Quinquagesima – February 15, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus told his disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem.

He would be delivered over to Pontius Pilate. He will be mocked and shamefully treated.

He will be spit upon and flogged. He would be killed.

He didn't stop there. He went on to say, And on the third day he will rise from the dead.

This was not the first time that Jesus told his disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem.

As a matter of fact, he mentions these things in two other times.

Yet the disciples did not understand what he was talking about.

They did not grasp the true identity of Jesus and his mission,

at least not yet. This is strange.

The disciples walked with Jesus for three years.

They saw his miracles. They heard his preaching. They saw that he had power

over the demons and the devil himself.

They confessed him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And still, when Jesus talked about his suffering, death, and resurrection,

they did not understand it.

They expected glory without a cross, a kingdom without suffering,

and a savior without sacrifice.

And then we are shown a contrast from a man who is a beggar, a blind beggar.

He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, and so he immediately cried

out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

Though he had never seen Jesus with his eyes, he recognized him through his ears by hearing.

You might say his ears were his eyes of faith. He cried out,

Son of David, and this is a messianic title, identifying Jesus as the promised Savior.

This blind beggar understood the identity of Jesus and his mission,

that Jesus has come to redeem mankind by his blood upon the cross.

There is somewhat of a reversal here. The disciples have sight,

but they do not see the identity and mission of Jesus.

The beggar has no sight, yet he sees this clearly.

The disciples struggle with doubt, but the beggar has faith.

This is a warning for all of us, because we may know about Jesus,

us, but fail to grasp who he is and why he's come here on earth.

We may know the stories of his birth, his miracles, his life,

his death, his resurrection.

We may recite the creeds and scripture and hear the word of God read and preached.

But knowing the facts is not the same thing as having saving faith in Christ.

Even the demons know the scriptures. They know who Jesus is.

And the devil himself quoted scripture when he tempted Jesus there in the wilderness.

But yet the demons and the devil do not trust in that word as their source of life and salvation.

I remember speaking with someone, inviting them to church, and they said,

Oh, I don't need to go. I already know everything.

I said, Yeah, but as sinners, we need the Lord's Supper, the forgiveness of sins.

So what is Christianity to you? Is it merely a set of morals and merely how

to live a good life apart from any gospel?

Is Christianity just something cultural with family or friends?

Or is Christianity the good news that Christ died and rose again for you for

the forgiveness of sins and for your life and salvation?

Yes, it is. The disciples were blind toward Jesus' identity and mission.

Are we blind too?

St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, The natural man, the sinful nature inside of us,

does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to

him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

We cannot, by our own reason of strength, believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to him.

Our sinful nature resists the gospel. It thinks that the gospel is foolish.

Why would God the Father send his son to suffer and die on the cross, they say?

Left to ourselves, we would remain in darkness.

Deggars have nothing to give. They only receive.

They depend entirely on the mercy and the welfare of others.

They hold out their hand and receive money or food.

And this is exactly who we are before God.

We are beggars. We don't bring anything before God, nothing to him, except our sin.

We do not give God something so that he will reward us.

Rather, he gives us the gift of faith.

We receive it as a gift.

The Holy Spirit calls us by the gospel, enlightens us with his gifts,

sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith.

The Holy Spirit does this. We hear the word and the Holy Spirit created faith

in us and strengthens and nurtures that faith in us by the word of God.

He opens our eyes to see that Jesus is our one and only Savior and there is no other.

The blind beggar came to faith in Christ in the same way he heard.

He heard about the prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Savior.

He heard from our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 35 that the Savior will give sight to the blind.

No prophet did that in the Old Testament, but the promised Savior will do that.

He heard of Jesus' works and words. He heard that Jesus was passing by.

And the eyes of the blind man, I'm sorry, the ears of the blind man became his eyes, if you will.

And through that hearing, the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart so that

he then confessed Jesus as the son of David.

Paul writes that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.

His prayer was simple and short. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

It wasn't eloquent. It wasn't long.

It was a cry from a sinner to the mercy, begging the mercy of Jesus.

We cry out for mercy again and again in the divine service.

When we confessed our sins this morning, the word mercy, by the way, is found four times.

Merciful Father, have mercy upon us, we're sinners.

And then in the Kyrie, we sang, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

And then in the glory in excelsis, we ask for mercy from the Lamb of God who

takes away the sin of the world.

And before we receive the Lord's Supper this morning, we again sing,

well, oh Christ, the Lamb of God, have mercy upon us.

We come to this table as a beggar, opening our mouth, and he gives us his body and blood.

The Christian life is a life of crying out for mercy and receiving it.

The Christian life is a life of crying out for mercy because we are sinners,

and we need, we need what God has.

If you are undergoing suffering or tribulation, you don't know what to say or

what to pray, just pray, Lord have mercy.

If you are sick or in pain and don't know what to say or don't know what to

pray, just simply pray, Lord have mercy.

If you mourn the death of a loved one, then just simply pray, Lord have mercy.

You can pray for mercy anywhere, at any time, especially in times of trouble.

Notice what happens next. The crowds rebuked the blind man, telling him to be silent.

They thought that Jesus doesn't have time for this poor beggar.

And furthermore, they thought that this poor beggar is unworthy of Jesus' mercy.

And so also, the world often tries to silence the gospel.

It tries to destroy the gospel. It says that there is no place for the message

of sin, or of grace, or a need for a crucified Savior.

It prefers a message of self-righteousness.

It mocks those who cling to Christ alone for salvation.

We live in a world that is hostile to the gospel, wants to silence it.

But the blind man refuses to be silent.

He cried out all the more son of David

have mercy on me it is

as if the blind beggar said no I will not be

quiet I firmly believe that Jesus is the son of God the promised Messiah the

promised Savior he is a God of mercy even toward beggars like me if Jesus gave

hearing to the deaf then I believe that he can give me sight.

I have nowhere else to turn.

Faith is persistent.

Faith refuses to be silent.

Faith is not ashamed of the gospel. Faith confesses Christ alone as our one

and only Savior, come what may.

The blind beggar could have asked Jesus for money or food, but he asked for something greater.

He asked for the ability to see, knowing Isaiah 35.

And Jesus said to him, recover your sight.

Your faith has made you well. And he was given sight immediately.

What a beautiful picture of the gospel. The man who was blind now sees.

The man who sat now stands up and follows Jesus.

The man who cried for mercy now gives thanks to God in the person of Jesus.

And all of it is from Christ and it's received by the beggar through faith.

And so it is with us. We cry out for mercy and he answers us.

He may not restore us from physical ailments or in sickness,

but he does something greater.

He forgives our sin. He reconciles us with the Father.

He gives us eternal life. And even now at this altar, he gives us his very body

and blood for the forgiveness of all our sins.

Faith simply receives.

After receiving his sight, the man followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem.

What did the beggar see in Jerusalem? He saw that Jesus opened his hand and a nail went through it.

He saw that Jesus was crucified on the cross.

He saw that Jesus was begging the Father to forgive the sins of those who crucified him.

He saw Jesus begging for a drink, and yet they only gave him vinegar.

And he saw the Lamb of God bearing the sin of the whole world,

what do you see when you look at the cross do you see a good man that is suffering

unjustly oh how sad this is.

Or do you see the Son of God giving his life for you?

When you look at the cross, do you see your sin upon him?

On the cross, Jesus was the object of scorn so that you might be the object of God's love.

He was cursed so that you may be blessed.

He was stripped of his clothing so that you may be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

He was wounded so that you may be healed of all your sins.

He was forsaken so that you may be forgiven. He died so that you may live.

On the third day, he rose from the dead.

Just as he said death cannot defeat him.

Because Jesus lives you too shall live his resurrection is your victory after

Pentecost the disciples,

the apostles finally understood the Holy Spirit opened their minds to understand

the scriptures and they saw clearly the necessity of Christ's death and his

resurrection the once blind disciples now see clearly.

They planted churches, they ordained pastors, they spread the gospel to all nations,

and they proclaim the message boldly, even in the face of persecution,

and even if they died a martyr's death. It didn't matter.

What about you? Jesus says, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it. Whatever loses his life for my

sake and the gospels will save it.

There is a cost to following Jesus. As a believer in Christ,

deny the world's definition of success and popularity.

Deny pride your sinful desires or craving for approval from the world.

Pick up your cross of suffering and follow Christ. Do not try to save your life

according to the worldly standards,

but believe that salvation is found in Christ alone and no one else.

Do not be selfish or self-centered, but rather put yourself before others,

helping them and caring for them.

Therefore, since you have received mercy from God, you show forth mercy toward others.

Since you have been loved by God, then love others sacrificially.

Since you have been forgiven by God, then forgive others.

Since you have been given sight, walk as children of light.

And when we stumble, and when doubts and fears arise, which will happen,

we will return again to plead for mercy, and God gives us mercy again and again.

We are all beggars, but we are We are beggars who have been given faith.

We are blind, but we also have the eyes of faith.

We are sinners, but we have been forgiven.

We are dying, and yet we shall live. Jesus says, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.

Jesus, his disciples, and the blind man who now sees were following Jesus.

Jesus said, We, we are. We are together going up to Jerusalem. Thank you.

Well, we are on a journey, not to the city of Jerusalem, but to our home above.

Jesus leads, and we gladly follow.

This world is not our eternal home. The world may mock us, oppose us,

or try to silence us, but count it all joy.

We are in the world, but we are not of it. We have a Savior who hears our cries,

who forgives us, and who strengthens our faith with his word and sacrament.

Therefore, follow Christ.

Trust him. Cling to him.

He is your refuge and strength, and he will lead you all the way to our eternal home in heaven.

Thanks be to God. Amen. Bye-bye.