Confirmation of Austin Adams at Trinity, Clinton, IA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.
How much clearer could Jesus be? And yet, the disciples did not understand. This was not the first time Jesus had spoken of what was to come for Him. In all fairness, when He taught openly to the crowds, He had been less straightforward in the predictions of His Passion. In the same way, He taught the crowds in parables, so that those who resisted His Word and refused to believe would not be able to know the secrets of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:10).
So, for example, Jesus predicted His Passion to the crowds this way: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”… He was speaking about the temple of His body (John 2:19). Or: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39–40). Or: “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to Him who sent me. You will seek Me and you will not find Me. Where I am you cannot come” (John 7:33–34). These are not the plainest explanations of His suffering, death, and resurrection. But, he who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8).
And it seems that the disciples didn’t quite have the ears to hear, at least not yet, at least not completely. Because, while Jesus was indirect with the crowds, He was much more direct with the disciples. Again, just as He explained the parables to the disciples when on their own, so also He gave them the plainest predictions of His Passion. First, He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). And then a second time: “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men” (Luke 9:44). And the one we heard today was the third time. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them.
Why? I think it can be a little too easy for us to shake our heads at those foolish disciples and wonder, how could they not get it? Yes, they could be thick-headed at times, but are we always much better? And might we fall into the danger of thinking that faith in Jesus is just a little too easy? So easy that we let it slide, thinking we’ve got the gist and that’s good enough. If the 12 men who spent every day with Jesus for three years were having a hard time believing and understanding everything He said, then maybe it’s not so easy and we should take it a little more seriously too.
Exactly why the disciples didn’t get it is partly a mystery. They clearly had faith in Him, and they were certainly baptized because they were already baptizing others. So they also had the Holy Spirit—the only One who gives faith—the only One who gives the power to say, “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3). But they didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit in quite the same way believers do today. And this can only be because the Lord’s work was not yet finished. The crucified, risen, and ascended Lord had not yet poured out His Spirit as He would on Pentecost. Things were still building up to that point, so things were not quite the same for the disciples.
Their circumstances prior to the cross, are very different from our circumstances after Pentecost. In some ways, their physical eyes hindered their faith. They saw this Man feed thousands, heal the sick, walk on water, and raise the dead—how then could He die? And yet, it was necessary that they see it all as it happened so they could be His witnesses—eye-witnesses, able to give reliable testimony to the Truth! I would suppose that it was necessary that they didn’t quite understand it all perfectly right away, so that they could observe everything that Jesus did and everything that happened to Him and then report it as true, ordinary witnesses. Someone who already understands everything before it happens isn’t a very good eye-witness. They would be sort of cheating, getting all the answers from some other source, and then what would be the point of the witness? The disciples needed to be Jesus’ eye-witnesses first, and then, after His resurrection, He could explain it all.
So, in one way, the disciples’ misunderstanding was an act of God. He deliberately kept them from getting it all, for His own good purposes. But that also means we have no excuse for continuing in our faulty belief and dim understanding. God is not keeping us in the dark. He has given us everything we need to know and understand. The thing is, we are not witnesses like the disciples were. We are not eye-witnesses of Jesus’ suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. And so it’s not our job to give testimony of what we see, think, or feel. It is our job to hear the testimony of the disciples as they have written it in Holy Scripture. We are hearers. It is our job to listen, learn, and believe. And so, in many ways, we should not take for our examples the disciples who became apostles. None of us are going to become apostles. We are disciples of Jesus—learners, hearers of Jesus—who are going to gladly remain disciples.
It might be much better then, if we take for our example the Blind Man. Unlike the disciples, but very much like the Blind Man, we do not see Jesus. We cannot see Him healing the sick or holding the children in His lap. We cannot see Him dying on the cross or rising from the tomb. Instead, like the Blind Man, we hear the report from those who did see Jesus. Clearly, the Blind Man had heard some kind of report of who this Jesus of Nazareth is, because He immediately recognizes that this Man is far more than a carpenter from Nazareth. He calls Him, Jesus, Son of David—the King!—and the One who can have mercy on me! He knows this Jesus is the Lord.
Likewise, we listen to the eye-witness testimony of the apostles and believe their report. We learn what they tell us of this Jesus of Nazareth, this Son of David, this Lord who has mercy on sinners. Then by faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can say, “Jesus is Lord.” And lest we take that faith for granted, we must recognize with the Blind Man that faith is not exactly easy. Yes, it’s simple enough for a child, simple enough for a newborn baby. Faith is a pure gift, not a work of man, only a work of the Holy Spirit—so in that sense it is easy, a pure gift. But the testing of faith is not easy. And this is why faith must always be growing, learning, reaching out for more understanding.
The Blind Man was challenged by the world. Those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. They told him to shut up. You can have your religion, but keep it to yourself. Don’t get in the way of anyone else, or speak up in defense of your faith. But the Blind Man cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” He didn’t care what the world thought of him or what they could do to him. He just wanted his Jesus. He just wanted to be with His Lord and live by His mercy, and to hell with the world. Nothing else matters.
Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone And rest in Him unceasing (LSB 555:9). Faith lives from Jesus’ cross alone. Faith cannot live on its own—it has no power of its own. Faith must always be kept alive. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). So, faith only survives by hearing the Word of Christ, wherever and however it is offered. Faith survives by breathing in the breath of the Spirit given in the Word of the Father. Faith survives by eating and drinking the body and blood of the Son. And this is why, having been healed, the formerly Blind Man did not go back to his home in Jericho. But instead, he followed Jesus, glorifying God.
Today, Austin, you will come forward like that Blind Man. No one in this crowd today is going to try to hold you back, but still you come forward with just as much eagerness and joy. Because, like the Blind Man, you have the Spirit and you have heard the report about Jesus. You have been baptized and you have been taught His Word. So today, you come forward to make your good confession of faith; to cry out your very own, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me;” to say with the power of the Holy Spirit, “Jesus is Lord.” And having made your confession of faith, you will be admitted to the Lord’s Table. Here at His Table you can come forward to Jesus, like the Blind Man, confidently trusting that here you will find perfect healing. Here your faith will be fed, nourished, strengthened, and so kept alive.
The life of faith and the testing of that faith will not be easy. You will face challenges, and you won’t be able to keep your faith going on your own. But that’s what the Divine Service is for, every time you can get it. By listening to His Word, and by eating His body and drinking His blood, you will recover your sight. You will learn more and more to know your Jesus, your Lord, and one day, see Him with your own eyes.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA, and Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
