Bible Text: Luke 6:36-42 | Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus | Series: Trinity 2023 | Can the blind lead the blind? Won’t they both end up falling into a pit? The picture Jesus paints here is almost comedic: people trying to guide each other with no idea where they’re going, and so their bumping into each other, they’re running into walls, they’re falling into pits. And it becomes even more comedic when we realize they’re confidently doing it, they actually think they know where they’re going. Here, trust me, I know the way, let me show you, and then they both trip and fall into the ditch. But when we realize what this picture represents, there’s nothing to laugh at here. It’s not a comedy, it’s a tragedy. Because the picture is of who we are without God’s Word. We’re in darkness. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness doesn’t comprehend it.” Because without God’s Word we don’t know where we’re going. We don’t even know where we came from or what is right or what is wrong or what the goal of life is. And the results are tragic.
The Bible has many examples of this. Look at King Rehoboam. He’s the son of Solomon, his father has just died, and he’s taking over the kingdom. And the people complain. They say Solomon was too hard on them. The taxes were too high, the draft was too severe, the forced labor was too much. Lighten the load, they beg. And Rehoboam asks his father’s advisers for advice. The old ones, the wise ones, who know God’s Word, they say, “The job of a king is to help his people not to hurt them. Lessen the taxes, speak kindly to them, serve them and they will honor you.” But Rehoboam asks his friends instead. And they tell him to double down. They tell him not to give an inch to the people. Show them you’re the boss and there’s no complaining. And that’s what Rehoboam does. My father whipped you with whips, I’ll whip you with scorpions, he says. I have more strength in my little finger than my father had in his arm. The blind leading the blind. And tragedy came. A divided kingdom, hundreds of years of civil war, false worship, because without the word of God there is chaos. And we see the same thing in our time. Government agencies and state-run media ignoring God’s Word, disregarding the counsel of the wise, urging abortion on desperate women and encouraging the little children to question the gender God assigned to them. Confidently leading each other into a pit. The blind leading the blind and tragic consequences.
That’s the picture Jesus paints. And so He says, you need a teacher. A disciple is not above his master. This has always been the case, even before sin entered the world. God didn’t create Adam and Eve and then say, go along now, enjoy, you have everything you need, you don’t need me anymore; you’re good on your own. No, he immediately speaks to them, tells them of the blessings of marriage and children and family, tells them to care for the earth, gives them rules – don’t eat that tree, it’ll hurt you, and gives them promises – I will bless you. So we by our very nature need God as our teacher. This is simply what it means to be a human being, to be taught by God, even before sin entered the world. But sin has entered and so the idea that we could live it on our own, figure things out by ourselves, judge what is right and wrong by ourselves, is total blindness, it’s from the devil. We need Jesus to teach us.
Judge not, lest you also be judged means first of all don’t judge by your own standards. You’re not the teacher. Jesus is. You’re not the judge. He is. It’s what He says, “The Father has committed all judgment to the Son.” You’re a student. You’re not above your teacher. You just say what He says and let Him do the judging. So when you take your Christian stand and say You shall not murder the little unborn children, you’re not the one doing the judging. Where’d you learn that commandment from? Whose words are you repeating? They’re Jesus’ words. And He’s the judge, He’s the teacher. He’s the one who loves the little children, who created them, who bought them with His blood. We just repeat what He says because that’s what God created us to do and what our Baptism recreated us to do. And when you take your Christian stand and say, “Marriage is between one man and one woman for life,” you aren’t the one doing the judging. Jesus said that. “In the beginning God made them male and female. And the two shall become one flesh. Therefore what God joins together let not man put asunder.” Jesus is the judge. He is the teacher and we are not above our Master, but every student when perfectly trained will be like his master, will talk like him, and Jesus talks about the worth of the little children and the holiness of marriage, so don’t be afraid to talk like your Master talks. At your house, with one another, in the public square when called upon. Jesus is the teacher, you are the student, you are only repeating His words, and human beings need to hear it, our children need to hear it, our communities are desperate for it. The world is in darkness, the blind leading the blind. But then Jesus speaks and there is light and there is beauty and there is happiness and there is love.
Judge not lest you also be judged means too that you have to apply the same teaching to yourself. It’s not just for the people out there, it’s for you. If I’m going to repeat Jesus’ teaching on marriage between one man and one woman and expect people to listen, then I’d better love my wife and care for her and respect her and treat her as the beautiful gift God gave me. And if I’m going to repeat Jesus’ judgment against abortion then I’d better love my own children and treat them like precious souls made in the image of God and raise them in the Christian faith. The judgment is for me, not just for them, for you, not just for him.
And our Savior’s teaching doesn’t just touch the body, it touches the soul. When our Master teaches us, He also judges us. He reveals our sin. And it’s horrible and there’s no hiding it. He is the light that shines in the darkness. And in that darkness, in our own flesh, still lurk the pride and the envy and the discontent and the worry and the lust. And this has to humble us. Who are we to judge by our own standards? We can’t do the judging. In everything we judge we judge ourselves. Only Jesus is worthy to judge. And His judgment judges us all. It reveals the plank in my eye and the speck in my brother’s. And we know we can’t make up for our sins, make ourselves worthy. Even if we whipped our backs with scorpions and went around in sackcloth and ashes all day. Jesus’ words would still haunt, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,” and you are not and you cannot be, no matter what you do. So when you let Jesus judge, this too is the result. You’re leveled. You’re humbled. You have nothing to hold over anyone’s head.
But keep letting Him do the judging. He’ll never disappoint. He always speaks the truth. And the truth is not simply what the Law declares. It’s what the blood of Jesus cries out, better things than the blood of Abel, better things than strict justice. It cries our Father’s mercy. And it is overflowing. This is one of the most beautiful pictures of the Bible, we should think of it often: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your lap. The mercy is overflowing, there’s too much of it, so you have to press it down to contain it, shake the container to get it to settle, but it still flows and flows and flows right into your lap. That’s the Father’s mercy toward us. It simply can’t be contained. How do you contain God? The earth can’t contain him. Heaven can’t contain him. And yet here He is, the eternal Son, sent from His Father, found in human flesh and blood. And mercy flows from His veins as He sheds His blood for us, and mercy shouts to heaven when He groans and dies for us, mercy overflows. And we hear a different judgment, the judgment of mercy. The judgment of your Baptism that you are God’s own child and heir of everlasting life, clothed with the innocence and righteousness of the God-Man Jesus Christ. The judgment of the absolution that your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. The judgment of the Lord’s body and blood, put into your mouth because your Lord wants you to know that this body was given for you and this blood was shed for you and you are His and He is yours, and just as He is risen from the dead, so will you live forever with Him. This is mercy overflowing into your lap.
And then there is laughing again, but not the laughing of comedy, as if we could laugh at the blind leading the blind into the pit, haha, too bad for them, we’re safe from that. And certainly not the hopeless weeping of tragedy, as if there is no restoring sight to the blind, they’re all a lost cause, so let them crash. No, we have the laughing optimism that comes from Jesus, from mercy, from the relief of finally being right with God. It’s an epic victory, the victory of God over sin and death. And it overflows. Your Father in heaven is merciful. So be merciful. This is a way of life. It’s the attitude of the redeemed of God. When you look and see the blind leading the blind in the world, what do you want for them? Say the worst politician who’s hurting people and lying to them? Or that man or woman who used to be close to you but betrayed you and slandered you and said all kinds of evil against you falsely? Do you want vengeance? That they get their day? That they land in the pit and stay there? I suppose that’s what they deserve. But your Father hasn’t given you what you deserved. The mercy is still flowing into your lap and He feeds you with the feast that angels peek from heaven to witness. You want the blind to see. You want repentance and you want life for them. You want Jesus’ judgment to be heard. And you want His mercy to sound. You want men to know their God. Because you are your Father’s child. And He is unwilling that any be lost, and so you are unwilling that any be lost.
And so we let Jesus continue His judging, through His Church, in our homes, everywhere His beautiful voice is heard, and we thank God that we know His truth. And we pray that this truth fill the world and God again reclaim the earth for His name, so that the heathen join with us and fill Christ’s churches far and wide and we together raise our voices in thanks for the mercy of our Father. In the name of Jesus. Amen.