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Eyes on Jesus: Opened Eyes
April 5, 2020 Palm Sunday (YrA)

Message presented by Rev. Frank C. Ruffatto

Psalm 118:19-29
Isaiah 28:14-20
Ephesians 1:15-19
Mark 8:14-25

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Mark 8:14-25 (ESV)

On Palm Sunday, we look through the “Opened Eyes,” given to us by our Savior and whereby our King, humble and riding on a donkey, removes the scales from our eyes; and in our Baptisms we are given the gift of the sight of faith that we would behold His Word and Sacraments and take in the forgiveness and light and life that Christ gives to us as pure gift.

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Eyes on Jesus

O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
—prayer for Lent, based on Hebrews 12:2

When the characters in the Passion narrative look at Jesus, what do they see? In most cases, people misunderstood who He is and what He was doing. In some cases, by faith, people recognized Him aright.

Our Lenten series this year, based on the Gospel according to St. Mark and prepared with the help of Concordia Publishing House resources written by Carl Roth, will examine how the various people around Jesus viewed Him—and how we should view Him. We will “fix our eyes” on what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, and celebrate what God sees on account of His work: our justification for His sake.