Quinquagesima or the Sunday next before Lent- Luke 18:31-43

This Sunday before Lent begins is traditionally known as Quinquagesima, the Latin word for "fifty" (it is 49 days before Easter).  As we look toward our Lenten preparations for Easter which begin on Ash Wednesday, the Gospel today Luke 18:31-43 tells us important things for living the Christian life. In this passage, we see our Lord confronting two types of human blindness. Of course, there is the physical blindness of the beggar at Jericho. Our Lord deals with this problem miraculously and quickly, and it becomes an occasion to praise God. 

However, there is another blindness in the passage which takes longer to remedy. This is the spiritual blindness of the Twelve. They have spent time with Jesus, and they honor Him in many ways. They have a rudimentary faith that He is the Messiah. Yet, their expectations of the Messiah remain immature and superficial. They just want to hear prophecies about and think about His glorious actions and triumphs. Jesus tells them repeatedly that He is the suffering Messiah who is mentioned in the prophecies, but they don’t want to hear such unpleasantness.

As Luke 18:34 indicates, “This saying was hid from them….” They choose to be blind. Despite His teachings and predictions, it will only be after His resurrection that they have their eyes opened. Only then will they begin truly to see and understand Christ’s work of redemption. 

Christians have often continued to be like those first disciples. Although we have heard of Christ's death and resurrection, we still try to ignore His teachings about suffering. We prefer to ignore the trials and pains that Christ, His Church, and we as His followers endure in this world. We want the glory without humility. We want heavenly life without the cross and resurrection. But Christ keeps telling us that we must first follow Him in the way of the cross. So, as we look toward Lent and think of Christ’s journey to the cross, may our spiritual insight be better! May our eyes be opened to see the redemptive purposes of humility and suffering in this world! Only then can we truly appreciate the glorious victory of Easter.