Aug 27
Submitted by on as 2023


Mark 8:22-26

(22) And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. (23) And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. (24) And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. (25) After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. (26) And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

  This is one of those passages that really make you think. I had stated in an earlier study that there is not one simple recipe for having these miracles performed. Jesus demonstrates different approaches to each and every "need” at hand. This passage has a certain vibe that believe Jesus is trying to convey. 1st let’s look at what takes place. They Bring Jesus a blind man, Jesus leads him out of town. Jesus sits in his eyes and puts His hands upon him and asked if he can see. The man replies and says he see shapes like men as trees walking. Jesus puts His hand on his eyes again and the man saw clearly.  Let’s stop here and digest what took place. So far, we have read that all of Jesus’ previous miracles have happened instantaneously. Here we see there needed to be Jesus’ touch twice for the healing to truly manifest itself.  Just that statement alone could be a 10-part sermon. When I do these studies, I try to be as organic as possible and not get any outside help. I do not rely on others to help convey the meaning of scriptures, as I truly want our thoughts to be as inspired by God as possible. I want to look at two viewpoints on this though. One is my own and another is what is written in my study Bible. I will go with that 1st.

 

"Because of where it is in the narrative, this miracle should be considered an object lesson – a physical demonstration of the spiritual condition of the disciples. Some people of Bethsaida ask Jesus to heal a blind man. Jesus applies saliva to the man’s eyes, lays hands on him and asks what he sees. The man’s vision improved because he can see the shapes of men. Jesus again places His hands on the man and this time he can see clearly. Similarly, although the disciples’ spiritual vision is not yet 20/20, they will eventually come to see clearly who He is.”


When I read the passage, I for one did not correlate this being some lesson to the disciples, nor would I disagree. It does make sense to know what had happened prior to this. Meaning the feeding of the 4000, the disciples clearly did not get the message way earlier when feeding the 5000. They should have known to feed the 4000 the same way Jesus fed the 5000. Clearly their vision was blurred.


 Psalm 119:18  Open thou mine eyes, That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Matthew 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.


My 2nd viewpoint is this. Jesus is constantly working on us. Not everything we ask or hope for will come immediately or automatically. Often there is a process involved because we are human/sinners. We must understand that Jesus is always with us, always working on us, always rescuing us, always loving us, always forgiving us. He is always there. I believe we have put so much junk in our lives that our vision is blurred to the greatness and fullness of Jesus. When I read that Jesus spit on the man, to me that was an act of cleansing. Remember when our moms would wet a towel with her saliva and wipe our face. It’s a cleansing. Trying to get the dirt and grime off of us.

 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Psalm 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Thessalonians 3:16  Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

Joshua 1:5  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 31:6   Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.


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COMMENTS


[ posted by Cindy, 08/29/2023 10:46 AM ]

Here's another person Jesus led away from the crowd before healing him. Lots of the use of the word 'beseech' from the people who come to Jesus. They are always desperate. Imagine that period in time. You have a family member, a friend, an aquaintance has been ill, disabled, or diseased for many years, maybe even since birth... the rumors start coming into your village about a guy named Jesus who can heal people....just by a touch... The stories people are telling coming in from the whole region by now. First hand stories of healings of people they knew had different types of afflictions. It's apparent their love and concern for those people, thats why they were so desperate to get them where Jesus was. Jesus became their only hope... for a miracle.   
Mike you are right about the spit on your hand to wipe the face, etc. We sure didnt get that special power in Moms spit... LoL But we know everything about Jesus is Holy. The doing the eyes twice I don't think has a hidden meaning. I just think of a faith meter... Kinda like in Elf when Santa needed the belief of Santa to run the engine meter thing to fly.
Jesus knows our hearts, and knows our past and everything. This man got a first glimpse was of men walking like trees. His sight is blurry... But its the first time he's seeing ... 
( in many years or ever??? ) Jesus had to feel his emotion. He knew this guy was going to heal him. Perhaps thats why Jesus took a few people away from the crowds to be able to fully enjoy the personal attention and feelings He also got from what He was sent to do. He loves the people. He has shown so much compassion for all these people who are coming to find Him, hear Him, follow Him. I love you so much , I have come to heal you. Thats as about as personal as you can get! 
I think the second touching of the mans eyes was just to seal the deal. That Jesus was the real deal.
That there would never be doubt that who Jesus was. And I can only imagine the stories that man went to tell later on!!!! 
We go back to us being 'spiritually blind.' Our spiritual vision gets blurry. We sin. We stray. We slack off in our relationship with God. But He will always clear up our 'vision' as soon as we shift our focus back towards Him. 
Jesus longs for us to have that faith in Him. No, we don't get everything we ask for or want. We question why bad things happen. We don't get miracles we beg for that are answered. Those things are on "our" timing. Not God's. It's not about us, it's about Him. That's the message! Do you think those folks who brought that man to Jesus had prayed and did whatever religious things they thought were necessary for him to be healed? And probably many, many times perhaps year after year after year?
There is a time and a season for everything. Something we will never understand.
But God does. He knows. 
I picture us like the spit and dirt being molded, and then fixed and formed again with more spit and dirt everytime we sin and fall apart a bit... Jesus will lovingly spit on more dirt and shape us and pat us back to what He wants us to be. ❤️ Because He loves us that much. 

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