The sermon for March 2 was based on Luke 18:31-43.

Grace and peace to you . . .

In today’s Gospel, the Lord gathers His disciples around Him and tells them that He is leading them up to Jerusalem for the climax of all human history. As you might expect, they are confused and fearful. St. Luke writes, “But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.”

          Whether they understood what was going to happen or not, they will go with Jesus up to Jerusalem . It will be a painful and frightening and humiliating week. They will start the week by His side; and before the week is over they will forsake Him and leave Him alone. That’s the way it is with fallen human beings.

          But Jesus isn’t going to Jerusalem for the company of the disciples. Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the judgment, and the suffering, and the death of the cross. “All the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.”

          It is precisely for confused, and frightened, and sinful disciples, and for you, that Jesus goes to Jerusalem . By His passion, suffering, and death, He gives to you His name as God’s beloved Son, His life as your righteousness, His death as your atonement, and His resurrection as your justification. He calls His disciples in the text, and He calls you through the text, to understand one thing. Christ’s revelation is this: the baptismal life is formed by the cross.

          The holy Gospel for this Sunday before Lent merges together two seemingly unrelated events: First, Jesus declares to the twelve what will happen in the coming week as they go up to Jerusalem. Second, Jesus heals “a certain blind man” outside the city of Jericho . St. Mark gives his name, Bartimaeus. He becomes personally known by the disciples. Why? Because, as all three Evangelists note, after he is healed, Bartimaeus follows Jesus to Jerusalem .

          Throughout Christ’s public ministry up to this time, He healed many people, but He did not encourage them to follow Him. Occasionally, He discourages them from following Him. Why? The reason is the same as the reason for the many times when Jesus instructs those who are healed not to report this healing to others. Jesus is concerned that, apart from the knowledge of His true mission—His mission to go to the cross—they are not in a position to understand the meaning of the healings.

          But now He is going to the cross; it is less than a week away. He does not discourage Bartimaeus from following Him, because Bartimaeus will soon see Christ’s true mission. Bartimaeus will soon discover the cross. He will experience the judgment, the suffering, the death, and the resurrection that Jesus is soon to experience. After these things, Bartimaeus will remain a disciple, and become known by the twelve. He not only receives the miracle of being able to see, but he also receives a second miracle: He sees the true purpose of the Savior of the world; He sees that the Christian life, the baptismal life, is formed by the cross.

          The Gospel is a sweet and precious message to the baptized. But, the cross! — This doesn’t seem to be such a sweet and precious thing. A necessary thing in God’s plan, yes! But, isn’t the cross something ugly and terrible? Doesn’t Christ Himself plead with the heavenly Father that the cross might pass from Him?

          Truth be told, people are queasy about the cross. It does not appear to be an easy or pleasant thing that the baptismal life is formed by the cross. This is doubly true when you not only will hear so much about the cross during the Lenten season, but you also hear your Lord tell you, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

          Christ tells His disciples what neither they, nor you, by virtue of the fallen sinful nature, want to hear. “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 will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

          This appears to be anything but “good news.” But it is good news. It is the ultimate good news. The cross is that to which all the Scriptures of the Old Testament point. The cross is the ultimate goal of God’s revelation to and through His chosen nation of Israel . The cross is the solution, the only solution, to the plight of sinful mankind. It is promised to Adam and Eve after their fall into sin. It is the point where the Messiah will crush the head of Satan at the same time that the devil sticks his fangs of death into the heel of Christ.

          The cross is the message of God’s pronouncement in the Garden. The cross is the message of the blood of the Lamb of God on the door posts in Egypt . The cross is the message of the Passover meal. The cross is the message of the Old Testament sacrificial system: The temple, the holy-of-holies, the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the bloody sacrifices, and the sprinkling of that sacrificed blood upon the faithful. The cross is the message of the prophets given to God’s sinful people. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem , and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.”

          Without the cross, God the Son takes on human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary for nothing. Without the cross, the ministry of Jesus is a failure. Without the cross, you are left in your sins!

          The baptismal life is formed by the cross, because upon that cross the Son of Man has worked redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life for a world of sinners. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” For this reason, Jesus enters Jerusalem ; He proclaims the glory of the cross: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” And lifted up He was, on the cross. Truly, it is an awesome thing that the baptismal life is formed by the cross.

          But what about this business of taking up your cross daily, and follow Christ? That, too, is part of the truth that the baptismal life is formed by the cross. The Church lives under the cross. You live under the cross. This cross is not tolerating the enemies in your life. It is not living with some disease. It is not a downturn in your financial situation. The cross of which Christ speaks is that, as God’s adopted child, you experience a portion of the sufferings of Christ. Your baptismal life, along with Anna’s, will bear Christ’s cross here in time and Christ’s crown only in eternity.

          The cross of suffering is a precious treasure because it leads you to rejoice in the cross and resurrection of your Lord. The cross of suffering brings you to your knees precisely so that God’s grace can raise you up—grace alone, not grace plus what you do with it. The cross of suffering brings you to repentance so that you might live by faith—faith alone, not faith plus your good deeds. The cross of suffering brings you to your knees precisely so that you cling to Christ—Christ alone, and not your participation with Him.

          The sinful nature does not like the cross. It wants anything but the cross. But the new creation God made you in baptism looks only to the cross. It is the source of strength for facing every struggle in life. The cross marks you as Christ’s own, as you receive that mark on your mind and heart in baptism, even as Anna received it. The cross brings you forgiveness, life, and salvation, as you feast on the food given from the cross, the broken Body and Blood shed for you. Thus, the cross protects you from eternal death and makes you fit for heaven. Truly, the baptismal life is formed by the cross. God continue to so form you. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008