Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me!
Luke 18:31-43
March 3, 2019 anno Domini
Seeing guys are blind and a blind guy sees. That’s how it is with Jesus and with the Kingdom of God.
The twelve could see, but could not see. Jesus tells them for the third time exactly what is going to happen to Him. They were going up to Jerusalem – the Son of Man will be delivered over to Gentiles (Pontius Pilate and King Herod) and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon (by the Jewish council, the Roman soldiers, and the crowd). And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”
How is it that they understood none of these things? That this saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said? Most preschoolers in Sunday school can tell you what Jesus did. He died on the cross for our sins. What happened next? He rose from the dead.
These twelve knew that Jesus was God. They had seen Him cleanse 10 lepers, cast out demons. Peter, James, and John, had witnessed His Divine glory first hand at the Transfiguration. You can imagine their excitement, their joy, and their hope as they witnessed Jesus perform miracles. As the crowds gather and His reputation spreads these ordinary men begin to believe that this Jesus is going places and they are going with Him. Herod had tried to kill Him at birth, but didn’t succeed. Satan had tempted Him but failed. A crowd in Nazareth tried to assassinate Him and He just walked away.
So how could He die? Why would He die? What good would that do for us? I’m not going to believe in a god who can’t keep himself alive. Without faith the death of Jesus Christ is an offense and scandal. What sort of fool would believe that God’s death would do anyone any good?
It’s not hard to understand the twelve not understanding. Martin Luther once said that with our hearts we make our own gods. Whatever you set your heart on, whatever you place your faith in becomes your god. We put our fear, love, and trust in a husband or wife, a child’s success, a job, a retirement account balance. But what happens when the “god” on whom we’ve set our heart informs us that he’s dying? We can’t believe it. We don’t understand it. This thing, this person upon which we have set our life and future and hope is dying. We are devastated and we don’t want to believe it.
Why do we make so many false gods? Because false gods are easier on the eyes us than the true God. We like gods who serve us what we want, but the true God tells us the truth and it hurts. You’re dying because you’re a sinner. You only hope is My forgiveness.
Jesus of Nazareth, is true God, begotten of His Father from eternity and also true man born of the Virgin Mary, but the twelve made Him a false god. They had lost sight that the Old Testament promised the Messiah would come for one and only one purpose – to be the Sacrifice for sins, to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to be God’s Servant who would suffer God’s punishment in our place, as our substitute. God became a man to die for you so that you could be forgiven of your sins and live. That is what the Old Testament teaches, but the twelve had made Jesus into their own kind of god – a god of success not suffering, a popular god not a punished god, a living legacy not a dead deity. These seeing guys do not see.
Meanwhile a blind guy sees, even before he receives his sight. This blind man, sitting by the roadside begging, hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” His cries disrupt the people around him, so that tell him to shut up. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Here is faith. Faith believes what God’s Word says even when you don’t see it. Faith confesses God’s Word even when the crowd of the world tells you to shut up. The blind man didn’t go with his eyes – he couldn’t. The Word of God from the Old Testament, the Word of mouth from the eyewitnesses to Jesus, brought him to faith.
The Old Testament preaches Jesus. Some people mistakenly believe that the Old Testament is a book of outdated rules and weird laws about eating shellfish. They believe it’s some patriarchal propaganda to keep women in check. The Old Testament preaches Christ from Genesis to Malachi. To Adam and Eve God promised a serpent crushing Son. To Abraham a Son of promise who would bring blessing to the world. To David a Son who would sit on his throne forever and rule an eternal kingdom. In the Psalms we hear Jesus cry out from the cross. In the Proverbs Jesus is God’s wisdom. Through Isaiah this son is promised to be born of a Virgin and to bear our sins and suffer for our iniquities. In Jonah we see a picture of Jesus rising on the third day. In Micah we learn the Savior will be born in Bethlehem.
What do we see in the Old Testament? We see that God is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. He did not kill Adam and Eve the day they sinned. He delivered Noah and his family from judgment in the ark. He chose Abraham and kept his promise even when Abraham sex trafficked his wife Sarah. He preserved that rascal Jacob and kept his sons alive even though they sold brother Joseph into slavery. The prophets tell of God’s faithful pursuit of his faithless and fickle bride.
So a blind man confesses what he has heard and believes but cannot see, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus restored sight to the blind man He showed Himself to be God, to be merciful, to be the Messiah. Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah will open the eyes of the blind. (ch. 35) Nowhere in the Old Testament is a blind person’s sight restored, but here Jesus does it, on His way to Jerusalem. He fulfilled everything that is written in the OT.
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. This is what faith believes and cries out. This faith causes God to rejoice for it means you’ve heard, you believe, and you know that Jesus is the only Savior and that for Christ’s sake God is merciful to you a sinner. God rejoices to help beggars who bring nothing of their own, but look to Him alone for help.
God is merciful in Jesus. This is His mercy. You are a sinner, but Christ gets your sins. You deserve hell, but God casts Jesus off. God is angry at you, but His anger burns itself out on Jesus. This is His mercy — that Jesus on the cross is God. God’s blood is shed for your sin. God’s body dies your death. God’s side is pierced for your transgressions. You need a way out of death, and Christ leads the way for you. He dies for your sin and where sin is forgiven there is life.
So don’t be timid in your faith! Believe what you cannot see, but have heard! Don’t let the world quiet you! Raise your voice. Cry out to God. Call Him who He is and what He is – Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Such faith is always answered, always forgiven, and always healed. Even when you don’t see it you have God’s word on it, in the name of Jesus. Amen.