FAITH CLINGS TO JESUS’ CROSS ALONE

Sermon Text: Luke 18:31-43 (v. 31, 35). Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.” … Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Guide us by Your truth; Your Word is truth. Lord, just as You miraculously and mercifully opened the eyes of the blind man, we need You to open our eyes and enlighten our hearts by the gift of faith. Especially give us faith that sees Jesus our Savior clearly, so that when we are stricken in our conscience, we would believe that the Gospel is for us, and we would come to Your cross, look up, and live. Amen.

Dear people whom God has redeemed by His mercy in His Son, Jesus, the Son of David: Grace, mercy, and peace to you. Amen.

God is very clear in His Word that faith is the means by which we’re saved. Faith alone. Sola fidé – “by faith alone.”

To get into heaven, you can’t have sins. You need your sins taken away. Jesus did that in His cross and resurrection. It’s always true that Jesus died for you. Look to the cross to see your salvation. It’s unchanging.

But the only way you get the benefit of it is by faith. It isn’t by faith and works, it’s by faith alone. Everyone in heaven is someone who during their life believed in Jesus and held onto this faith. It’s by faith alone that this salvation, this Savior, becomes yours – and remains yours.

Today’s gospel is a story about faith. Every time Jesus gave sight to a blind person it’s a picture of God giving faith. This is great: Faith is a big topic. We make it vague and ask, “Do I ‘have faith’? How much faith? How strong is it?” We tend to look inside. But Jesus has us look at the blind man.

In the Bible, God pictures unbelief as blindness or as darkness. St. Paul speaks of unbelievers as those “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine on them” (2Co 4:6). In 1 Corinthians 2:14, it says “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” – so this teaches that by nature each person is blinded to what God’s Word says, totally unable to believe by their own ability. Just as a blind man can’t give himself sight, we who are by nature spiritually blind can’t give ourselves faith. It takes a miracle in order to believe, the miracle of faith. It takes a miracle to keep believing.

So we see this “certain blind man begging by the road.” He’s a picture of us who are born spiritually blind. He’s also a picture of how you can become blinded to God’s truth, even willfully turning a blind eye to what God says, going against His will. It’s possible even as Christians to not see clearly. This warns against thinking that you’ve arrived in all respects in your faith. How often can you look at how self-focused you were, how you ignored the needs of others, how you let anger win, how you followed the world’s ways, how you were unthankful, and you think: “How blind I was!”

Will God give you what you deserve? Will the Lord pass you by? We see here that the answer, the good news, the Gospel, is: No. He stops for you.

What the blind man cries out is what we say: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” It’s only mercy that keeps Him from passing us by. Jesus stood still and said to the man, “What do you want Me to do for you?” – knowing full well, yet wanting him to say it. He replied, “Lord, that I may receive my sight” – not just saying the right answer about who Jesus is, as God and Man, but also calling Him “my Lord.” That’s faith from the heart.

When Jesus says, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you,” it’s also a picture of what He does in giving you faith. When the Holy Spirit gives you faith, you receive your sight. The point is that yes, you have sinful blindness, but now He opens your eyes, gives you eyes to see: faith.

But it’s not just faith in general, or a generic faith. We aren’t just “people of faith.” We don’t look to our faith, how we believe, for assurance; it’s faith in Christ that saves. We look to Christ. We aren’t Faith-ians. We’re Christians! The blind man whom Jesus heals has only one thought, and that is to follow Jesus, the One who gave him sight.

“He followed Jesus” on the road, but where was that road leading? We know the answer from the first part of this reading: Jesus was on the road to the cross. Before seeing the blind man, Jesus told His disciples: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and (He) will be mocked and (He will be) insulted and (He will be) spit upon. They will scourge Him and (they will) kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

The blind man follows this Jesus on the road to the cross. This is what it is to see with eyes of faith. Instead of an introspective act, asking, “Do I have faith? Do I have enough faith? Is my faith really real?” – looking inside – “faith to the cross of Christ doth cling,” this is how you “rest in Him securely.”

Here we see that Jesus is the object of our faith. You believe in Jesus. We are believers in Him. If you feel doubts about your faith, the solution isn’t to look inside for faith, it’s too look to the cross. “Do you believe that Christ died for you?” Answering “Yes,” is faith, faith that saves. Again, look outside yourself. Look to the Word. See what His Word says. It says: “Christ died for all” (2Cor 5:15). In the season of Lent we hear Jesus say: “Father, forgive them,” about the people who killed Him. Your faith comes from the Gospel, from the cross, from His Word which is powerful to give you faith.

Clinging to Jesus’ cross is faith. It’s what faith is: clinging to His cross. This faith that clings to Jesus’ cross is something God wants you to use:

1. Use this faith that clings to Jesus’ cross to see yourself rightly. You say you have faith, yet you can feel guilty or worthless and you judge yourself harshly. You often form your self-perception based on something – opinions of others, or that you judge yourself – but other than what God says you are. In Christ, you are forgiven. God is not angry with you. He doesn’t judge you to be lacking, in Christ He judges you innocent, not guilty, perfectly acceptable. Come to the cross, see yourself as He sees you. Come to church, hear what He says to you and about you! He loves you!

Especially: see Jesus. See what He did. He accomplished everything the prophets said He would do. He did it out of love for you. See His suffering. See Him being killed. See Him rise from the dead, and live and reign to all eternity. He did all of it for you. You reign with Him. If you feel accused and feel the weight of your sins, see how the accusations fell on Him and He carried the full weight of your sins. He actually sets you free. Let the way you see yourself be determined and formed by Jesus’ cross!

2. Use this faith that clings to Jesus’ cross to see others rightly. We’re always too eager to be offended. When the devil gets us to do this, not only do you turn against someone but you hurt your own faith with self-righteousness. To see others sola fidé – using “faith alone” as a guide – is to not judge with your eyes but with the eyes of faith.

We think judging by people’s words and actions is all we have to go on. But we have something else: Christ died for them. His blood cleanses us from all sin – the sins you do as well as the sins committed against you. Clinging to Jesus’ cross, has you seeing everyone you meet as someone whom Jesus’ blood redeemed, someone He loves just as much as He loves you. “Faith alone” isn’t only about individual faith but also that the Holy Spirit gathers His Church. You’re part of a “we.” In the creed we say that the one holy Christian Church is something we believe in! Not based on what I see in others, but what they are in view of His cross, by faith in Him.

3. Use this faith that clings to Jesus’ cross to see your crosses rightly. We believe that when God sends crosses and trials, He tests our faith in order to strengthen it. But when your faith is being tested by stresses and pressures, often it can feel weak. You’re tempted to think wrongly of your faith, especially to judge your own thoughts harshly. We have to remember that “the blessedness of Christians is not based on pleasant feelings but on the assurance that, despite the bitterest feelings imaginable, Christians are accepted by God” for Jesus’ sake (C.F.W. Walther, Law and Gospel, 347). Faith must cling to the cross!

But in these situations, what’s actually happening is that the devil is attacking your faith. He attacks it precisely because you have it, because it is the right faith founded on Jesus Christ and he wants to take it away. So this is when you pray. Prayer is just faith speaking. You’re using your faith that clings to Jesus’ cross in your time of trouble!

God has designed it this way, that these afflictions – which Satan thinks will defeat your faith – actually bring you to pray, and then bring you back to God’s Word, to Jesus’ cross, to His Supper, where God breathes life into your faith and actually makes it stronger so that your faith becomes hope, that is founded on something unshakable and with which you fight against the devil, you fight against faintheartedness and sadness and gloom, and you fight with courage and steadfastness and joy.

It comes from clinging to Jesus, to His cross and His Word: what His Word says to you, and about you. Your faith is based not on feeling but on the blesséd fact of God’s unbounded love for you in Christ. Amen!