A reading of the holy gospel according to Matthew. As Jesus passed on, this of course is a continuation every morning as as we are reading through the narrative of our lord's life according to Saint Matthew. Now as Jesus passed on, two blind men followed him, crying out aloud, have mercy on us, son of David. When Jesus entered the house, the blind men came in with him. And Jesus said to them, do you believe that I am able to do this?
And they answered, yes, lord. And then Jesus touched their eyes and say, according to your faith, be it done to you. And their eyes were opened. Jesus sternly charged them, see that no one knows about this. But they went away and spread the fame of Jesus through all that district.
And this is the gospel of the lord. Praise to you, lord Jesus. In the name of the father, of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. Well, of course, this reading today picks up the thought of Jeremiah in this what is taken to be a messianic prophecy. And one of the statements is, of course, that the blind shall see.
Notice not will, but shall. Shall in the third person means it's almost like an imperative. Now, think of the things we've had the last three mornings. It's it it they all involve this matter of faith and works. I'm that god that faith is a gift of god and it alone can save me.
And yet at the same time, we have the imperative to do our part. So that in a sense, whether or not the salvation of God comes to me and saves me, To some extent, rests upon me. That is a very solemn and sobering thought. Let's take first of all, take the lord's prayer. Does god know what you need?
Does god have to have you to come around and say, lord, I need food to live yet Christ said when he gave us the model of all prayers, one of the petitions is, give us this day our daily bread. There it is. Why does God want me to tell him that I need bread when he knows gave it already? Because we say God's omnipotent, don't we? How do you figure this out?
I don't figure it out. I say it's a fact. There are plenty of facts I can't figure out. Now, take this text today. These two blind men, there's no there's no statement here that what they want.
Well, it's pretty clear what they want, I guess. Anyway, Jesus knows what they want. They don't ask lord that I may see, lord restore our sight, lord we're tired of being blind, cure us. There's nothing like that. All it's all it says, but please notice what it says.
Two blind men following Christ. First of all, they put their bodies in motion. They overcame the law of inertia. They're doing something. Then they're crying out, have mercy on us.
Son of David. Notice. They don't call him Jesus. They call him son of David. You could read a lot into that.
Then when they come into the house, they come in after him. There's no suggestion here they were invited in. They just apparently, they just go in. They they're after Christ. They're not taking no for an answer.
He hasn't given them an answer. And so they're trailing right behind him. We call it tailgating today. Then notice the next thing, Christ turns to them and said, do you think I can do this? And they answered.
Notice they answer. They don't bow their heads or something like that. They'd say, yes, we do. Now notice the next thing. Jesus touches their eyes.
Why? Poor Kwai. Why is he doing? And then he says, according to your faith, be it done. And they saw.
There is so much here that doesn't make sense in a way. If their faith if their faith is gonna cure them, why go through all this rigmarole? And their faith crisis, according to your faith, cured. So why did they have to follow him? They already believed.
If they hadn't believed, they wouldn't follow him. Why did they have to speak? Why did Christ have to ask him questions? Why did he have to put his finger on their on their eyes if their faith alone and exclusively made them to see? So here is the mystery.
Notice what those blind men did. They did what they could. They did everything they could. They moved their bodies, their minds, their hearts, their souls. They threw self respect to the to the winds.
They threw Emily Post out of the wind and crashed the gate to go into the party with Jesus or whoever it was. Notice they did something and apparently, what they did is very much part of this action. Notice whose Christ says your faith has made you. Notice that pronoun. And so once again, we come to this mysterious mysterious truth because it's absolutely unavoidable.
And remember, even the most sincere, profoundly convinced and persuaded Luther, including Martin Luther himself, believed and preached good works. Just just keep that in mind. After all, when Florence Nightingale of England decided she was going to become a nun, I mean he'd be trying to get into the nursing and try to do something about the nursing profession. The first place, not the last place, but one of the first places she went was to Germany to see how the German nuns were running their hospitals. But of course then she tied up with some Catholic nuns in France, the Sisters of Charity, and she very nearly did become a nun, Florence Nightingale.
She wanted to be a nun without being a nun. That's a little there's a little problem there. I mean without being a Catholic nun. So here we have this problem. Now is it a problem?
Well, academically it is, of course. Theoretically, of course, it is. But in practice, isn't. It's no more a problem than saying the lord's prayer. Who are we to try to understand almighty god?
And if he tells us that in spite of my omnipotence, in spite of my omniscience that I know everything and can do everything, if I still want you to come and ask for your daily bread, who am I to say, why god? And yet this is the way people do today. This is one of the big objections against prayer or petition by sincere people I hasten that because it is a problem. But if that's the way the omnipotent god wants it to be, who am I to question it? Who am I to question it?
We could draw parallels with mothers and fathers and their children. They're going to give their children what they want and what they need if they can. At the same time, what parents doesn't like the child to say, Mom or Dad, I'd like to have this. Will you give it to me please? Now, I admit let's not get anthropomorphic, but the point is this, we have beyond all shadow of a doubt though in the words and in the life and in the actions and in the teachings of Jesus Christ, these two great truths that I am saved only by the grace of God.
There is no other way it's going to take place. That metamorphosis is divine work, not human. And yet at the same time, I have my contribution to make. I have to follow Jesus. I have to cry out, Lord, save me.
I have to do what I can. Just as these blind men did this morning. They did what they could. They had the faith, but they didn't sit back and just do nothing. They didn't just sit and shout.
They followed Jesus. They pushed after him. They kept close to him. They did what they could to get themselves tied in, we might say, with Jesus Christ. And that has to be if we're to be tied with him to him forever in heaven.
In the name of the father and of the son, holy spirit. Amen.