Sunday: Seeing Clearly
Daily Lesson for Sunday 11th of August 2024
Read Mark 8:22-30. Why did it take Jesus two touches to heal the blind man, and what lessons came out of this account?
The Gospels report a number of blind people healed by Jesus. Besides the passage here in Mark 8:1-38, blind Bartimaeus is healed as reported in Mark 10:46-52. Matthew refers to two blind men (Matthew 20:29-34), and John 9:1-41 tells the story of Jesus’ healing a man born blind who washes in the Pool of Siloam.
Image © Erik Stenbakken at Goodsalt.com
But this story in Mark 8:1-38 is unique. It appears only in Mark, and it is the only miracle of Jesus that requires two actions to bring perfect health. As part of the story, it is a touching detail that Jesus takes the man by the hand and leads him out of the village. One can sense His sympathy for the man’s disability.
But why two touches? As this is the only miracle in which two actions are involved, it is not likely because of any lack of power on Jesus’ part. Instead, it is more likely an acted parable, illustrating how spiritual insight sometimes takes time to unfold. That is what is happening for Jesus’ disciples. The entire section, Mark 8:22-38; Mark 9:1-50; Mark 10:1-52 begins and ends with the healing of a blind man. In this section of Mark, Jesus is especially teaching his disciples about His coming death. They have trouble grasping it even though He tells them numerous times. Just like the blind man, they need “two touches” to see clearly. Restoring of sight becomes a metaphor for insightful discipleship.
Teachers love questions. They are often the key to unlocking a student’s understanding. In this passage in Mark 8:1-38, the turning point of the book has arrived. Three characteristics confirm this assertion. First, Jesus questions His disciples about His identity, something He has not done before this point. Second, Peter is the first person not demon-possessed who declares that Jesus is the Messiah. Third, immediately following this revelation of who Jesus is, He begins to explain where He is going—to the cross.
Why does Jesus tell His disciples to tell no one that He is the Messiah? It seems counterintuitive to establishing the kingdom of God. However, in Jesus’ day, “Messiah” had political overtones of overthrowing Roman rule. Jesus did not come to be that kind of messiah; hence His call for silence on His identity.
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What does this story teach us about times when it’s important not to say some things, however true they might be? |
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Sight is a precious gift; many of us take it for granted until something threatens it. When I had a retinal detachment and tear, the possibility of going blind, even in one eye was quite devastating. Thanks to the miracle of modern vitreoretinal surgery, most of my sight in that eye has been restored. I don't take it for granted, and I still visit my surgeon yearly for checkups.
This personal experience of vision loss and restoration has given me a profound appreciation for the miracles recorded in Scripture. When I read of the miraculous restoration of sight during Jesus’ ministry, I can empathize with the immense joy experienced by these individuals.
It is no coincidence that the two-stage healing of the blind man precedes the pivotal discussion about Jesus’ identity. Peter’s proclamation, “You are the Christ, the Messiah,” was a profound revelation. Yet, Jesus recognized that Peter’s understanding of the Messiah was still rooted in the Jewish concept of an earthly kingdom. Peter’s spiritual perception was akin to seeing "men as walking trees".
Jesus possessed a deeper spiritual revelation to impart, a truth that would be challenging for the disciples to embrace. Spiritual enlightenment is not a sudden illumination but a gradual process of growth and maturation.
This raises a crucial question: Are we content with a limited spiritual perspective, perceiving "men as walking trees", or do we yearn for Jesus to touch our eyes anew and bestow upon us the clarity of twenty-twenty spiritual vision?
Dear Maurice – thanks for speaking so clearly! My answer to your question for Jesus to restore my spiritual vision is a whole-hearted 'Yes'; my heavenly Father's Grace provided this miracle for me!
Regarding my physical eyesight, I am dealing with an eye condition called macular degeneration since a year and a half now. The doctor was able to slow it down with injections in the eye, first every 4 weeks and now it is only about every 8 weeks. Sadly, I have been told that this type of ‘degeneration’ cannot be reversed.
Though, thankfully, through God's Grace and Mercy, through the Holy Spirit provided to be our counselor and teacher, the spiritual ‘blindness’ of the heart and mind can be healed; no need to settle with “perceiving men as walking trees”. 🙂 In our new nature, we are able to address all matters of live with ‘twenty-twenty’ vision.
Brigette so sorry to hear of your eye condition. I will be praying that
the degeneration will slow even more. God bless you.
Thank you, Leilani! 🙂
Brigitte I am sadden by your situation that you’re going through, I too can relate because I've been there. I went to an eye appt not knowing the full aspect of what was to take place! As I sat in the high chair after the doctor had put numbing drops in my eye, I wasn't prepared for what was to take place next! To my horror, I couldn't move, they had strapped me in the chair and my head was in a brace-like position! They told me they were going to prepare me for eye muscle surgery in order to correct my left eye into a center position and that I had to hold still! Wow, was I ever so shocked but all I could do was pray from within for Jesus to help me. As I watched what seemed like hours an injection go into my right eye, I took hold fully of Jesus and before I knew it, it was done! They were numbing my right eye so that they could repair or straighten the muscle in my left eye even with my right eye! So now even though I'm still visually impaired in my left eye, I am able to move my eye muscles with ease! Although your Doctor told you that degeneration can't be helped, I know and believe that Jesus can do Anything, there's nothing impossible with God! He created us! With God All things are possible! I know it's not easy, it's hard sometimes to bear! But know this, everytime we go thru trials, Jesus is there with us to help us along the way! We are not alone! I wish it were possible for me to accompany you to your appts just for comfort, but I understand that in my situation it isn't possible because of my health but know this my prayers are Lifted up for you and we will see Him as He is in Glory!
Thank you for your kind remarks, Yolanda - yes, it is quite scarry to have work done on one's eyes. I am happy that your eye condition improved. My treatment has been going on for almost 2 years now. Now, I am feeling much more at ease when the eye is being prepared for the injection.
I thank God for the availability of this special serum and the skill of the doctor to administer it.
God knows my heart's desire is for this condition to be reversed. In the meantime I am grateful for all the blessings I am receiving already.
Dear Brigitte,
It must have been 20 years or so that an ophthalmologist examined my eyes and found some signs of incipient macular degeneration. (That sounded serious to me, because macular degeneration spoiled the last years of my father's life, who liked to read as I do.) But the ophthalmologist told me that a natural supplement had been demonstrated to prevent macular degeneration. It is a supplement containing lutein and zeaxanthin as primary ingredients, often with vitamins, copper and zinc. (I suggest you do a little of your own research.) This, along with a healthy lifestyle, including proper rest, exercise, keeping weight down, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, no smoking etc. should help to keep age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from progressing.
When I had that first diagnosis, I had already been taking such a supplement off and on, since a retinal surgery about 10 years earlier. (After the surgery I had "floaters" in my eyes that the surgeon said might be permanent. They went away when I took the supplement, so I showed the surgeon what I was taking. He was interested and said he was aware of positive studies in relation to AMD, but he didn't think it had any effect on the floaters. I proved him wrong to my satisfaction by observing what happened when I stopped taking the supplement, started again, stopped, then took it permanently. Each time I stopped, the floaters returned after a week or so. Likewise, each time I took the supplement, the floaters stopped after a week or so. After several years, the floaters did not come back, even when I did not take the supplement.)
At any rate, I started taking the supplement regularly after that eye exam, and a year later, the doctor said that there was a slight progression of the disease, and maybe I should double my dosage. So I did.
Your sharing just reminded me that I need another eye exam to see what's going on in my eyes currently. (I'm not aware of any symptoms, but that's not unusual.) I pray that you may be able to stabilize your condition so it does not get worse. 🙏
I am so thankful that the Lord created so many natural remedies for the diseases that may afflict us. He heals all our disease - some in one way, others in a different way. And for some we may have to wait till we get new bodies at the resurrection.
(Lutein is naturally found in dark leafy greens and some other fruits and vegetables. Zeaxanthin, a similar common carotenoid, is the pigment that gives paprika, corn, saffron, wolfberries (goji berries), and many other plants their characteristic colors of red, orange or yellow. Some of us just need more of these natural substances than we usually get in our food.)
Aside from the physical touch of the blind man in the Bible, I can relate, but there is a difference, although I did not physically feel the touch of Jesus that day years back, I was healed! I remember standing in my room and as usual I had a special time where I would get ready to study my Bible! But this time the vision in my right eye suddenly became 95% dark and I already was partially blind in my left eye from birth with retroelentialfibroplasia at birth as a premie 1 pound 13 ounces! So I grew up adjusting to my one eye! Well when my right eye began to fail me, I dropped to my knees and said Lord you know I have only 1 eye that I use to study your words, please don't let me go totally blind? In less than an second the sight in my right eye was restored! I thank God today still for being able to see and type this testimony so that others too can see Jesus Power! I guess you all are wondering why wasn't my left eye restored, God has mysterious ways, we are not to question why. I know that Jesus can do Anything if we were to believe and although our questions may not always get an answer, I know that only God knows best!!! I am able to witness to eye doctors when I go to see them and share about Jesus's Truths and His Love! I am prayerfully getting ready and waiting for the Complete healing when He returns! I'm happy with my sight, I can "reach" more people this way!
Thank you so much for sharing the love, mercy, compassion and healing power of our God. And your beautiful, inspiring faith: "... I am prayerfully getting ready and waiting for the complete healing when He returns! I'm happy with my sight, I can "reach" more people this way!"
What faith. God's Spirit is beautiful in this earth.
God is a God of miracles , me too I can relate with physical healings not only in my eyes ,but also my high blood pressure because the doctor said ,I should everyday take my medicine ,but no I did not I prayed to God for health and life and now I am still alive I believe God will give me healthy blood pressure and He did . We only have to believe when we pray .
I do believe the moral of this story was fulfilled in Acts 2.
Read with me from Christ Object Lessons page 118.
"On the day of Pentecost the Spirit was given. Christ's witnesses proclaimed the power of the risen Saviour. The light of heaven penetrated the darkened minds of those who had been deceived by the enemies of Christ. They now saw Him exalted to be "a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts 5:31. They saw Him encircled with the glory of heaven, with infinite treasures in His hands to bestow upon all who would turn from their rebellion" COL 118.3
Did you catch that? They could see their Saviour now. The scales fell off their eyes by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is going to happen soon again, worldwide. A plethora of baptisms has already happened in some countries.
Seeing is not understanding the things that are right before us.
For we need to seek spiritual discernment to understand the things of God. My prayer is that God would remove my eyes slaves that may see and understand, that I may live and worship only Him.
Spiritual blindness is more painful than physical one.Imagine living without having the knowledge of Christ 😶, not able to tell between evil and good🫢
If we picture a continuum scale for FAITH, we trust Jesus some amount on that scale - from "not at all" on one end to "completely trust Him" on the other. And picturing another continuum scale for SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING, we see "perfectly" vs. "blind" at some point on that sliding scale....with stops along the way like "clearly" and "fuzzily".
Perhaps we could say that we all in this conversation trust Jesus (some amount), but we all still don't see clearly (some amount). We don't comprehend with complete objectivity and clarity even after coming to Jesus. There's that dark glass we are all looking through that causes us to understand only in part (1 Cor. 13:12). We're always learning and growing in spiritual maturity, even when we have a great deal of faith. An example is that AFTER Pentecost, which was a time of great infilling of the Holy Spirit and strengthening of spiritual vision, Peter and the others were still learning about God's heart for the Gentiles. Peter had the dream about clean and unclean animals after Pentecost.
Is it possible to have faith and be blind at the same time?
I'd say faith means you're acting on seeing even the smallest peep of light. As the song "Amazing Grace" says, "I once was blind, but now I see." So no, not completely blind. But yes, we note that each person in the gospel stories came to Jesus for healing with some amount of faith and no knowledge of who He really was, what His mission was, and what He was capable of. It was more of a HOPE that Jesus might be what was needed, at that point. Very fuzzy vision indeed.
Is it possible to have no faith and see clearly?
I'd answer, yes, Satan saw the Godhead clearly in heaven and yet lost all of his faith. The demons who called out knew Jesus was the Son of God, without any doubt, and also trembled from lack of faith. But I'd also answer "No", Romans 1:21 tells us that foolish hearts that resist faith are darkened and lose vision. Evil does not see the singular beauty of Jesus.
Jesus while on Earth, on those two continuum scales, was at 100% on both. 100% faith-filled and 100% spiritually wise and understanding. Jesus had full faith in the Father and full comprehension of God's love and the plan of salvation. Paul's prayer that all people grasp the bigness of God's love was fulfilled in Jesus (Eph. 3:18-19 KJV). Through faith perfected in trials, Jesus grasped God's love completely.
All of this leads me to this final realization....which is to go deeper into what Omwenga pointed out beautifully yesterday. Jesus, the only man who has ever had it all, the only man living on planet Earth who ever will have it all, full enlightenment and full faith, Jesus is the most humble man to ever walk on Earth. That's what full faith and full understanding look like - HUMILITY. Wow.
Omwenga further shared, "Unfortunately, at times, we display arrogance and spiritual superiority when trying to share the truth that we know." What a contrast between Jesus and us. God in Jesus speaks intentionally and with restraint. Jesus said,
And again Jesus demonstrated this restraint and told His disciples that this spirit of humility is the Holy Spirit's character too:
Prayer: God, we want a fuller measure of faith and a clearer vision of Your presence in each situation, so that we mature in not speaking any careless words, and not speaking out of turn or when You want us to remain silent (Matt. 12:36-37; James 1:19; 3:5; Job 42:3; Esther 5:7-8; Eccl. 3:1,7; 10:14). We long to grow stronger each day in seeing and following You wherever You lead. Amen.
Our miraculous Jesus saves and can save us from all our troubles.
Peoples are working hard with their partial sight working deligently turning others heart for God.
Those of us with clear vision must work untiredly to save others in trouble.Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
The healing of the blind man at Bethsaida performed by two touches, also has a spiritual dimension. (Mark 8:22-26) The physical healing is a sign pointing to a spiritual condition and a spiritual event. Already at the Feeding of the Four Thousand Christ is using the formular of the Institution of the Lord`s Supper. (Mark 14:22; Mark 8:6) In the gospel of John the Healing of the Man Born Blind is illustrating the Blindness of the Pharisees. Inspite of their detailed investigation of the case, they remain in a condition of Spiritual Blindness. (John 9:39-40)
Not until the Walk to Emmaus did the disciples see Trees walking like men at the first touch of Christ. (Luke 23:32) And not until the Day of Pentecoste, at the second touch of the Holy Spirit, did they and the Jews who had crucified Jesus, see clearly and distinctly that the crucified Christ was and is their saviour from Sin and from the power of the enemy from captivity in sin. (Acts 2:37-38) We too are in need of Spiritual Healing in preparation for the coming of Christ in Glory (Revelation 3:17-18; Revelation 1:7)
The healing events in the gospel of Mark and the other gospels are to be seen in the wider context of salvation history. This is coming to my mind today in the sudy of the gospel of Mark, which I would like to share with you all.
Winfried Stolpmann