See what prophets and kings longed to see.

Sermon for Trinity 13, September 15, 2019

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Lord.  Amen.

Luke 10:23–37  ²³Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  ²⁴Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear them.”  ²⁵Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”    ²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him.  “What do you read there?”  ²⁷He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”  ²⁸He said to him, “You have answered correctly.  Do this, and you will live.”  ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.  He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  ³¹It just so happened that a priest was going down that way.  But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³²In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³³A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was.  When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man.  ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.  He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him.  ³⁵The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’  ³⁶Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”  ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied.  Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

See what prophets and kings longed to see.

Dear friends in Christ,

            This parable is often presented as if Jesus was teaching how we should live to please God.  The trouble is, when we try to satisfy a just and holy God by living according to the commands of law, the sword of the law hangs gleaming and sharp over our heads ready to strike us down in judgment, for who ever really lives up to what the law commands? 

This past week, I had the “opportunity” to be accused of not living up to Christ’s command to love one another.  My accuser claimed that we don’t do enough to live up to that law, and though I thought I, our congregation, and our church body were being so very unfairly accused, I also know that the acusation has merit—because we don’t always love our neighbor as we should.  No one ever truly lives up to the full extent of the law, because even if we try out best, we simply cannot measure up.  At the same time, I know we can’t just give up and ignore God’s commands.  We dare not imagine that we can live in whatever way we might want to choose.

The main reason, however, that caused my accuser to be so vehement against me comes from the fact that so many teachers in our world have failed to rightly divide law and gospel.  By assuming they actually do obey the law, and that others must also be forced to obey as they think they do, they fail to See what prophets and kings longed to see.

Luke includes this parable immediately after the seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus rejoicing because of the successes they had experienced in going out and preaching about Jesus.  Among the things Jesus said in response is this: Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear them.”  Their eyes and ears were experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior.  They were learning, firsthand, that our salvation doesn’t rest on how well we keep the law, because if it did, we would all stand condemned.

Christ’s enemies, on the other hand, weren’t so excited to see what Jesus was doing and teaching.  The teachers of the law based their hope of salvation on their works.  They had convinced themselves that they actually were obeying the law, and they expected everyone else should be held up to their high standards.  How dare Jesus teach that forgiveness could be freely given.  Even more so, how dare Jesus make any of the claims He made concerning Himself.

One of those law experts presented himself before Jesus to put Jesus to the test.  He wanted to trap Jesus in His own teaching, so he asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Now obviously, no one does anything to cause an inheritance because, by definition, that is a gift, but that was just part of the trap, and Jesus didn’t fall for the maneuver.  Instead, He turned the tables on the lawyer, asking him, “What is written in the law?” …  “What do you read there?”  Now, the lawyer was forced to admit that he knew the law.  That alone should have been adequate to teach the man that he had failed to live according to God’s will.  However, those who focus on law often fall into the trap of imagining that they can keep it.  Self-righteousness is a strong delusion that afflicts many. 

That lawyer wasn’t ready to admit defeat.  But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  That is perhaps the key question of the day—who is my neighbor—who am I to love as much and as well as I love myself?  Who deserves my undivided care and concern?  Who is worthy of me sacrificing my time, my treasure, and even my life to help?

The lawyer likely thought he was in pretty good standing.  Most likely he had given much to charity.  Even more likely, he would have been a regular at the temple and dedicated to obeying the common rules the teachers had ordained.  But, that’s why Jesus told this parable about the Good Samaritan.  Helping your neighbor isn’t determined by geography.  It isn’t determined by race or creed or color or worth.  It is setting aside personal safety in order to rescue the injured or endangered.  It is making yourself the neighbor of whomever you find in need, even if that person needing help would ordinarily not be welcome in your company as was the case between Jews and Samaritans. 

Now, certainly, we know of many individuals who devote their lives to rescuing their neighbors.  Our towns are filled with volunteer fire fighters who sacrifice their time and sometimes put their lives on the line in order to help their neighbors.  Policemen, soldiers, doctors, nurses, and numerous others dedicate their time to helping make our lives better and safer.  But, who among us has done this perfectly?  Who among us has never failed to overlook a need, to ignore a call for help that comes weak and faint from another part of the world?  And even if we wanted to answer every call, would there be enough wealth and manpower in the whole United States of America to eliminate all the death, devastation, persecution, danger, and starvation we hear about from all parts of the world?

That’s the problem with assuming we can satisfy God with our measly efforts.  We always fall short.  The law always hangs over our heads like a sword ready to swing the eternal execution.

That’s why I want you to See what prophets and kings longed to see.  You see, this parable wasn’t given to teach that lawyer more law.  He already knew more than enough law—he just failed to see that he wasn’t keeping it as well as he assumed.  What he needed to recognize was the Good Samaritan who actually did live according to God’s will every moment of His walk on earth.

By rightly dividing law and gospel, we see that Jesus is the central character in this parable, just as He is in the whole Bible.  We are the ones who were beaten and robbed and left half-dead along the road.  Satan had stolen our innocence, beaten us up with temptations and accusations, and self-righteous teachers do nothing to help, but rather, leave our bloodied souls along the path to die.  This parable is spoken pointedly against the very ones that lawyer thought were so good.  The Pharisees and experts in the law made pronouncement after pronouncement about what everyone should be doing, but they did nothing to bring the mercy of God to those caught in Satan’s cruel trap.

But Jesus wouldn’t ignore our need.  Jesus entered this world from the throne room of heaven, first to live as the perfect neighbor to everyone whose path He crossed.  Numerous times, He even went well out of His way to save some lost soul who otherwise likely would have never met Him.  In human flesh, the Son of God walked among us, healing the sick and injured, the lame and the blind.  Jesus handed food to the hungry and forgiveness and comfort to those stricken by guilt.  Never once was the question asked whether we deserved His rescue, because Jesus was focused on loving the unlovable and the undeserving.  Never once did Jesus put His own needs above another’s.  Never once did Jesus fail to keep God’s commands, and never once did Jesus forget His Father’s mission for the Son.

You see, what the prophets only glimpsed in the prophecies, and the kings only dared hope for, was an answer to the demand of the law that the sinner must die.  Good kings wanted to help their people.  Good prophets wanted the people to know God’s love.  In front of the eyes of Jesus’ hand-picked disciples walked the solution to the world’s sin.  The perfect Son of God, living as the world’s only perfectly obedient Man, would present Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  This is the message Jesus wanted the lawyer to understand.  We, with all our frailties, prejudices, and sins, cannot live up to the law, but the Son of God and Man did—on our behalf.

Furthermore, if we should have to pay the true price for our shortcomings, we would be forever bound in the devil’s hell, for if we missed the mark of perfect holiness, even just once, we would have no means of escaping our just condemnation.  But that’s where Jesus stands in again.  As the perfect Man, Jesus had no sin of His own, so He couldn’t be accused by the devil.  Yet, God made Jesus to be sin on our account, so that He would rightly take the punishment we deserved, and our debt of guilt was satisfied.  When Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished,” the case was closed.  The devil, with all his devious power, had lost, but we were freed from the curse of sin.

Three days after Jesus gave up His life on the cross, the world got to see His victory over everything that would have destroyed us.  By the power only God possesses, Jesus rose to life again, and death no longer has power over Him.  Now too, connected to Jesus by faith, the Christian also is free from death and condemnation.  As St. Paul wrote, we were connected to Jesus’ death in baptism, and raised to life with Him at the same time in that new birth from above.  In Christ, we are forgiven for our lapses of faithful obedience of law, forgiven of those times when we fail to recognize our neighbor’s needs, even forgiven for willful neglect when these sins are repented.

At the same time, the Good News of what Jesus has done for us changes us.  What previously had seemed difficult, now becomes a pleasure.  While previously, we would perhaps try to help a neighbor out of fear of condemnation, but now restored to life in Christ, we strive to help those we find in need out of thankfulness and a new heart of love instilled in us by the power of the Holy Spirit who worked faith and life in us.

Today, as servants and friends of the living Savior, we are still instructed to love our neighbor, now even more so than before, for Christ’s new command is to love as He has loved us.  Yet, this command is not burdensome for it is Christ dwelling in us that motivates us to live and love as He did.

Still, we know that as long as our earthly walk continues, we will stumble and grow weary.  Good works will sometimes be hard to find even among the faithful, and in this world where the troubles and sorrows of life are broadcast across the globe in an instant, there will always be hurting people that are beyond our reach or ability to help.  Still, we have no reason to be afraid, for our Redeemer has set us free from the threats of the law.  His holiness covers us.  His love empowers us and protects us.  It is not anything we have done, but Christ’s righteousness and holy sacrifice that made us God’s people.  Therefore, keep your eyes focused firmly and steadily on Jesus—for in Him, you will always See what prophets and kings longed to see.  Amen.

Now to Him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen.