The Fourth Sunday of Lent Jesus Blind and Deaf Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Speaking about our Lord Jesus, Isaiah the prophet says at the end of today’s Old Testament, Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as My dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; His ears are open, but He does not hear. Dear Christian friends, God uses many ways in His Bible to describe the salvation you and I now have in Christ Jesus. SIGHT and HEARING are two of those ways. We believe because our blind eyes have been opened to SEE Christ—just like the man in today’s Gospel (John 9:1-41). We HEAR the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of the resurrection because our deaf ears have been unstopped—unstopped by the power of God’s Word and Spirit, which have been given to us. According to the Scriptures, SEEING and HEARING are our salvation. God has written, for example, · The deaf shall hear the Words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29:18). · The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears off the deaf unstopped (Isaiah 35:5). · Remember, too, how John the Baptist sent men to Jesus, asking if Jesus truly is the Christ. Jesus sent the messengers back to John saying, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind are receiving their sight… and the deaf are hearing” (Mathew 11:4-5). In the same way that God uses SIGHT and HEARING as images for our salvation, He also uses BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS to say the opposite thing. Throughout His Scriptures, God uses BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS to describe separation from God, unbelief, and judgment. For example, · Jesus described false teachers as “blind leaders of the blind” (Matthew 15:14). They all fall into the same pit! · Peter stated that, if you lack faith in Christ and love for neighbor, you are “so nearsighted that you are blind” (2 Peter 1:9). · Isaiah even uses BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS as a way of describing people who are so hardened and rebellious that God must finally act against them: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand,” said the Lord. “Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make… their ears heavy and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10). So God uses SIGHT and HEARING to speak about faith and salvation in His Bible, while BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS to describe separation from God, unbelief, and judgment. Why is this important for you to know and understand? Because God speaks about our Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel, describing Jesus in the opposite way that you might expect. God says that our Lord Jesus is BLIND and DEAF: Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as My dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; His ears are open, but He does not hear. We know that these Words speak about our Lord Jesus because these Words come from Isaiah chapter 42. God later says in the book of Matthew (chapter 12) that Isaiah chapter 42 is about Jesus! Who is blind but My servant Jesus, or deaf as Jesus, My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as Jesus, My dedicated one, or blind as Jesus the servant of the LORD? Jesus sees many things, but does not observe them; Jesus’ ears are open, but He does not hear. By describing our Lord Jesus as BLIND and DEAF, God brings us to an astounding place. By describing our Lord Jesus as BLIND and DEAF, God gives us a wonderful and compelling picture of our salvation! 1. God has given us the SIGHT of salvation and the HEARING of our forgiveness, and He accomplished this by BLINDING His Son, so to speak, and by DEAFENING the ears of His Chosen One. By calling Jesus BLIND in today’s Old Testament, God is indicating that Jesus bore the full weight of separation from God, condemnation for unbelief, and judgment for sin that was due to all people. Jesus became the blind man and the deaf man; He became the rebel, the adulterer, the idolater, the despiser, the man separated from God. He knew no sin (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21) except ours (Isaiah 53:4-5, John 1:29). He took our blindness to give us sight. He was deafened in order that we might hear.“Who is blind but My servant Jesus, or deaf as Jesus, My messenger whom I send?” NO ONE – because “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). 2. By describing Jesus as BLIND and DEAF in today’s Old Testament, God is also giving you a great way to think about your Lord’s disposition toward you, that is, His attitude toward you on a daily basis. “Who is blind but My servant Jesus, or deaf as Jesus, My messenger?” What a blessing! We each sin much every day, and because of our sins we deserve nothing but punishment. But God says that Jesus is blind toward our sinful actions. Jesus deaf toward the despicable things we allow to proceed from our mouths. He sees many things, but does not observe them; His ears are open, but He does not hear. Sometimes mommies or daddies might say to their misbehaving children, “What would Jesus say if He saw you doing that, or if He heard you say that?” Today’s Old Testament gives the child a very good, a very pious answer to such questions: “Jesus would have nothing to say about my sin, mommy! ‘He sees many things, but does not observe them.’ I know you can see, and I know I’m gonna have to pay, but Jesus is BLIND to my sin because it has all been washed away in His blood. I know you can hear my sassy mouth, daddy, and I’m sorry for that. But Jesus didn’t hear it. ‘His ears are open, but He does not hear’!” (Such responses might be somewhat dangerous, but they are full of faith!) The BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS of our Lord is nothing short of a gift—a gift of His mercy and the assurance of His grace. It is also a very good gift that we Christians can give to one another on a daily basis. Have you not been baptized into Christ? Do you not participate in His Body and His Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar? Has not Jesus said, in a clear and simple way, “You are in Me and I am in you”? (John 17:21) There are many benefits to this close connection with Jesus that God has given to you and to me. One of the benefits is that we may apply to ourselves many of the things that are written in the Scriptures concerning our Christ. Today’s Old Testament is a good example. Jesus is here described as “the servant of the Lord”—and these Words likewise describe you. By virtue of your Baptism—by virtue of your inclusion in Christ’s death and resurrection—you, too, are the servant of the Lord. Today’s Old Testament can find good application in both your life and mine: Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as My dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; His ears are open, but He does not hear. Just as Jesus is blind and deaf to the sin all around Him—both to your sin and to my sin—likewise turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the sin that is around you. God has given each of us the power to bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2), just as Jesus bears with us. Through His Word and Spirit, God has created in each of us the forbearance and love to see many things—many objectionable acts in our brothers and sisters—but not observe them. God has opened our ears, but not to hear the things that fall so easily, so thoughtlessly, from our neighbor’s lips. According to today’s Old Testament, even BLINDNESS and DEAFNESS can become acts of love. May God grant that we each continue to live in love. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
