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Our Sight Received

Preached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX

Quinquagesima Sunday, 2011

by The Rev. Stephen E. Stults

Luke 18:41  What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

Our Gospel selection for the day features our Lord in a familiar way, that of the itinerate preacher, wending His way around the Judean countryside. In this case, he is “going up” to Jerusalem, and along the way He explains what is about to befall Him. In fact, all three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke tell this same story, how He took his twelve disciples aside and explained what was to happen. It is an amazing bit of prophecy, as the Christ tells them plainly what would later be accomplished in Jerusalem.

What is curious is their reaction, or lack thereof, according to the Gospel accounts. In Mark and Matthew, there is no reaction recorded. Only in Luke are we told that “And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they comprehend the things which were spoken” (Luke 18:34). It seemed that they had no reaction at all. Maybe it was because they were totally dumbfounded, or simply that they didn’t know what to think because God had closed their minds to the idea. In fact, in Matthew and Mark, the story shifts immediately to the strange request of the Zebedee brothers, James and John. Recall that this is where they request to be seated at Christ’s right and left hand, when he had returned to His glory in Heaven.

That particular request is a distraction from the main message of this passage, however interesting and “quirky” it may have been of them to ask it. Suffice it to say that Christ’s piercing question is rather chilling, as He says, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

Of course, the disciples James and John declare, in their ignorance and arrogance, “We are able.” To this presumptuous reply, Christ replies that they will indeed “drink His cup,” i.e. undergo persecution, even martyrdom, but yet their request is not His to give.

The scene shifts suddenly to Jericho, and it is here that we will glean our most benefit from the passage. As they enter the city, “a certain blind man sat by the way side begging” (Luke 18:35). Evidently, he heard the tumult of the crowd surrounding Jesus and enquired about it. When he was told it was Jesus of Nazareth, his reaction is immediate. He cries out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me” (Luke 18:38). He knows who Jesus is, and motivated by the desire to be whole, he cries out in his neediness. In all three accounts, the crowd tried to silence him as if embarrassed by his naked need, but he was insistent. In fact, he was so much so that Our Lord stood and called for him to be brought to him. One very moving detail given to us in Mark’s gospel is that the crowd told him, “Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee” (Mark 10:49), almost as one would comfort a frantic child. At any rate, the point is clear: his need was absolute. The point is also clear that Christ’s mercy met him at his greatest need.

How did this man have the faith to come to Jesus? What triggered his desperate need to be heard and recognized by Christ? We don’t know, except to say that the Holy Spirit used this moment to manifest Christ’s glory.

As usual, as before practically every miracle that our Lord performed, He asks the would-be recipient a question: what is that you want me to do for you? Christ always did this, except with the case of the young demoniac of Mark 5, who presumably couldn’t speak for himself. He asks the question of faith and receives the answer necessary for the miracle: “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Christ’s response is both telling and merciful: “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee” (Luke 18:42). The effect is immediate, spontaneous and glorious: the man receives his sight and follows Jesus, praising and glorifying God.

There are many wonderful aspects of this particular passage of Scripture, including the miracle itself, the absolute accuracy of Christ’s prophecy, as well as the story of James and John’s arrogance. All of these are wonderful and deserve our fullest attention. Yet, there may be one that stands out above all the others. It is simply this: “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

Let’s apply this to our own lives. I think we are aware of those moments when we see things rather clearly, without the usual obstructions of our own ego, our own will, or our own emotions. For alcoholics and drug addicts, this is known as “a moment of clarity.” It is that particular moment where the alcoholic or addict sees himself or herself as exactly what they are: a broken, pitiful, sick, creature in need of help, from some source. The moment of clarity is when we see ourselves as we really are: a lost creature, totally en-mired in the world, the flesh and the Devil, overcome by our sins, and totally in need of a Savior. It is a painful, but fruitful moment; and in most cases, especially for those still in bondage to alcohol, or drugs, or to their sins, one that will pass, only to be replaced by the same dreadful cycle of struggle, failure, and recrimination.

Yet, not always must it be so. Sometimes that moment of clarity may yield a sense that something else is available. There may be something that can help us escape the cycle of ourselves and our fallen-ness. That’s when we should pray, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” We need to pray that we see life as it really is, not as we would like it to be, and most importantly for what it truly is: a gift of Almighty God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “Lord, that I may receive my sight,” we pray, that we may see earthly life for it really is: a precursor to our real life with God forever. Once we have received our sight, we can be free of all the false views of life and concentrate on what is real. Just as Jesus rejected Satan’s counterfeit view of all the kingdoms of the world being offered to him, we too can reject the false picture of life given to us by this sinful and fallen world.

Yet, lest we be negative, let us recognize that receiving our sight means that we can fully appreciate the here-and-now too, in its fullest. Receiving our sight means that we recognize not only the beauty of Creation with fresh eyes, as we see the magnificence and genus behind it, but also the perfect Genius behind it and its exquisite planning. We see that Nature and the world are as they were meant to be, that is, as good as they could be after the Fall. This too, is glorious, for it recognizes that God met us at our greatest need in the person of Jesus Christ to save us from ultimate destruction.

The question remains, however, how are we to see all this in our current, stunted, half-blind state? Yes, even the fallen can recognize beauty whey they see it, but they can’t fully appreciate it unless their eyes are opened in Christ. Once this happens, they, like all of us, can see the true profundity and magnificence of Creation through new eyes.

We need new eyes, new sight to see something else, too. That simply is the way to salvation. Once again, unless we beg, “Lord, that I may receive my sight,” we cannot see the way to salvation clearly. We (that is mankind), may delude ourselves into “self-help” salvation schemes, or Eastern notions of eternal nothingness, or other such monstrous delusions.

We know that a soul, once birthed, never dies. It will not cease to be. It is eternal. The only question, ultimately, is where that soul will exist in eternity. Will it be with God, in eternal bliss, warmth, happiness and love, or will it without those things? In short, will it endure eternity in the antithesis of God? Consider, as much as you can, what we know about the attributes of God, his love, peace, joy, happiness and goodness, then “minus” all those things. This is the fate of those who do not choose to be with Him. It is unthinkable, once one has tasted the sweetness of God.

Yet, something must happen to get there. We must be able to see our way. There comes a time in every life where one must find the path and follow it to one’s own eternal destiny.

Yet, we need a guide. We need someone to show us the way and we need the ability to see it. In short, we need to receive our spiritual sight. However this happens, however we are called or impelled, or persuaded to seek it, we must have our spiritual sight. It is at point that we, like blind Bartimaeus, will clamor to be heard by our Lord. We will be insistent, we will be needy.

At the last, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit will say to us, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? “, and we shall reply, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

Then, having received our sight, we will rise and follow Jesus to eternal salvation Then, like Bartimaeus, we will say, “Glory be to God!”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

AMEN.

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