“BLESSED ARE YOU”
Saint Luke 10. 23-37
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity: 17 August Anno Domini 2008
Fr Watson SSP
Many are called few are chosen. You did not chose Me, I chose you. The Way to Paradise is the narrow path. Stand fast to the end. You are the Lord's disciples.
"He turned to His disciples and said privately: 'Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see…'"
What did the twelve see? They saw what you see. What did Peter and John and the rest hear? They heard what you hear.
That is why no one can save themselves. This is the reason that being a disciple is not an act of will and choice. The old nature of the twelve saw a wandering rabbi Who looked just like them and Who despite some miracles was not able or inclined to perform any in His own home town of Nazareth-indeed Who was almost killed by a mob in Nazareth. You sinful Adam likewise sees a small nave and chancel and a flawed preacher. Your "eyes of glory" desire things that may appear to be helpful to the Kingdom of Christ but which are in reality illusions of your own desires. The devil sows doubts in fallen flesh. The devil prompts you to doubt that the church is really here because the people don't seem to be here. The devil had the disciples locked tight in an upper room on Easter because they looked around and there was no one left but them; and their Master was dead and buried.
But Jesus said to them "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see." In the flesh of the Nazarene they saw Messiah. Peter rightly confessed Messiah to be the very Son of God. The eyes of James and John and Peter saw the ordinary Carpenter's Son transfigured and attended to by the Law and the Prophets. When the twelve beheld Mary's Son, born in the fullness of time, they saw the true and only Good Samaritan.
When you look in a mirror, pray that you do not see a Good Samaritan. If you think that the purpose of the Lord's parable was to show the smart aleck Pharisee that everybody was his neighbor, his responsibility, and that he now knew who his target audience was so that he could get to work, you've missed the whole point.
Yes, of course, the "lawyer" and you, are commanded to love everyone perfectly.
You, and he, don't need a parable to remind you of that, you have the second table of the Law. The Law doesn't excite you with new found possibilities for compliance, the Law strips you bear, beats you bloody, robs you of all your dignity and leaves you dying in a ditch. The Law kills. Jesus' words: "Go and do likewise" should drive a man to his knees in tears and shame. Live perfectly or die. Forgive those who treat you horribly or burn in hell. Stop lusting, stop coveting, stop hating, stop talking about people behind their back or be damned.
The only rescue for the "lawyer" was to stop looking at himself and his own actions and to let the Good Samaritan attend to his wounds and nakedness. So too you.
"Jesus turns to His disciples and says privately: 'Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see.'" Yes the twelve saw water walking and resurrections. It's also true that Peter and the rest witnessed healings of deaf mutes and blind beggars, cleansing of lepers, multiplication of loaves and fish, transformations of pots of water into wine, the calming of waves, and the exorcism of demoniacs. And yes these displays of divine power were meant to show them that Jesus was Christ. But these signs of wonder, of glory if you will, pale in comparison to the real sign-the Sign of Jonah-the Sign of the Cross. Blessed are eyes that saw the Lord pray so fervently in Gethsemane that His sweat fell like drops of blood. Blessed are the eyes that saw Messiah surrender Himself like a lamb to the slaughter when put upon by the mob from Caiaphas. Blessed were the eyes of Saint Peter when he beheld the Lord's bloodies visage in the high priest's palace. Blessed are the eyes that saw Him nailed down to wood and hoisted up like a brazen serpent-a perfect God/Man, made sin for all sinners. Blessed are eyes that on Easter Evening saw Him come through locked doors so that His very Body might be probed and handled and so that His Holy Breath might fill them with the authority of Apostleship, Pastorhood, Binding, Loosing, Suffering, and Martyrdom. Blessed are the eyes that saw His Holy Ascension and His sending of the Holy Ghost ten days later. AH….BUT….
Everything the twelve saw with their corneas, pupils, retinas and optic nerves, every one of you see with your spiritual eyes and with your ears. You hear the words of the Evangelists and you hear the Present Christ. You hear the words of His 21st century stewards and you hear the Lord in your midst. Through His eternal Word the centuries are gapped, the distances bridged, and the reality of then becomes the reality of now-Jesus the Good Samaritan is here for you to forgive you and carry you home. You have seen and heard demoniacs healed every time a baby is buried into Christ's death at the font. You have seen and heard deaf mutes healed when faith is given, and strengthened in catechesis so that believers mature into confessors. You have seen and heard broken hearts healed and emotional wounds bound up in the full and free forgiveness of Jesus' Absolution spoken both in the Mass and in Private Confession. You have seen and heard the Cross of Christ, His Body on the Tree, His Blood spewing forth, every time you stand at the Altar Rail to receive that very Body and Blood. The very thing, that is, the Very God of Very God Who died for you, Who cleanses you from all guilt, Who guarantees you a place at the Table in the New Eden, Who lives in you even while you now Live in Him, has His very Body and Blood placed into you so that your "eyes" and ears have proof beyond proof. This Good Samaritan has again brought you to the Inn of the New Testament, that here, we call Augsburg, so that you might receive more oil +, and more wine, and more love, and more forgiveness. Let the donkey, the creature of servitude deliver you safely into the Father's waiting arms. The Good Samaritan has done all. You are Blessed because you are forgiven.
In the Name of The Father and of The + Son and of The Holy Ghost