Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost
- By Giving Physical Sight
- By Giving Spiritual Sight
SERMON TEXT: Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road begging. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many told him to be quiet, but he kept shouting all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!” He tossed aside his outer garment, jumped up, and went to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man replied, “Rabboni, I want to see again.” Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus on the road.
Bible Readings
FIRST LESSON: Exodus 4:1-17
But Moses responded, “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to my voice, but instead they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you’?” So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” He said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, so he ran away from it. The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand. The LORD said, “This sign is being given to you so that the Israelites will believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The LORD also said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. Then the LORD said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. The LORD said, “If they do not believe you or do not respond to the first sign, they might believe because of the second sign. If they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land.” But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, LORD, I have never been eloquent, either in the past or more recently or even since you started speaking to your servant, for my mouth and tongue are slow and clumsy.” So the LORD said to him, “Who made a mouth for people? Or who makes someone mute or deaf, able to see or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you will speak.” But he said, “Please, LORD, send someone else.” Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and the LORD said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Look, he is already coming out to meet you. He will be very glad to see you. You will speak to him and put the words into his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his, and I will teach you what you are to do. He will speak to the people for you so that it will be as if he were your mouth, and you were God to him.You will also take this staff in your hand, the one with which you will perform the signs.”
SECOND LESSON: Acts 2:22-32
“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus the Nazarene was a man recommended to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know. This man, who was handed over by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, you killed by having lawless men nail him to a cross. He is the one God raised up by freeing him from the agony of death, because death was not able to hold him in its grip. “Indeed, David says concerning him: I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon my life to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. “Gentlemen, brothers, I can speak confidently to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that he would seat one of his descendants on his throne, he saw what was coming and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, saying that he was neither abandoned to the grave nor did his flesh see decay. “This Jesus is the one God has raised up. We are all witnesses of that.
VERSE OF THE DAY: 2 Timothy 4:18
The Lord will rescue me from every evil and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
GOSPEL: Mark 10:46-52
See Sermon Text
Is to make disciples for Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel in God’s Word and Sacraments. Following God’s direction and seeking His help, we will fulfill this mission by conducting the following activities: