Chapel notes from 11 Feb 2026.
In Luke 18, 31 and following (Quinquagesima Gospel in the 1928 Book) Jesus and the twelve are approaching Jericho. A blind man is sitting by the road. He cannot see what is happening, but he hears a crowd passing by. He asks what it means. They tell him: Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.
And he cries out.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
He cannot see. But he hears.
Jericho is not an accidental city in Scripture. As my friend James Jordan taught me, “the Holy Spirit does not waste His breath.”
Jericho is the first city “Israel” faced when Joshua led them from Egypt and into the Promised Land. He sent spies to “see” the land and they came back with fear of the Canaanite city.
Deuteronomy 34 ends with, “10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.”
In the “sight” or literally in the Hebrews “eyes.”
As Joshua takes the leadership, God uses the priests and the horns to conquer what they saw. Jericho fell by sound. Priests blowing horns. The people shouting. The promise announced before the victory was visible.
Sound before sight.
Joshua’s name and Jesus’ name are the same in Hebrew. Yehoshua. Yeshua. The Lord saves. One leads Israel into the land. The other leads His people into the Kingdom.
And both pass through Jericho.
In Joshua, the people march around the city and hear the trumpet blast. In Luke, the blind man sits by the road and hears that Jesus is passing by. The crowd sees. He hears.
He hears and he shouts: “Son of David…”
The crowd tells him to be quiet. He shouts louder.
It is hard not to notice the echo. Jericho once trembled at the sound of horns. Now Jericho hears the cry of a blind man calling the Son of David.
The blind man cannot see, but he understands more than the twelve. They call Him “Jesus of Nazareth.” He calls Him “Son of David.” Royal & Messianic language.
From Epistle to the Romans 10:17:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith comes by hearing. The twelve would only “see” the challenges, they would soon “see” that ” ..he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death…” it would “look” like failure.
The promise sounds before resurrection is visible. In John 11, the people say “Lord, come and see” (Lazarus is dead) and Jesus cries out ““Lazarus, come forth!”” with a loud voice to resurrect Lazarus. The grave is opened by his voice. (Similar to how Ezekiel speaks over dry bones ch. 37.)
Creation began with God speaking life and New Creation begins with a new Come Forth
Interesting side note that I haven’t quite pieced together is how the propers appointed for Quinquagesima also using this hearing/seeing comparison language from St. Paul, “I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal…” and ” For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face.” (1 Cor 13)
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