The Wednesday of the Twelfth Week after Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When we think about the life and ministry of our Lord, as good Lutherans, our minds immediately go to Holy Week—the cross, the empty tomb, and the institution of the Lord’s Supper. These are the chief and defining works of Christ’s ministry. But we must be careful that we do not allow ourselves to think that the spiritual gifts which Christ earned and has made a way for us to possess are an end unto themselves. In other words, the goal of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross was not the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is not the end of the story. It’s not the final purpose of why Christ came, in the same way that scoring runs in baseball is not the end goal of the game. The goal of baseball is to win the game—to outscore your opponent—and scoring runs is the means by which you accomplish that. In the same way, the forgiveness of sins is not the end goal of Christ’s atoning death and justifying resurrection. The forgiveness of sins is the means by which the real end-goal is accomplished.

So it is that today’s Gospel text invites us to see the real end-goal of why Christ came to earth. Jesus has come to restore all things. He has come to give abundant life and to make things the way they are supposed to be. Reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sins, of course, is the chief means by which this is accomplished. But we must be clear that our Lord Jesus did not come to grant you a spiritual hope only. He came to grant you the glorious future hope of the restoration of all things wherein you will be bodily raised in glory to be fully and finally who you were made to be.

And so it is that our Gospel text recounts two specific miracles of our Lord. The first is the healing of two blind men. These two men were physically unable to see anything—they were blind. And yet, they had been given the more important sight, for they saw Jesus through the eyes of faith. And so, they called to Him and said:

“Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 9:27).

And according to their faith it was done for them (Matthew 9:29). Their eyes were opened, and they were healed. Now, when I say that the sight of faith is the more important sight, what I mean is that seeing Jesus with the eyes of faith is what grants forgiveness, life, and salvation. For we are saved by faith. And yet, our Lord here demonstrates that He still cares about the body, that He has come to make all men whole. And so He grants these men their physical sight.

Next, we are told of our Lord’s healing of the mute man who is also demon possessed. In this brief healing account, we see the work of the devil being undone. The devil’s chief goal is to prevent a person from confessing Christ. For he knows that “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). The devil seeks to pervert and destroy whatever he can. He chief goal is the eternal damnation of men. But he is quite content to settle for physical harm and destruction when he must, as we know from the well-known story of Job. But Christ has come to destroy the power of the devil and the demons. He has come to reverse their destruction. Just as He restored all that Job had lost, our Lord now restores what this demon possessed man had lost. The demon is cast out, and his speech is restored.

These healings are both a type of what Christ desires to do for all men. For we are told at the end of the text:

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people (Matthew 9:35).

Apart from Christ, we are all spiritually blind and oppressed by the devil. We are unable to confess Christ as Lord and be saved by our own strength. And so, Christ took on human flesh to remedy this for us. He destroyed the power of the devil by His victory over death. And He made a way for the Holy Spirit to be sent to us.

But until the consummation of all things on the Last Day, we still remain under the influence of sin. We are still oppressed by diseases and sicknesses, by suffering and evil. And make no mistake that Christ has come to redeem us from these things as well. He has come to give us the hope of physical restoration. When He returns to make all things new, your eyes will be restored to the fullness of sight so that you will see the new creation and the face of your Savior more clearly than you have ever seen before. Your mouth will be opened to sing unending praise to the victorious Lamb who was slain. The chronic aches and pains and the deformities of this life will be a thing of the past. You body will be remade into perfect working order in the glorious image of the resurrected Christ. This is what Christ will do for you. For He has come to restore all things.

Thanks be to God!

In Jesus’ name. Amen.