Blind man in Jericho Luke 18 2025

Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, and dear children

too, let me ask the children a question. Do you

remember ever having your heart set on something?

Maybe a really cool toy, or a video game? Or

to go someplace special. And that was just all

you could think about. Remember that? And for

the rest of us, I mean, maybe being older, do

you remember perhaps falling in love? And all

you could think about was that person. And what

you would do with that person if you went to

this place. And what you would think if you went

here. I mean, it was my 42nd anniversary. this

last week, and I still remember that, and that's

a good thing. We want to remember those things.

They're very special, not too old. Well, this

gospel we have today is a perfect example of

what it means to have your heart set on something

so intensely, so real, so necessary, so absolutely

essential. And it's the perfect gospel to follow

along from last week where we heard Jesus having

been baptized. We celebrated that two weeks ago.

He comes to the land of Galilee and the place

of darkness and the shadow of death to a people

that were pagan. They never have heard the gospel.

And he says, repent. Repent. Repent as a change

of heart, not a guilt trip. Repent as the heart

set on Christ, not feeling bad about yourself.

So let's look at this gospel briefly. So often

the gospels record our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ

on a journey. He's going from one place to another.

And St. Luke records in this. we heard today

from chapter 18, that Jesus was walking up to

the gates of the city of Jericho. There was a

large group of people following him. He was on

his last trip to Jerusalem. This is chapter 18

Isaiah 18 · chapter mention

of Luke, after all. We're getting near. We're

getting near the end. And there in Jericho, he

would very soon... Call Zacchaeus down from his

perch in the tree. You see the fresco up there.

And not so far from us even is Zacchaeus Sunday.

And after that, you know what comes. Great Lent,

this holy, this incredible time in which our

heart is trained to desire the one thing needful.

And then Jesus, after he sees Zacchaeus, just

like the fresco show, Palm Sunday. The Last Supper,

the washing of the feet, the arrest. This is

all before us, brothers and sisters, to captivate

our heart, to keep us thinking about what it

is that the Lord has done for us. But before

Jesus sees Zacchaeus, he needs to do something.

Before he goes to Jerusalem on the way to the

cross in Palm Sunday, he needs to do something.

The merciful Lord needs to see this man. Jesus

entered Jericho into those gates with a large

crowd of people. And St. Luke tells us that there

was a blind beggar at the gate. Perfect place,

right? We see needy people at major intersections,

Costco and such. even now, so you know why he

was there. And Saint Mark, in his version of

this gospel, tells us that that blind beggar

was named Bartimaeus. The name Bartimaeus means

son, bar, of Timaeus. And Saint Mark... records

that name for a specific purpose, not just, well,

we knew his name was Bartimaeus and that was

it. No, it's because without a doubt, those in

the Jerusalem church community, the early church

community, would know that man, would know Bartimaeus,

will have known somebody that knew him. And they

could get verification from this man. about what

happened. Go ask Barnabas. He'll tell you how

he was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ and how

he began to follow him. That's what they could

have said. And St. Luke goes on. He says, in

hearing a multitude passing by, the blind beggar

asked what it meant. So they told him, they,

these people, this crowd around him, that Jesus

of Nazareth was passing by. Immediately, this

man begins to cry out. Not Jesus of Nazareth,

help me, give me food and money. No. But Jesus,

son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of

David, have mercy on me. Jesus, over and over,

he's crying out. And St. Luke says, and those

who were there warned him. Like, if you don't

stop. Warn him he should be quiet, but he cried

out the more, Jesus, son of David, have mercy

on me. His heart was captivated by this one thing.

And we might think that the crowd was just telling

this man, be quiet. You're disturbing us. The

prophet is coming. Who are you? You're a nobody.

And the assumption of the time would have been,

you're blind. cursed by God. You're homeless.

God has abandoned you. You're nobody. Why don't

you just get out of the way? The Christian revolution

changed that understanding, but that was the

common understanding. If you were poor, that's

where you belonged. If you were blind, God must

have cursed you. We do the same, sort of. We

look at people on the street corner, kind of

the same sometimes, don't we? What is with that

guy? Wow. But St. John Chrysostom tells us it's

more than just all of that, that this man was

a nobody for these people, that he was disturbing

their peace, that he was probably just getting

in the way. St. John Chrysostom tells us that

Bartimaeus is confessing His faith in Jesus,

son of David, which means the Christ, the Messiah.

Christ and Messiah are the same word. And those

that are rebuking him, telling him to stop from

yelling this, found it dangerous because it was

in front of the Romans. And he should just...

be quiet, because you don't know where this is

going to lead. Jesus is not merely Jesus of Nazareth,

is he? He is the Pentecrotter, the ruler of all

things, by whom, for whom, and in whom everything

was created. He is the savior of all, especially

those that believe, says St. Paul. Like this

man, brothers and sisters, if you are not experiencing

some resistance to the gospel, to the confession

of Jesus as really the Lord and master of your

life, not the great therapist giving you good

health, but the one who leads you to the cross,

the one who gives meaning to the suffering that

we have, the one who... answers their prayers

the one who created all things both in heaven

and earth if you don't expect and have some resistance

then you're not doing it right I don't mean from

maybe other people that can happen too no I mean

from within the resistance of our fallen nature

just not wanting to follow that Jesus and the

Lord Hearing Bartimaeus cry out, Jesus, Son of

David, have mercy on me. We know what the word

mercy means, right? We sing it. How many times,

maybe at the end of the liturgy, somebody in

the choir or the congregation can tell me how

many times we sing Lord have mercy. Jesus hearing

that says to the man, to those with him, bring

him to me. And it says Jesus stopped. And it

just doesn't say Jesus stopped. In the Greek

it said he stood still. Stood still, quietly,

perfectly still with all the hubbub around him.

And the man came and Jesus said, not an impertinent

question, but a question that we need to ask

for ourselves too. What do you want me to do

for you? We're his disciples also. Well, Barnabas

knew what he wanted. He was praying with his

whole mind, his whole heart, his voice, his body.

Crying out, he didn't care what people said.

Because in his faith that Jesus was the one who

could help him, he said to receive because he

knew it's a gift. See, we take it as just a given,

right? We see, we taste, we feel. We walk. We

talk. We think. It's all a gift, brothers and

sisters. It's all a gift. This man knew. Having

no sight, he knew it would be a gift. We take

it for granted. Don't take it for granted. Give

thanks to God every day for the simplest things

that you have in your life. I want to receive

my sight, he said. And Jesus says to him, Because

this man's prayer had faith. Not in his mind.

No one's interrogating the perfection of his

theological thinking. Your faith has made you

well, Jesus says. Affirming and lifting this

man up. Barnabas, the blind man. Had never seen

Christ. Perhaps he had heard of him. Yes. Just

like us. Our faith comes through hearing. Blessed

are those that have believed yet have not seen.

There's Thomas up there to remind us about that.

And Bartimaeus had never seen the resurrection.

and those who live according to the power of

the resurrection, given in baptism, like us.

Bartimaeus did not know the power of the Holy

Spirit within him, dwelling with him and being

chrismated. Bartimaeus did not know any of the

saints. He just knew some miserable people around

him telling him to shut up. Bartimaeus did not

have the divine liturgy. He did not have Holy

Communion. He did not have the New Testament.

He did not have... all the riches of the church,

and yet he cried out because he had faith that

that man, Jesus, was more and merely just that

man. He wasn't just Jesus from Nazareth. He was

king, pontocrater, king of all. And he was healed,

and it says he glorified God and followed Christ.

Christ comes to Jericho, brothers and sisters,

not as the friendly therapist, not to give good

health, but to give us sight. And if we can repent

like St. John said to do, and as Jesus said to

do, we heard in last week's gospel, and mean

that our whole heart, our existence, we know

depends on Jesus Christ and nothing else. then

our prayer will have the same intensity and the

Lord will answer us too. St. Ephraim the Syrian,

his frescoes over there, that aisle, said, the

light came into the world, Jesus, right, to give

sight to the blind and faith to those who lack

it. The beggar's hand was stretched out to receive

a penny from human beings at that gate. and found

himself receiving the gift of God. And the prophet

Jeremiah tells us that the Lord says, And ye

shall seek me, and find me. And when ye shall

search for me with all your heart, I will come

to you. Blind Bartimaeus did that. This is our

example today, to give the Lord our full heart,

not a portion of it. to have fervency of faith,

faith in action. To our Lord be glory, now and

ever, to ages of ages. Amen.