Blind Faith
St. Luke 18:31-43
February 15, 2026 anno Domini
Quinquagesima. By now you might recognize that word, although it’s not your mother tongue. It’s Latin. But you’ve heard it for several years – these Gesima Sundays: Septua – seventy, Sexa – sixty, Quinqau – fifty days until Easter. You’ve heard it. Maybe you can say it, but you wouldn’t have a clue what it means unless you were told.
Because of our sin and fallenness God’s Word is a foreign language to our ears. It’s no longer our mother tongue and so it sounds strange. Because God doesn’t work the way we work His Word calls for faith alone, to trust Him even when you do not understand what He is doing.
Take today’s Old Testament reading from 1 Samuel. Saul had been rejected as God’s King for his unfaithfulness and Samuel has been tasked with anointing a new king, but he is reluctant. The incumbent is still in office and kings don’t like prophets who don’t preach the party line – just ask Elijah or Jeremiah or John the Baptist. God tells Samuel to get going, to go to Jesse the Bethlehemite’s house to find and anoint the new king from among Jesse’s sons.
As Jesse parades his sons before Samuel, Samuel assumes that God would choose the firstborn because the firstborn son was a picture and prophecy of Christ. So, Eliab the firstborn comes and Samuel thought, “He’s the guy. One and done.” but the Lord says no. The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Well, if it wasn’t number one son, it must be number two son, Abinadab. Nope. Number 3, Shammah? Nope. Four more sons were paraded by Samuel. When number 7 walked by Samuel thought, “Finally. I’ll anoint this one and I can go home. I’m not used to working more than one day a week.” But the Lord chose none of these. There was something Samuel wasn’t seeing. So, he asks Jesse if these are all his boys. Jesse hadn’t even thought of David. He’s the youngest. He’s tending the sheep. He’s not king material, but the Lord said, “Anoint him.”
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus could not have said more plainly how He would accomplish the salvation of the world. “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.”
The Apostles had been in seminary for 3 years. They had been out on vicarage. They were days away from the final exam and ordination, but they were clueless. They didn’t understand. They could not see God’s anointed King betrayed to the Romans, mocked by the people, spit upon by the soldiers, paraded before the crowds like a fool, whipped nearly to death and then nailed naked to a cross. That’s not a winning strategy for Kings to take their throne.
The disciples can’t see, but then Jesus encounters a blind man who can see even before his sight is restored. Being blind may have been to his advantage because his ears worked well, really well. He heard the commotion as he sat begging on the road into Jericho. “What’s going on?” he asked. Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. The blind guy had heard of Jesus. Jesus had healed lepers, cast out demons, raised the dead. He made the lame walk and He gave sight to the blind. So, he cried out, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!” It’s bad enough to have beggars on your streets when royalty is passing by, but a loud-mouthed beggar is even worse. The crowds try to silence him, but the blind man is seeing too much to keep his mouth shut. He cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stops and asks the blind beggar what he wants, as if Jesus didn’t know, as if it wasn’t obvious, but Jesus asks so that we might see what faith is. Faith confesses what God’s Word says. Faith asks for what God wants to give. “Lord, let me recover my sight.” The blind man was asking Jesus to be who He is, the merciful Son of David– the Lord who created humans and, who in love, restores humanity to being human again. The blind man received his sight back.
Faith is more than hearing the Word of God. You can hear the Word of God and still not believe it or trust it. You can be like the 12 who heard all the Words but did not want to see their Savior suffer and die. You can hear the Word of forgiveness but see it as permission to keep on sinning. You can hear that same Word of forgiveness, but see your pestering sin and say, “Not me. His forgiveness doesn’t apply. My sin is too great.” You can hear God’s promise that all things are under His control. That He is loving and good, but then see a trans shooter kill some kids in Canada or cancer invade your daughter or pornography wreck your marriage, and you’ll be like Samuel looking at David or the twelve envisioning the cross and saying, “God’s Word isn’t true. He is not in control. This will never work.” When you struggle at faith alone, you need God’s Word alone and in abundance.
So let me give you some more of God’s good Word. Today’s Epistle reading is one of the best-known chapters of Scripture. Couples want it read at their wedding. It is beautiful. It is poetic, but if you don’t understand what God is saying you’re going to lose its comfort
Do you love in the way of 1 Corinthians 13? Are you patient and kind or do you get impatient and nasty? Do you let others have their way or insist on your own way? Do rejoice in the truth or do you like it when one of your enemies suffers wrong? Do you bear all things or complain about all things? Do you hope or do you despair? Do you endure or do you give up?
If 1 Corinthians 13 is primarily about our love for each other, these words convict us. How many times in the name of love do we deny God’s Word and keep silent about the truth? How often do you love yourself and insist on your own way? How patient is your love with a spouse or child or parent? How quick is your anger?
This love of 1 Corinthians 13 is not primarily about you. It’s Jesus. Jesus is love. Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus never rejoiced in wrong. Jesus bore all sin. Jesus endured hell to the end. Jesus hoped in His Father’s will alone. Let your faith hear this – you are the recipient of this unbelievable love – a love that is not reasonable or logical or calculating or self-serving. This is God’s love for you in Christ.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, likens being a Christian to being a soldier in enemy occupied territory. Since he wrote during World War 2, he said coming to church was like listening to the wireless to get the good word from headquarters. But the Word from headquarters is completely unlike what you are seeing around you. God’s Word calls you to be blind to the world and to close your eyes to what you see. God calls you to see with your ears alone, to have faith alone in His Word alone. Why? Quinquagesima. The answer is about 50 days from now, on April 5. The answer is Easter. Jesus of Nazareth walked out of His tomb 3 days after He was most certainly dead. Hundreds of witnesses saw it. Thousands of documents record it. To this day the body of Jesus is missing from His grave. He is risen as He said. His cross worked. That is the one reason to trust the Word over your eyes. Jesus believed that Word, lived that Word, and finally is that Word. Jesus promises, “Whoever believes in in Me and my Word is forgiven, will live forever, and will rise on the last day.” I know. It doesn’t look like that. It doesn’t feel like that, but that’s the good news from headquarters. So shut your eyes when your sight misleads you, silence your reason when it disagrees, and hear the Word, believe the Word alone, and have faith alone. In the name of Jesus. Amen.