Deo Gloria
March 15, 2026
Sermon
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Isaiah 42:14-21
Theme: Lord, Open Our Eyes to See and Our Ears to Hear!
- Help us to see how blind and deaf we are.
- Help us to see the way of salvation.
His name was Scott. He was a member of the church I served over in Michigan. He’s the only blind person I’ve ever personally known. Scott became blind as a result of his diabetes. Personally, I think that would be especially difficult. I mean, it would be bad enough to born blind, to never have been able to see. But I think it would be even worse to be able to see and then to lose your eyesight as the result of an accident or disease. Obviously, losing his eyesight had a tremendous effect on Scott’s life, a tremendous negative effect. He couldn’t drive a car anymore. He couldn’t go to a movie or watch TV. He couldn’t go to the store. He couldn’t even go to church unless someone gave him a ride and then guided him from the parking lot, through the hallway, through the narthex and into the sanctuary. Every aspect of his life, even simple things you and I take for granted, was often a tremendous challenge for Scott.
As difficult as it would be to be blind, there is another affliction that’s even worse. It’s called spiritual blindness or spiritual deafness. What are the symptoms? Not knowing who the true God is and trusting in idols instead, not understanding sin and the serious consequences of sin, hearing God’s Word but not really listening to what it says or taking it to heart, and most of all not knowing how you can be saved. This is the blindness or deafness God is talking about in these verses from Isaiah, ch. 42. And this is the blindness and deafness from which we pray God would deliver us. Lord, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear!
Our text begins with the words of God himself: “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant”(v. 14). God is indeed a very patient God. He mentions here how he has been holding himself back, how he has kept quiet for a long, long time. But now he can hardly stand it anymore. He is gasping and panting like a woman in labor, anxiously waiting for her baby to be born. And what is God waiting for? Take a look at the next verse: “I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools”(v. 15). That sounds an awful lot like Judgment Day, doesn’t it? And that exactly what God is talking about. God has been so patient with people’s sinfulness. He has been so patient with people’s insolence and arrogance and wickedness and rebellion that he can hardly stand it. It’s similar to the way you feel toward that guy at work. You know which one I mean, the guy who hardly does anything but is always complaining, the guy who always wants to go home early, the guy who thinks he knows everything and likes to tell everyone else how to do their jobs even though he can’t do his own. You try your best to be patient. You try to keep your cool and not say anything. But some days you can hardly stand it. You just want to explode and let that guy have it. God can hardly stand it. He can hardly wait for the day when he will bring all sin and wickedness to an end, the day he will bring this world of ours to end and give all of the wicked people what they truly deserve: his judgment.
Later on in these verses God gives some examples of the sinfulness and wickedness he’s been putting up with. In v. 17 he talks about people trusting in idols and saying to images, “You are our gods.” The word he uses refers to molten images, images made out of molten metal like silver or gold. In other words, the people had to make the images first. And then they bowed down and worshiped them and said, “You are our gods.” Talk about spiritual blindness. How foolish can you be? So what’s going to happen to such people on the Last Day? God tells us in v. 17: They will be turned back. At heaven’s gate they will be turned back, turned away and not be allowed to enter. They will be banished from God’s presence and condemned to shame and everlasting contempt in hell.
And yet, was it only the idol worshipers God was upset at, people like the Canaanites who worshiped Baal or the Babylonians who worshiped Bel? No, listen again to what God says in vv. 18-20:
Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
The “servant” God is talking about is not the prophet Isaiah. The servant he is talking about is his own people, the people of Israel. They were his chosen people, the people who were supposed to be committed to him because they had made a covenant with him, the people who were to serve as his ambassadors, his messengers to the world. Sadly, in Isaiah’s day, most of them were anything but. Many of them were worshiping idols, including Baal and Bel and Molech and Kemosh. Over the years they had indeed heard and seen many things, many great things God had done for them: like when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt, when he parted the waters of the Red Sea for them, when he brought them into the promised land and gave them victory over their enemies. In fact, just recently they had seen with their own eyes how God had delivered them from the Assyrian army, which had surrounded the city of Jerusalem and was going to destroy it. But none of that seemed to matter. They didn’t appreciate it or give God the glory he deserved. Time and time again, when God had sent his prophets to them to call them to repentance, they listened, but they didn’t take their words to heart. They didn’t repent of their sinful ways. They didn’t turn back to God. It was like they were blind and deaf.
The same was true in Jesus’ day, wasn’t it? Here they had Jesus himself, the promised Savior, the Son of God, right in their midst. They saw his miracles with their own eyes. They heard his sermons with their own ears. But they still did not believe. As we heard in our Gospel lesson, Jesus performed an awesome miracle, healing a man who was born blind, a miracle the Jewish leaders could not disprove and could not discredit no matter how hard they tried. And yet, they still would not believe. Talk about spiritual blindness!
Sadly, the same is true today, isn’t it? There are so many people today who are just as blind as the people back in Isaiah’s day. There are so many people today who still worship idols, idols like Allah and Buddha. There are so many people today who foolishly deny the existence of God, who ignore their own conscience and ignore the testimony God has placed in nature and claim that God does not exist. There are so many wicked people today and so much wickedness God has to put up with.
And yet, is it only the people out there whom God has to be so patient with? Is it only the people out there who have been so blind and deaf when it comes to spiritual matters? Or have we been that way too? “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD?” Those words aren’t just about God’s people back then; they’re about God’s people today too, people who often are just as blind and deaf. God warns us in his Word that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve both God and money. But do we listen? No, we keep on trying. We love our money and our things as much as God and even more than God. We dedicate our lives to making money. We’ll work 50, 60, 70 hours a week, but then we can’t find even one hour a week to spend in God’s house. We aren’t thankful either. We aren’t grateful to God for our money and all that he has given us, and it shows in our less than generous offerings. Like the people of Israel, we too have heard and seen many things. Through his Word we too have heard about the great things God has done: how he created our world and our universe, how he rescued Noah and his family at the time of the flood, how he delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and brought them into the promised land. In addition, through his Word we have heard about Jesus. We’ve heard about all the great miracles he did. We’ve listened to the parables he taught and the sermons he preached. But all too often, none of that seems to matter. We don’t take what he says to heart. In fact, we ignore what he says. Instead of walking in his ways, we walk in the ways of the world. We are just as blind and deaf. Lord, forgive us. And, Lord, help us. Help us to see how blind and deaf we are, how foolish and sinful we are. Help us to see how much we need a Savior!
Is God only interested in destroying people? Is he only patiently waiting for the day when he will lay waste the mountains and hills and bring judgment on sinful people? No, more than being a holy and just God, God is also a God of mercy and love. So back in Isaiah’s day God was waiting for another day too, a day when he would have mercy on people, a day when he would provide forgiveness for all their sins and salvation for their souls. We see that in these verses too. Let’s go back to v. 14 and look at those words again: “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.” Yes, when God comes, he will bring destruction on the earth and he will bring judgment on people for their sins. But that isn’t the only thing that will happen when God comes. Something else will happen too. Take a look at v. 16: “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Here God is talking about his first coming. Yes, in v. 15 he was talking about his second coming, his coming on the last day; but here is talking about his first coming, when he would come in the person of his Son Jesus Christ. And look at the amazing and wonderful things he would do! He would open the eyes of the blind. He would lead them in a new way, a way they did not know. He would turn the darkness into light for them and make the ground nice and smooth for them so they wouldn’t stumble and fall.
Here we find a beautiful picture of our Savior and what he would do. As we heard in our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus did so much more than restore a man’s physical eyesight. He opened his eyes spiritually. He dispelled the darkness of sin in his heart and opened his eyes so that he might see the light of salvation. He led him down a new path, a path he had never walked before, a nice, smooth path that leads straight to eternal life in heaven. He led this blind man to see him as his Savior.
That’s what Jesus has done for us as well. In his grace and mercy he has opened our eyes, not these eyes, but the eyes of our heart, so we can see. Through the power of his Word in Holy Baptism, God takes people like us, people who are born spiritually blind and opens our eyes. He washes away our sins and puts faith in our hearts, faith to believe in him as our Savior. He leads us down a new path, a path unfamiliar to us by nature, a path we could never find on our own. It’s the path of forgiveness and salvation that he won for us on the cross and gives to us by faith, a nice, smooth path that leads straight to eternal life in heaven.
So, how many of you would like to go back to being blind? That can happen, you know. In fact, that’s what Satan is trying to accomplish each and every day, to make us blind all over again, to lead us into sin and unbelief, to lead us to take our faith for granted, our forgiveness for granted, our Savior for granted. Don’t let that happen. Don’t let Satan rob you of your sight and make you blind again. Keep the light of Jesus shining brightly in your life. Make time each week to come to his house to worship him, to hear his Word and receive his sacrament. Likewise, set aside time each day to read and study his Word on your own or together with your family. This is what God uses to keep our spiritual eyesight healthy and strong, because through them he keeps our eyes focused on Jesus our Savior.
Back at the beginning I told you about a blind man named Scott, a man who lost his eyesight. And yet, by the grace of God, Scott could still see. His spiritual vision was still 20/20. Though it was difficult, he still came to church whenever he could to worship God and hear his Word. And he was always glad when I came to his place to give him private communion. He appreciated that personal assurance of forgiveness and the strength it provided for his faith. May the same be true of us! In his grace and mercy God has delivered us from spiritual blindness and given us faith in Jesus as our Savior. By the power of his Word, may he continue to drive the darkness of sin and Satan away and keep our eyes on Jesus, the one and only path to heaven. Lord, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear! Amen.