Trinity 21
Today’s OT reading and Gospel have something in common: they both are about processions. Through the OT prophet Jeremiah, the Lord promises a restoration and return of the Jews who are exiled to Babylon; after being banished from the Promised Land on account of their sin and idolatry they would return to the promised Land after 70 years of exile. And the Lord also points the people forward to a greater gathering and return to Him--that would take place after the Savior, Christ Jesus, had come and carried out His saving work: suffering and dying for our sins and rising from the dead. Jesus speaks of this gathering people to Himself and finally leading them to heaven [Jn 12.32]: But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. That lifting up, the holy Evangelist tells us, is Jesus being lifted up on the cross. So Jesus, by His saving work on the cross, like a magnet to metal, draws all people to Himself. And that’s the image the Jeremiah uses in our OT reading--of the Lord bringing and gathering all people to Him; of the Lord, by the power and work of the Holy Spirit in word and sacrament working faith in hearts of people and gathering them with their great joy into Christ’s holy Church: Shout with joy! And notice the great numbers from all over the earth being drawn into, coming into Jesus’ kingdom, the Church: Watch, I will bring them from a land in the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. And lest we think just the best of the best, the most “worthy” are part of that procession into Jesus’ kingdom the holy prophet adds: The blind and the lame will be there, and even those in great anguish as St. Jeremiah adds: the pregnant woman together with the woman in labor. And then that image of the Church: They will return as a huge community. They will come weeping, that is in tears of joy out of all their distress. And what will the lives of those be like whom the Lord is leading ultimately/ finally into heaven? They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water, on a level path where they will not stumble. In a few weeks, on All Saints’ Sunday, we will read of this glorious procession having made it to heaven [Rev. 7.9 ff.]:
Behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb….They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes .
Dear Christian, we are part of that glorious procession, being gathered into the Church and being led one day, finally, into heaven; and on the Last Day being soul and body in heaven forever. That we are part of this glorious procession is the work of the Holy Spirit who, as Luther points out, calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith.
Also notice something else here that is very vital--this is a procession, many people being gathered together. The work of Christ is one of uniting, gathering; the work of the devil is one of scattering and dividing. Whenever we see ourselves dividing/ separating from others and demonizing them because of how they look or how they vote, for example, that is the work of the devil. And we see in our nation today that he is having a field day. But what is the Church? It is a creation of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, united in that Spirit-worked faith. And all our Lord’s dear Christians have been gathered and are in procession to heaven!
Today’s Gospel also has a procession. Jesus and His disciples and a large crowd had come to the city of Jericho. And where was this great procession going? To Jerusalem, to the Passover. This was the lead up to Palm Sunday--right after our text we read of Jesus telling His disciples where to find the donkey He would ride.
But there’s also something else with our text. We get a glimpse of that at the end: Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus on the road. Not only is this a great account of a healing, again showing that Jesus is the true God and undoes the devil’s work, but it is also, on a spiritual level, a description of one becoming a Christian, of a person’s encounter with Jesus in His word. And it all comes down to Jesus’ question to blind Bartimaeus: What do you want Me to do for you?
It may seem to us a rather foolish question when Jesus asks it of Bartimaeus because we think that the answer is so obvious. But that is the same question that Jesus confronts each of us with: What do you want Me to do for you? It is vital for us and our salvation that we, from our heart, answer that question correctly. To do that, we first need to know our need and then we need to know Jesus.
They came to Jericho. As Jesus and His disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road begging. Bartimaeus knew very well his need--he was blind and being blind he couldn't work so he was poor and had to beg for his survival. So, yes, the answer to Jesus’ question seems very obvious. But it is a harder thing when we hear Jesus’ question on a spiritual level. What do you want Me to do for you? Do we really recognize our need? Just as left to himself, there was no way Bartimaeus could/ would regain his sight, so also with each one of us spiritually. Left to ourselves there is no way we would/ could come to know the true God rightly. The simple fact is that we need God to enlighten us and to bring us to Him; just as Baritmaeus needed Jesus to give him sight, we need Him to give us our spiritual sight. Luther rightly comments on the Creed about the Holy Spirit’s work: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him. Before answering Jesus’ question, What do you want Me to do for you?, we need to know our need/ helpless condition-- like Bartimaeus knew his.
For Bartimaeus, it seems rather obvious and easy for him to recognize his need. After all, his blindness was something that he endured and was aware of every moment of every day. He felt the sun but he couldn’t see it. He could hear people but he didn’t know what they looked like. He could smell and taste his food but not know what it looked like--maybe at times there was difficulty in eating. So very much aware of his need, we read in our text: When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Somehow he must have heard about Jesus and His miracles and was seeking a miracle from Him. At least he had heard about Jesus; at least he had heard and remembered the promises of the coming Savior that at His coming, as the prophets wrote [Is 35.5]: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. In faith, he clung to these promises and when he had heard about Jesus, he knew that Jesus, who can and did heal the blind, could heal him and is the long promised Savior. So he called Him using the Messiah’s title: Jesus, Son of David.
What about us? Very often we don’t feel our need for Jesus/ for a Savior; often we think we are doing well enough on our own; often we’ll put Jesus and our faith on the backburner and take care of “more important” things. After a year plus of covid, many people are not returning to church. Our numbers certainly haven’t recovered to pre-covid levels. Is it because many think they got through this long without Christ and His Church and Sacraments, that they don’t really need Him?
But the time will come, and maybe it has come already to you, when you feel very much your sin and your guilt. Maybe there’s a particular sin especially bothering you. Maybe you just have a feeling of emptiness, as if “something is missing”. That’s the work of the Lord trying to get you to see your need--your true need of Him. It is a glorious thing when we recognize our need and in faith call out in prayerful groaning for relief and rescue. To think we have no need of Jesus, is a satanic delusion that keeps us from answering Jesus when He asks What do you want Me to do for you? And it keeps us from joining that procession following Jesus.
In order to answer Jesus’ question, What do you want Me to do for you?, we not only need to recognize our own spiritual blindness and inability/ that we need God to enlighten us with His word and Spirit but we also need to know Jesus rightly. Our text: They came to Jericho. As Jesus and His disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road begging. The thing to remember is that like we see here, Jesus does not leave Bartimaeus in his blindness. It is Jesus’ will to heal Him. So too, with us, Jesus comes to our help when we are in sorrow and misery and lets us experience His goodness and mercy. Remember--even before Jesus came, Bartimaeus had the promise of a Savior; and now when Jesus comes and hears Bartimaeus calling out to Him in faith: They called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get up! He is calling you!” Here on the way to the cross, in the midst of this great procession that would lead to Palm Sunday, Jesus pauses to have mercy on the man calling out to Him in faith in the midst of his suffering. So us today, confronted by Jesus’ question, What do you want Me to do for you?, know that the One asking that question is not only the holy and almighty God--but He is merciful. By faith Bartimaeus knew this and clung to Jesus’ almighty divinity and His mercy and kept calling out to Him. Know and trust in Jesus and His divine mercy. In the midst of your need, your great spiritual need know that Jesus does not leave you but turns to you with His heart of mercy. And He will help in the right time and right way. We can turn to Him in the sorrow of our sin, in our feeling of emptiness, when we sense there is “something more”. Let us hurry to Jesus when we hear Him calling to us--as He does in His word, working on our hearts-- like Bartimaeus that day hurried to Jesus: He tossed aside his outer garment, jumped up, and went to Jesus. He did not delay; he did not waste the opportunity. That cloak he had folded on his lap to collect the alms was thrown off; immediately everything was left behind to go to Jesus. And by doing that there was no turning back and then Jesus met him with the question What do you want Me to do for you?
When we hear Jesus is near--like He is at church, where He has promised to meet us in His holy word and Sacrament--let us in faith run to Him. There is nothing more important and vital for us than to turn to Him in repentance and faith. Everything else can be left behind, no matter how seemingly vital, like Bartimaeus did his garment in which he collected alms. Let nothing stand/ hinder us from going to Jesus that He may ask each of us: What do you want Me to do for you? And for us, as we recognize our need for forgiveness of sin, peace with God, eternal life let us know, in faith, that Jesus grants it--like He did sight to Bartimaeus.
The blind man replied, “Rabboni, I want to see again.” Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” As this man’s faith had made him well, so through faith we are saved because faith is the hand that receives the gifts and blessings our gracious and almighty God gives us. And Bartimaeus’ life was never again the same--being able to see--what did he do? --He joined that procession with Jesus. Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus on the road. And now we, having recognized our deep spiritual distress and having come to the Lord for spiritual sight; and in faith having received every heavenly gift, our lives are now different and we are part of the great procession following Jesus to heaven--the holy Church. O Jesus’ most glorious and blessed question: What do you want Me to do for you? INJ