Blessed to Hear, See, and Share the Gospel :: Luke 10:23-37

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[Jesus said,] All to me has been handed down by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and to whom the Son might desire to reveal [himself]. Then when he had turned to his own disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to witness what you see and did not witness it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it (vv 22-24).

[Prayer]

O Lord, open our eyes to see your mercy in action and open our ears to hear and answer your call to be merciful. Give us courage always to rejoice in your mercy, and then through your means of mercy, rescue us from the trauma of our sin and carry us into your perpetual care, through Jesus, our merciful savior. Amen.

[Introduction]

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 10 is all about the mercy of Christ in his Divine Service. Jesus is reminding us that we all need this mercy ... that we all need to see more mercy ... to hear more about mercy ... to receive more mercy ... and to show more mercy. 

YOU WHO HEAR, SEE, AND SHARE THE MERCY OF CHRIST ARE TRULY BLESSED.

I. To understand our text today, we need more context. It will help us see and hear ... and when we do, we will know how to respond to it.

There is a major turning point in the Gospel of Luke in the middle of chapter 9: Jesus is transfigured on the mountain. From that point on, his incredible mission of mercy comes into focus. Almost immediately, he is greeted by a man whose son was severely oppressed by a demon. The man says, Teacher, I pray to you: Look upon my son because he is my only begotten Son. Behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him. ... bringing him to ruin, and hardly goes away. It almost sounds like the certain man, who in Jesus’ parable fell to robbers, and then was stripped, plagued with trauma, and abandoned to misery (9:37-43). 

After Jesus has mercy on the boy, giving him back to his father, events move quickly. Jesus foretells his betrayal into the hands of unmerciful men (9:44); he settles an argument on how to identify the most merciful in the kingdom of God (9:46-48), and he rebukes his disciples for wanting to be unmerciful to a Samaritan village for refusing to receive mercy.

Then Jesus sends out the Seventy-Two. These apostles ... literally, sent ones ... were to go forth two by two without money, no provisions, or sandals. They were to rely on the mercy of the world. They were to be priests announcing the forgiveness of sins ... or we should say, peace. And they were specifically told not to stop for anyone on the road (10:4). Their divine task of proclaiming peace and showing mercy was too important (10:5). Tell them, the kingdom of God has drawn near (10:9). What an awesome joy they are! 

II. The world needs more mercy.

But missions of mercy are not easy work. As Jesus warned the seventy-two: Some people will just hate you for sharing this good news that the kingdom of God is here. “We don’t want your mercy,” they will say. Others will just shut the door in your face. “We don’t need your mercy,” they will say. Even more will question why we should share mercy with the guy who lives over there. “Do they really qualify as being my neighbor,” they wonder.

Far too many people have convinced themselves that it is enough to LOVE the Lord their God out of the whole heart, and in their whole soul, and in their whole mind, and in their whole strength (v 27). But as soon as we start talking about neighbors ... well, that is another story.

This is why Jesus taught us, saying, Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice (Mt 9:13). This is why Jesus warned us, saying, Woe to those who tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness (Mt 23:23). This is why Jesus pleaded with us, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36). And it is why he turns the lawyer’s question around on us, asking: Who became a neighbor to the man on the road (v 36)? 

Like the lawyer, we all know it is the one who showed him mercy, just like our father in heaven. And why we are called to do the same (v 37). 

III. [Catechism]

Please turn now to page 323 in your service book and join me in confessing some of our faithful doctrine on mercy. ... What is the Fifth Commandment? ... What does this mean? 

IV. Indeed, God in Christ has had mercy on us all.

That’s what the Parable of the Good Samaritan is all about. Listen again to how Jesus teaches the Lawyers among us, the Gospel of God’s mercy helping everyone in every physical need.

Jesus said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell to robbers, who after stripping him and laying a plague of trauma upon him, abandoned him, leaving him half dead. Now in accordance with the work of the Lord, a certain priest was going down that Way, and when he saw him, he passed by as if without notice. Then likewise, a Levite, having come to that place, passed by as if without notice. But a certain Samaritan was journeying. When he came by him and saw him, he had compassion. And when he came to him, he bandaged his trauma, pouring oil and wine upon him. Then when he set him upon his own animal, he brought him to a place of hospitality, and he took care of him. And upon the morrow, he took out two denarii and gave them to the host who receives everyone and said, Take care of him, and whatever you spend toward caring for him, I will repay you when I return (vv 30-35).

This is all about the mercy of Christ. 

God loved the world in this way: When we needed it most, he had mercy upon us. We didn’t deserve his mercy, he just saw us suffering in the trauma of sin ... the plague of all of mankind ... and did something about it. He saw how sin leaves us speechless and deaf like the man we heard about last week. He saw how it blinds us. He saw how we struggle to hear and to see the Gospel. 

So God has mercy on us. Though we couldn’t go to him, to call on him, to see him ... He came to us ... to be God with us in the flesh. Jesus came along the Way teaching us, healing us, having mercy on us. He carries us to the receiver of all, the church. And here he feeds us and nourishes us. He blesses us. He did this by standing in our place when unmerciful men bound him and crucified him. Then after he took his rest from the work of redemption, the disciples were then blessed to witness that God raised Jesus from the dead. Oh, how the prophets and kings longed to see that ... He now is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah. 

You who now confess this truth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart are blessed! 

V. So won’t you now have mercy on the world around you by sharing this Good News? 

As the Lawyer reiterated, the world around us knows the Law intimately. They know we are to love God. But they don’t know the Gospel ... the Good News that God is with us in Christ ... and that he still has mercy on us, that he still delivers to us the forgiveness of sins through his means. On account of God’s great mercy, he causes us to be born again to this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pt 1:3). 

So tell the world how God has mercy on us by coming to us in the water and Word of Gospel, opening our eyes to see and ears to hear. Tell the world how God had mercy on us by enabling us to hear him in his Word of absolution that your sins are forgiven on account of the blood of Christ. Tell the world how God then has mercy by revealing himself to us in the breaking of bread. These words given and shed for you show us that forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are yours on account of the mercy of Christ in the supper. Now we can, in complete confidence, draw near to the throne of grace in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need (Hb 4:16). 

[Conclusion]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we do these things, learning to respond to God’s mercy, we will be enabled to rejoice that our names are written in the heavens ... and in turn to be the neighbor we all should be. So go and do likewise (v 37) ... in Jesus’ name.

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