today.
It
is remarkable hearing our Gospel reading from today though, isn’t it? In our Gospel reading Jesus and the disciples
were passing by a blind beggar and Jesus approaches this smelly, dusty,
sightless, beggar, and then spits on the ground. He then takes this sticky, putrid mud and
presses it into the blind man’s eyes and against his eye sockets. Yes, the man is blind from birth and the Son
of God is pressing spit and mud into his eyes.
But why? Mud and spit are not the exact same things as warm oil or warm
water to sooth the eyes. Rather mud and
spit are messy, coarse, and most likely cold.
What this mud and spit do is that they acknowledge that the blind man is
actually blind; that he can’t see; that he needs sight to be granted. As Jesus applied the spit and mud to the
blind man it was as if He acknowledged the man’s blindness, darkness,
hopelessness, and predicament.
Have
you noticed that though? In the
scriptures, most of the people Jesus heals and encounters are those that were
completely and totally helpless.
Jesus
encountered people with leprosy. He met
people who were lame. He encountered
people with disfigured hands. He
encountered people who were demonically possessed. He met people who were blind and even people
who were dead. They were people with
circumstances that were out of their control.
They did not possess the antidote to their predicament within
themselves. And get this, Jesus, typically had a way of affirming their dilemma,
not ignoring it. Yes, He didn’t overlook
their predicament but acknowledges it, and then He does something about it. Why
do I mention this? Is this not a
tremendous picture of our spiritual condition apart from Christ? Are we not blind; sick; dead; lame; and in
bondage spiritually speaking? Is this
also not a tremendous picture of God’s Word and Sacraments granting us life and
forgiveness; could I also say sight?
Consider
this, because of the tragic sin of Adam and Eve, and its blinding consequences,
God did not abandon His creation, rather He drew close to Adam and Eve
immediately after they sinned and God continued throughout the ages to reveal
Himself to His Creation as well.[1] “Yes, the Holy Spirit has to work faith and
give spiritual sight through God’s Word and Sacraments”[2] in
order for anyone to truly see. God
doesn’t abandon but continually draws near to His Creation in its beggarly sightless
and sinful status. Otherwise stated, what
this means is that we can’t see, we can’t understand, we can’t make sense of
the things of God, we can’t discern truth, and understand reality unless we are
given eyes to see, unless the Holy Spirit works faith in us through the Word
and Sacraments, and unless the Lord continually sustains us through the Word
and Sacraments.
Like
the blind man in darkness who received spit and mud pressed upon his lifeless
eyes, God’s precious Word of a Savior who was bloodied, crucified for sin,
buried, and resurrected to life travels through the auditory canals of our
ears, pierces the soul and grants us faith and forgiveness. Like the helpless blind beggar who had mud
and spit surged upon his eye sockets, Christ’s precious Body and Blood are
surged and poured into our mouths and into our body. Like the helpless beggar who washed the mud
off of his eyes in the pool of Siloam to see, we have been washed in the
waters of our baptism. Yes, not dirt,
but sin has been washed away and drowned, thus this water has taken us from darkness
to light.
Yes,
Jesus’ saving and restoring work on the Cross, work that is delivered to us in
the Word and Sacraments, gives us eyes to see.
Furthermore, the Word of God enables us to fill in the blanks of life; it
defines reality; it shows us truth; it enables us to describe ourselves and the
world around us honestly and forthrightly; and it liberates us from having to
make and construct false theories in order for life to make sense. Indeed, the Holy Spirit through the Word gives
us eyes to see and places you and me in the light.[3]
Indeed,
Jesus came so that those who do not see may see. He came so that you may see.
Now,
the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] Robert Kolb and Charles Arand, The Genius of
Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary
Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker
Publishing Group, 2008), 144.
[2] Balge, R. D., &
Ehlke, R. C. (1989). Sermon Studies on
the Gospels (ILCW Series A) (p. 143). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern
Publishing House.
[3] The paragraph was a paraphrase of a
section from: Robert Kolb and Charles Arand, The Genius of
Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church,
144.
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