Advent Readings: Luke 19

Luke 19

We come to the chapter when Jesus ascends to the capital of the world as it was. On the way up to Jerusalem He meets with Zacchaeus, bringing him to peace with God and the others – one of the most beautiful depictions of the Cross-shaped theology. To give a deeper meaning to the chief tax collector’s restoration, Christ teaches the hearers the parable of ten minas (Lk. 19:11-27).

After these introductory remarks, Luke leads us to Bethany to observe Jesus mounting the dedicated donkey (Arthur Just in his commentary points out that the donkey was set apart for the holy purpose, p. 744). Throughout the story Luke uses sacrificial terminology – the phrase “drawing near” appears three times, v. 29, 37, and 41.  On one hand, Jesus really got closer and closer to Jerusalem. Yet, the other layer of the text shouldn’t escape our attention, on the meaning of “drawing near” see Luke 18.

What I really want to pint out is a recirculation of the phrase “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Lk. 19:38). This is not the first time this phrase shows up on the pages of Luke’s Gospel. He prepares us, or he prepares our attention back at the very end of chapter 13, when Jesus laments over the Jerusalem (Lk. 13:35). He leaves the capital and warns them – they won’t see the Messiah, unlit they say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” quoting Ps. 118:26.

Now they see Him again, now they say it with joy, enthusiasm, and reverence. But this will not be long. In just a few days they will cry “crucify, crucify Him” (Lk. 23:21). As the Scripture says, every testimony should be confirmed by two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15). That’s what we see here – the second witness that Jesus brings against the pride of those who considered themselves to be the center of the universe. Then Jesus came the third time, as His church (see the connection between Jesus and the church in the fact that Saul persecutes the church, yet Jesus charges him with the persecution of the Messiah, Acts 9:4). After rejection of these three witnesses, Jesus comes as the true and just King, spreading the glory of Jerusalem over the whole world, to every place where “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” is confessed and proclaimed during holy Eucharist. 

Advent Readings: Luke 18

Luke 18

Out this chapter I prefer to say a couple words about the very last section. In verses 35 to 43 we find a story of a blind beggar being healed by Jesus. The story has many layers. One relates to the very famous Christian hymn, Amazing Grace. The first stanza ends with the words: “was blind but now I see!” (LSB 744:1). It relates to the story of conversion of the author – John Newton – but in connection with the text in front of us.

For sure, using the eyesight is a great gift and a privilege God provided for us in His creative powers. Psychologists believe that we acquire up to 80% of the information via eyes. Therefore, we should not be surprised that the beggar is so eager to get it (or get it back, Luke doesn’t specify that he was blind from birth, so it is possible he used to see before). He hears about Jesus, and it changes everything. He wants to reach out to the Messianic king and be healed (note that he calls Jesus – Son of David, true Solomon). ESV says that he “cried out” (Lk. 18:38). The Greek verb means something even stronger: shout for help or shout in tumultuous way (Strong’s, G994). He badly looks for Jesus’ attention. When others tried to stop the beggar, he cried even more. More that shouting for help…

Then Jesus came near. The phrase “came near” has very deep liturgical roots. In Leviticus 1:1-2 we are introduced to theology of the sacrifices. The sacrifices in English mean that a worshiper should give up something for a favor of the divine. In Hebrew though, the word Korban means “to draw or to come near.” Yet here the roles are reversed – it is not the worshiper who comes near (he doesn’t really know where to go to), it is Jesus who comes near. What a great sign of mercy! He is the One who approaches the needy one. The plot thickens…

The plot thickens even more when the beggar dares to answer to Jesus’ enquiry: “Lord, let ME recover MY sight” (Lk. 18:41). Listen carefully what he really says: he wants to be the one who will find the way out… But he is blind! Yet, Jesus allows him to be the responsible one. Don’t take me wrong, I’m not saying that the nameless beggar healed himself with assistance of Jesus. No-no, as usual we should confess nothing but SDG – Soli Deo Gloria, Glory belongs to God alone. At the same time, Jesus responds to his request with very encouraging words: “recover your sight, your faith has made you well” (Lk. 18:42). Recover stands in imperative. It is a command, you, don’t stand doing nothing, go ahead and recover your sight!

He recovered his sight, followed Jesus, and all the people gave praise to God. If it would be a movie there would be a sign “happy end” or “he lived happily ever after” here. But I want to continue for a little while. As I said in the beginning, the gift of sight is a great privilege. By no means I want to underestimate the difficulties of a blind person, but Judean society of the Second Temple was a very generous one, the people had a well-developed system of “social services.” But from now on the beggar cannot rely on the generosity of others. He had to be responsible for his own life: his actions, words, and conduct… That’s why I see that Jesus not simply heals him, but “boosts” his sense of responsibility. From the very beginning the beggar phrases everything in a way that he is “in charge” so to speak. And the Son of David lets him have it. And leads him on to the ultimate responsibility – following the Lord, singing praises to God, sharing the Good News with those who didn’t hear the story yet!