Grace to the Humble (Luke 18:31-43, Jeff Kliewer)

And the king sent out invitations to all of the important people of the kingdom. However, one after another, the people made excuses and they refused to come to the wedding of the king's son.

And so the king sent out messengers again, this time into the highways and byways to talk to the commoners, the common folk, and invite them to come to the banquet of the king.

And they focused on the maimed, and the lame, and the blind, and the lowly, the poor, the beggars.

They invited them all to come, and yet there was still room. So they compelled people to come in.

And before long, the banquet hall for the king's son's wedding was full.

It's a glorious picture of grace to the humble, but law to the proud.

And yet the story's not over. A twist in the plot. There at the banquet of the humble, the king notices a man wearing his raggedy old clothes.

Not a wedding garment. And he says, bind that man up and throw him outside.

And so a man who had no wedding clothes was thrown out of the king's banquet.

The meaning of the parable is this. God is the king. He has a son.

He offered the invitation to the banquet to the religious leaders of Israel, but because they were so prideful, because their hearts were far as they obeyed outwardly the law of God, at least trying to, they missed the banquet of the

Lord. And yet the humble, who knew their need for a savior, were compelled to come in.

Many came in, but one had no wedding garment. The wedding garment in the parable is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to those who believe.

You see, there is grace for the humble heart. But that grace is only mediated through the cross of Christ.

It was necessary that the son of God, the son of the king, not only have a banquet, but first die on a cross, so that those who would believe in him who died on the cross could come in, not dressed in their filthy rags any longer, but now wearing the very righteousness of the son of God.

Dressed in Christ's righteousness, they're welcome to the banquet of the king's son.

So we're seated here this morning, dressed in our Sunday best.

The question is, are you wearing the righteousness of Christ? Have you humbled yourself before God and cried out to him for mercy, and trusted in the

God who sent his son to die on a cross, to give you a righteousness that's not your own?

It's not your own garments. It's a foreign righteousness, a righteousness that belonged to him, a given righteousness that comes to you by faith.

Are you wearing the garment of the Lord? Are you saved?

See, this message this morning is called Grace to the Humble. It's the second part from last week.

They fit together. Last week, the title of the sermon was Law to the Proud. Remember the story of the rich young ruler?

He comes to see Jesus, and he says that he keeps the law.

He thinks that he's righteous, but the lawgiver himself issues a command right there and then to go sell everything that you have and come follow me.

And the man went away sad, refusing to repent, refusing to follow God.

He had idols. His money was his idol. That's where his trust rested, so he couldn't let it go.

Jesus gave law to the proud, but the good news of the gospel is he gives grace to the humble.

Those of us who cry out to him for mercy are given grace. He meets our need.

He takes away our sin. And this morning, as we think about grace to the humble, we recognize that that grace only comes through the cross.

The cross is the pinnacle of God's grace. The cross is where the

Son of God humbles himself in order to be exalted. That by grace, we would be humbled and exalted with him.

Let's turn to the scriptures. Luke 18, 31, and we'll make it to the end of the chapter today.

Two sections here. We have Jesus pulling his 12 disciples off to the side and telling them a mystery.

A mystery is something that was hidden in the past, but now revealed.

It was somehow clouded. It was revealed already in the Old Testament, but not in the fullness of what we have here.

Something previously hidden that's now made known. Jesus will reveal a mystery, but strangely, even though they're told, the disciples don't get it.

And then the second part of today's sermon, the last part of Luke 18, is the story of a blind beggar.

A very humble man who receives grace. Grace to the humble.

Luke 18, verses 31 to 34. And taking the 12, he said to them,

See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the

Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the

Gentiles, and will be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon.

And after flogging him, they will kill him. And on the third day, he will rise.

But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

In this passage, verses 31 through 34, Jesus pulls the 12 off to the side, and reveals deep mysteries.

In fact, the very crux, the word crux comes from cross, the very most important, the center piece of his plan.

The cross. Jesus tells them about the cross. He pulls them aside, and in doing so, we see something very strange.

Because all this while, the momentum of the book is building. Jesus is heading to Jerusalem.

Notice in verse 31. Taking the 12, he said to them, See, we are going up to Jerusalem.

Since the 10th chapter of Luke, we've been on this travel narrative, this travel journey.

He's going from place to place, but he's heading to Jerusalem. And the expectation of the

Jew would be what? That in Jerusalem, Messiah comes, riding on a donkey, and he takes his throne, and he rules, and he crushes all enemies, and he frees them from the

Roman oppression, and he rules there, on the throne of David. But this is the strange, unexpected, counterintuitive, mysterious plan of God to save.

By grace. That before Jesus wears the crown, he goes to the cross.

And like him, if we were to be with him in heaven one day, before we wear that crown of his righteousness, clothed with him for eternity in heaven, we likewise must be humbled.

It's the broken man that he raises up. The prideful man who still clings to his own righteousness will be thrown out of the banquet, will have no place there.

But the man who's been stripped down of any hope that he will be righteous enough to make it to heaven, the man who has been humbled before God will be exalted.

He lifts up the humble. He often has to break us to bring us to faith.

Now, this passage, 31 to 34, I gotta be really careful right now. Because this,

I think, could be my favorite part of Scripture, the favorite teaching of Scripture.

I have loved this since I was in college and I was beginning to drift away, and I found in the prophecies of the

Old Testament evidence that Jesus really is the Son of God. It reignited my faith.

I remember when I was in Philadelphia. One time I went to CFCF, which is the prison there in Philadelphia.

And I had the opportunity to preach to the prisoners. And when I started, I was kind of the frozen chosen.

Presbyterian background. I was a Presbyterian from 2000 to 2003. I was preaching that way.

But as I started to think about the blood of Christ from Genesis to Exodus to Leviticus, as I moved on,

I went from Presbyterian to Methodist. Before long, I was a Baptist preacher. And by the end of that sermon,

I was like full -on Pentecostal mode. I was shouting at the top of my lungs. I was excited and jumping around.

And there's just something about this subject that gets me fired up. I hope you see it here.

Verse 31. He's going up to Jerusalem. He says, everything that is written about the

Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. Everything that is written about the

Son of Man will be accomplished. That means there are things written before the

Son of Man comes that He comes and fulfills. Now I've got to be careful because we could spend literally sermon after sermon out of each book of the

Old Testament to do justice to this very text. The first gospel is in Genesis 3 .15.

There we're told that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Mankind has fallen into sin through the temptation of Satan.

But Genesis 3 .15 says there will be one born of a woman who will crush the head of the serpent.

But in crushing Satan, he first must be struck in the heel. On the cross,

Christ was struck in the heel with a nail that pinned Him to the wood and pinned through His wrists to die and bleed.

A suffering Savior. And yet in His dying, He crushes Satan's head.

Genesis 3 .15. Genesis 3 .21. God takes an animal in the garden and slaughters that animal to make a coat of skin to cover their nakedness with a garment that takes away their shame.

But to cover the shameful nakedness of Adam and Eve in the garden required the shedding of blood.

An animal had to die. It pictures a Savior who would die to cover our unrighteousness and to give us the righteousness of Christ.

We all know Genesis 22. Abraham takes Isaac up onto the mountain, picturing

Christ taking the cross to go and lay down as a sacrifice. But each book of the

Old Testament points us to this event. In Exodus, it's a

Passover lamb. The sons of Egypt are caught in slavery.

But God ordains that an animal, a lamb, would die.

And the blood of that lamb would be put on the doorposts over the houses of the people of Israel.

And when an angel of death comes and sees the blood, he will pass over and they will escape the wrath of God.

The Passover lamb then was sacrificed year after year at the Passover festival, always remembering how the

Lord passed them over and spared them from the angel of death. Every time the

Passover lamb was sacrificed in Israel for thousands of years, every time that blood was shed, a placeholder was marked there to point us to the

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Passover points to Christ.

In Leviticus, we learn about these animal sacrifices that happen over and over again. Mark, Leviticus 17, 11.

We're taught there that life is in the blood. God gives the blood to make atonement for sin.

And so the whole sacrificial system of the Levites, offering animal sacrifices. But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away the sins of people.

It only points us to the blood of the Son of God who would come and become one of us a man.

And this priest would live among us and then go to make his final offering and his offering would not be a bull or a goat, but would be himself.

The priest is the offering. He offers himself on the cross and so his blood atones for our sins.

Life is in the blood. We could keep going to numbers where Moses raises up a serpent on a pole.

In John 3, we know John 3, 16, but just a couple of verses before that tells us that that serpent on the pole represents

Jesus lifted up like a sinner although sinless. Like a serpent although the innocent lamb.

Now lifted up so that whoever looks on the Son will be saved.

And in Numbers 13, all the Israelites that look at that serpent raised on a pole, they're healed.

Their sin is forgiven. It's atoned for. All they have to do is look. And so we're told that if you believe,

John 3, 16, you will have eternal life. We could go through each book of the

Old Testament but there's two quick verses I want to point you to because this particular text draws on them heavily.

Turn with me quickly to Isaiah chapter 50 verse 6. There are several suffering servant songs in the book of Isaiah.

The most famous of course is Isaiah 53 which tells in such great detail about how the suffering servant would replace us.

Would stand in our place and as a substitute bear the guilt that we deserve.

But in this suffering servant psalm, Isaiah 50 verse 6, we have some details that are spelled out in Luke 18.

Isaiah 50 verse 6 speaks of the Messiah. I gave my back to those who strike and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.

I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

Mark those words in your mind. He gives his back to those who strike.

Picture now Jesus having stood some trial time before Herod, Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate wanting to appease the Jews hands him over and the

Roman soldiers strike his back over and over again. Tearing his back with a cat of nine tails with shards of metal and bone wrapped in a rope and his back is opened up.

And my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. As he wears the crown of thorns being mocked by these soldiers you saved others.

Why don't you save yourself? One of them grabs a handful of his beard and literally pulls hair from his face.

I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

Spat upon. So flip now again to Luke 18 where we took off here.

I'm going to pull myself in here and continue on although we could keep going all day in the prophecies of Christ.

Verse 32 says, For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and what?

Spit upon. Fulfillment of Isaiah 50 verse 6 and verse 33 tells us and after flogging him they will kill him and on the third day he will rise.

The flogging described especially well in Psalm chapter 22.

Many places that point to the death, the killing of the son, that he must die.

But I want to key in on one last thing. On the third day he will rise. Where in the

Old Testament are we told that the rising of the son of God would happen on the third day?

Now probably the clearest prophecy of the rising of Messiah is Psalm chapter 16.

We know that because in Acts chapter 2 when Peter preaches the gospel for the first time he quotes from Psalm 16 and he shows that David wrote the

Psalm that his body would not decay the holy one would not be allowed to decay in the tomb but would come back, his flesh not seeing corruption.

So David spoke those words he wrote those words but when Peter preaches it in Acts chapter 2 he says this can't apply to David because David died and his tomb is with us to this day.

But he spoke about a son of David and Jesus of course is the son of David whose body after being laid in the ground did not suffer decay but he rose from the dead.

The question though is when are we told that this would happen on the third day? How do we know that?

I remember listening to a debate where a Muslim tried to press this point against a Christian apologist saying well the text says that the prophet said it would be the third day but I've read the whole

Old Testament and there's no prophecy about the third day. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 22 this will be the last one then we will continue.

We know the story of Abraham taking Isaac to a mountain we know the imagery of the father giving his one and only son as a sacrifice.

We know he goes to a mountain that Mariah could very well be Galgatha the same hill upon which

Jesus died. We know that the son carries his own wood for the sacrifice just like Jesus carried the cross and on the mountain of the

Lord it will be provided like a ram caught in the thicket a substitute so that Isaac wouldn't have to die.

Jesus lifted up on the cross as a substitute to spare us from the death penalty.

But there's also a reference here to the third day verses 3 and 4 So Abraham rose early in the morning saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son

Isaac and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which

God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

On that very day Abraham goes up the mountain the third day and he goes to sacrifice his son but what?

His son is not the sacrifice. Isaac will not atone for the sins of all those who will believe.

His son is a sinner like Abraham. Isaac is not the sacrifice. Jesus would be the sacrifice.

So the sacrifice is not made because when Abraham goes to kill his son the angel speaks or God speaks and says do not do it.

Now I know that you listen to me. Now I know that you have faith. So the sacrifice is not made.

I'll tell you when Abraham made a sacrifice and every father here on Father's Day will resonate with this.

When God spoke to him and said take your son and kill him.

And when the breaking of Abraham's heart took place and he purposed in his mind

I will obey. I will take my son and sacrifice him. His heart was broken.

The sacrifice was made in that moment of decision. That's where Abraham sacrificed because for days he walked with his son.

Imagine the burden on his mind. Fathers, this is Father's Day. Imagine you're walking with your son for days and you know what you are going to do.

And that you have no other choice because it's God who told you to do it. He made the sacrifice and the third day when he lifts the knife to accomplish that task no sacrifice is made rather he receives his son back from the dead.

When God has mercy and says no don't go through with it and he comes down that mountain with his son it's as if Isaac has died and rose from the dead.

The book of Hebrews tells us that. Figuratively speaking, that's the day he received his son back from the dead.

And when does it happen? On the third day. The sacrifice was made in his heart when he purposed to take his son to that hill to lay him down.

But he received him back on the third day and so it would be that the son of man would fulfill even that detail.

Dying on the cross he would rise from the dead. That's verse 33 of Luke 18.

They will kill him and on the third day he will rise. Now verse 34 says but they understood none of these things.

This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said.

Understanding the truth of what I'm preaching to you is a spiritual act.

Many can sit and listen to the preaching of God's word. In fact the world has heard this preaching for 2 ,000 years and the vast majority reject what is said.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, get a chance to read that later, we learn that spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

To understand the message of the cross although I speak in English and you speak

English it's not enough to communicate by human language.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We preach a very counterintuitive message that God the creator would become a part of his creation, become a man and live a sinless life.

That he would save men by dying. That his resurrection would be our life.

And then he would ascend to heaven and be out of sight for so many years and we say he's coming back again.

The world will call this foolishness but by this foolishness of preaching

God saves those who will believe. It's a spiritual message and see it wasn't time for Jesus to reveal this spiritual truth to their minds yet.

Notice in verse 34, they've heard the words isn't this simple language? It's simple object, verbs, subjects, look what he says after flogging him they will kill him.

Should have known when they were cowering and running away and seeing Jesus crucified on a distant hill.

They should have known, here's the language, they will kill him and on the third day he will rise. But these things are spiritually discerned.

Verse 34, they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said.

Part of the reason for this is probably dispensational. That at this time it wasn't given to them to know.

But after Jesus would die, rise from the dead, he would pour forth his

Holy Spirit and send them out as witnesses in his time, in his way.

But notice the dependence of the human mind on the revelation of God.

So pray brothers and sisters, maybe your spiritual life has felt kind of dry. Do you open the scriptures and you say, man it just seems like words to me and I get bored and I close the book and I leave it on the shelf.

It's not alive to me, it's no sharp sword that divides thoughts and intentions of the heart like bone from marrow.

It's boring to me. It's a spiritual issue. It's a spiritual book.

Before you open that book pray, Holy Spirit lead me into truth, lead me into all truth.

Ignite my heart with your fire and your presence that I could encounter you in the word.

He will do that. 1 Corinthians 2 1 -5 it talks about the unbelievers who can't understand because these things are spiritually discerned.

But from verse 6 and following it says there is meat for the mature. That meat, the deeper things of God's word are available to you.

But you have to press into that. You have to read and let the language work and pray and ask the

Spirit to open your eyes to understand. They couldn't do it in the natural man, could they? Verse 34, they understood none of these things.

Now 35 through 43, this last section is the story of a blind beggar.

It's a story of a humble man. And contrary to the rich young ruler.

Where Jesus just made things harder. He gave law to that proud man.

It wasn't enough that he had kept the commandments. He says now go sell everything you have and come follow me. Look at the simplicity of what happens in this text.

Grace to the humble. He's just a gracious Savior and the way to be saved is simple.

Only believe. Repent of your sin. Believe in Christ.

You will be saved. Verse 35 and following, as he drew near to Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

And he cried out, Jesus son of David have mercy on me.

And those who were in front rebuked him. Telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more.

Son of David have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.

And when he came near he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? He said,

Lord let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight.

Your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him glorifying

God. And all the people when they saw it gave praise to God. Grace to the humble.

A simple prayer and a direct answer. This man calling out from the roadside is a picture of physical healing.

Someone who needed an answer to prayer. But more than that, it's an example of a humble man.

Who's come to the end of himself. He's no longer entangled with pride. He doesn't care what social customs tell him to do.

He doesn't care when people tell him to be quiet. He cries out all the more. And the name he cries out is

Jesus. And his plea is have mercy on me. And God is pleased to answer that cry.

Verse 35, he's drawing near to Jericho and a blind man is sitting there. Sitting by the road begging.

Verse 36, hearing a crowd go by, he inquires what this meant. And they tell him

Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. This man might well have been blind from birth.

Or maybe he knew what it was like to run around with his friends in a field. And kick a ball.

And have fun. And then one day he felt a strange pain in his head. And his vision became blurry in one of his eyes.

And within weeks that eye had stopped working and a few weeks later his other stopped working.

And now all the hopes that he had for a career following in his father's footsteps were dashed.

And his father dies and there's no one left and he has nothing he can do and the rest of his life is spent sitting by a roadside begging.

Sounds like a terrible lot in life. But I'll tell you what, he was a lot better off than that Pharisee who came and he looked and said

I'm thankful that I'm not like that guy. Who's got his head down and what a sinner that tax collector.

He's a lot better off than the rich young ruler who is rich and has everything he could want in this life and thinks like Job's friends that his prosperity means that God is pleased with him.

His blessing is an indication that he is right with God and so he thinks he's a law keeper, he thinks he's good and he goes away sad and unless he repents he goes away to hell.

Hear this, some of the hardest providence of God is grace in disguise.

This man lived as a blind man and yet it humbled his heart to the point where he cried and called to the name that is able to save.

Sometimes the circumstances of your life you say why do I go through this? I don't know but I think in this case it's clear his circumstances humbled him.

Paul said he lived his life, even the great apostle Paul with a thorn in his flesh. It kept him humble, it kept him depending on God.

We will have circumstances and we wonder why God is bringing us through these things but part of why he allows this hard providence in our lives is to humble us, that we would cry out to Jesus, that we would learn to pray and here it's a physical healing.

In the end, each one of us who call on that name will be physically healed. It may not happen until we're in heaven but consider eternity compared to the few short years of this sojourning.

You will have your healing, you will be physically healed when you call on that name and sometimes he does it in this life.

God does miracles today just like he did here. He healed the blind man, he can heal you as well but even if he doesn't recognize he has a purpose, he has a plan and one of the greatest things that God can do for us is to humble us.

We cannot humble ourselves on our own. We can't just humble ourselves to come to Christ.

We would be like the Pharisees and yet in his grace he humbles us. Verse 38 and following, and he cries out,

Jesus son of David have mercy on me. And those who were in front rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cries out all the more.

The simple conversation, Jesus stops, they interact and he heals him.

This conversation between a humble beggar and a compassionate savior exemplifies the simplicity of what it takes to be saved.

The rich young ruler was given law because the law could finally break him that he would simply cry.

But if you're sitting here today and you wonder, what do I need to do to be saved? The message is simple.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. To believe in him means that you turn away from your sin.

Why? Because to turn to a savior and cry have mercy on me, you have to understand that you are broken.

You are helpless. You are in a gutter. You are begging. And the message of the gospel is simply, me preaching is me a beggar telling other beggars where to go find bread.

We are sinners and we're desperate but all you need to do to be saved is to turn your eyes and look on that serpent hanging on that pole and he will heal you.

Just look. Believe in Jesus. Trust him to save you. It's not about doing all these great things or good works that would earn it for you.

You can't. Just look. Look to the savior. Humble yourself.

So much of what has happened in your life maybe you're angry at God so much of that is him humbling you until finally you break and say, okay, fine.

I can't do this. God, I need you. Now just cry out to him. Son of David, have mercy on me.

It's a simple cry. It's a prayer that he answers. So in closing,

Luke 18 is one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible. It starts with that widow, that poor woman who was deprived of justice.

She simply keeps coming until finally the judge listens. Then it moves to the parable of the two people in the church, in the temple.

One is self -righteous, the other is humble. One cries for mercy, the other looks down his nose with lifted brow.

Children come to him, the humble. And some try to push them away, but Jesus says, no, let them come.

It's the humble that I exalt. You see a theme coming through Luke 18?

Time and again, the rich young ruler comes, but he can't come. Why? He's self -righteous.

He has his own righteousness. He's prideful. So he doesn't come to faith. He goes away sad.

You have this mysterious revelation that this is how your salvation will be meted out.

Don't miss this. You come humbly, but the only reason you can come is because he,

Jesus Christ, humbled himself to die on a cross. And it's the cross, the humbling of the

Savior, him being beaten and flogged and killed and spit upon, shamefully treated.

The humbling of the Savior is what provides this righteousness. If only you humble yourself to take it.

And finally, the passage closes with this beggar, a blind man who has nothing and all he can do is cry for mercy, and he cries for mercy.

And God is gracious to give it. It's a story of grace to the humble.

I was just thinking about this whole chapter last night, getting ready to preach, praying, and I thought, I need some paper.

I got a pen and paper. I needed to write. And so at 10 o 'clock last night I wrote a poem, and it summarizes this.

It came with a desire to communicate how each of these stories points grace to the humble.

So the first is the persistent widow, then the two men praying, and then the children come, the rich young ruler, the mystery revealed, and finally the beggar crying for mercy.

We'll close with this. See her there. It wasn't fair.

Judge doesn't care. Persistent prayer. Two enter now, a lifted brow, a humble bow, one righteous now.

Look, children brought. Receive them not. Rebuke the thought. The kingdom taught.

Rich ruler enter, himself the center, no quick repenter, law his mentor.

Now a mystery, all through history, told of this story, hung upon a tree.

Have mercy on me. Beg there quietly. Have mercy on me.

Give an eyes to see. Bring losing fumble, bring broken mumble, bring klutzy stumble, grace to the humble.

Amen. Let's pray and we'll ask the worship team to come. Thank you. Let's pray.

Grace to the humble. God, as I stand here, I stand with no righteousness of mind.