Wednesday: The Second Touch
Read Mark 8:22-25. What spiritual lesson can we learn from the fact that Jesus’ first healing touch didn’t fully heal the blind man?
After Jesus “spat” on the man’s eyes, He touched him and asked, “ ‘Do you see anything?’ ” (Mark 8:23, NIV).
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Why did Jesus “spit” on his eyes? Ancient literature indicates examples of the use of saliva by physicians. This miracle resembles somewhat the healing of the deaf and mute man in Decapolis not long before that. (Read Mark 7:31-37.) However, unlike all His other recorded healing miracles, the cure for the blind man was performed in two stages.
Reread Mark 8:23-24. How do you understand the man’s answer to the question “ ‘Do you see anything?’ ”
“ ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around’ ” (Mark 8:24, NIV). That is, he could distinguish them from trees only by their motion. In a spiritual sense, how could we apply this incident to our own lives? It might be that after Jesus gives us spiritual sight, we are not totally restored. We might see people as “trees,” as objects. This could mean that we are still blind to them as real people with real needs. They are items, numbers, objects that we want to join the church, maybe to boost our baptism count, or to make us look good. With such a self-serving attitude around them, many people are likely not to stay in such a church.
Reread Mark 8:25. In this case, why might Jesus have deliberately healed the man in two stages?
The context of this story is that just before this healing miracle Jesus was dealing with another kind of blindness: His disciples didn’t understand the meaning of His statement to “ ‘watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod’ ” (Mark 8:15, NIV). They thought it was because they didn’t have enough bread for their boat ride. Jesus called them blind: “ ‘Do you have eyes but fail to see?’ ” (Mark 8:18, NIV).
Not only people outside the church need Jesus’ healing touch. Inside the church there is blindness. Partially sighted church members who see people as statistics and objects will not care or notice that many new babes in Christ slip out the back door of the church. They need Jesus’ second touch so they will see everything more clearly and will come to love others as Jesus did.
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I think most people in our church are actually blind. And talking about numbers, we always think we will be better off having the numbers. We even complain on how other churches (especially the Pentecostal churches from where i come from), are able to win more souls when we cant.
We already have people who feel we should start miracle sessions and even register our successes in terms of miracles so that we can attract many to our church! I feel this is the blindness. We are not planning in any way on how we can minister to these people in the real sense of giving them eternal hope. We can do better if Jesus touched all of us to understand His will.
There are plenty of reasons for us not to follow the example of the Pentecostal churches, especially their miracle healing and prosperity gospel.
Can I suggest that we already have the tools to perform miracles of the real kind. I have been involved in the Church's CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program) which has some traction in the USA and Australia and NZ and have seen the miracle of preventive medicine shared in a friendly manner. Taking an obese person who is on medication for a number of life style diseases and giving them back their life is a miracle and has a tangible result.
after being blind for years the beggar would have been contented to "see men walk like trees" He would have thanked Jesus and went his way, but no; he knew that ' he who started a good thing in him would bring it unto completion.
How many times have we been satisfied with just one touch from the Lord? Going on with life partially blind to our needs and other peoples needs, seeing other people just as "walking trees". May the holy spirit help us to stay close to God and receive the second clarifying touch.
Thank you Edith for this wonderful insight. As I was thinking about it, I realized that my "healing touch" is too often of the "one-touch" variety.
I may provide a single meal for a homeless person or give someone a free Bible or Great Controversy and leave it at that. This "drive-by" ministry is not what Jesus did and probably isn't very effective anyway.
Perhaps, I might additionally offer to bring more food on another day or to read/study the Bible with them rather than feeling content with being a "one-touch" disciple by only handing out a free meal or Book and expecting the Holy Spirit to take over from there.
Thank you Seig. To me, it is easier to be a hit and run type of person. Do good then run cause I don't know what else to do.
So God has put people in my life that I have to interact with all the time. And yes, it is hard. I'm continually asking God what to do, what to say, etc.
Seeing conversion and our spiritual growth in two stages is an interesting thought that resembles baptism of water and of the Holy Spirit unless we are baptised of the Holy Spirit we will only see the church congregation as either an audience or a measure of potential income. Let us have a sense of family in our churches making time for each other, not only on a sabbath.God bless.
Yes. John baptized with water to cleanse from sin.
The disciples baptized with the Holy Spirit.
So, first we get clean, then we receive the gift of the Spirit to do God's will.
Why did Jesus lead the blind man out of the town to heal him?
And after Jesus healed him, why did He ask him not to go into the town nor tell it to anyone in the town? Thanks
I believe when we are in a crowd of people like us we tend to follow the crowd and their belief or disbelief and just like we seperate from others to speak to them so that others opinion don't effect them, God does the same to us at times separates from others so we are not influenced by them but instead listen closely to god's words
Amen! May the Lord open our eyes, specially our leaders eyes to know that people are not just a number, but God's creation and we are not to play with their salvation. Teaching people the commandments of men instead of the true as it is in Jesus just to retain their membership in the church's book.
Esther
If you want to change the leadership of the church it must begin with ourselves. The leadership of the church are only a reflection of the membership.
This morning I crave a second touch from Jesus . I want always to see others as Jesus did , to treat them as Jesus did , and to seek to minister to them as Jesus did. This morning I pray that Jesus will touch me , apply his spit all over me, heal me and make me a blessing to others. Amen .
Oh that the Lord may open our eyes so that we may see needy souls around us in the home, at work, school, church or elsewhere... May He pardon us for opportunities we have missed to reach out and lead souls to the Master. The following text comes to mind:
6
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Isaiah 58:6-12
As we as Jesus followers see the world heading to its end, time is running out..yet we are ignoring that our God, our Almighty Heavenly Father put us here for a reason...n the same reason why He gave up all of Heaven thru His only begotten son Jesus Christ to seek n to save us, even on the tree so we can all be gathered home one day n one day soon...Hes selfless, unconditional love n compassion for people inside aswel as outside the church should all be treated kindly n fairly wif love n respect n practicing hospitality everywhere we are is very very important for we dont know that were serving angels or Our Loving Lord is visiting us to see how we do His work n see how much faith love n hope we have in Him while serving Him...He said to the blind man after the second touch, look up...He is definitely saying da same thing to all His people...looking up to God is where our help, healing n power wif sympathy n compassion comes from so we will see clearly n be able to fulfill n complete da work dat He left wif us to finish...Amen n Amen...God bless you all
Spiritual blindness in us is a symptom of the Laodecian church
May we accept the eye salve that Jesus offers to cure our disease
When all of us become seventh day Adventists, we received the first touch to our life this made a distinction between SDA and other denominations. We need to experience the second touch so as to distinguish the false prophets as we wait the soon second return of our saviour Jesus Christ.
The lesson mentions the "two stages" that Jesus worked through to heal the blind man. It interests me that during the first stage [or phase,] Jesus spat on the man's eyes. Looking closely at the original wording, it looks like He really did spit on his eyes - it was not simply a matter of putting saliva on His fingers and touching the mans eyes.(Mk 8:23.)
I doubt that the blind man expected Jesus to spit on him like that, and this may be the very reason, effectively, that Jesus did it. There are times when it is profitable for a person to be startled out of a kind of lethargy, stupor, or false expectation. [And it is also for this reason, I think, that some people must be saved using "fear" (Jude 23)... to break them out of a dream-like 'stupor'.]
Of course that action, on Jesus' part, was not simply like a step in some pagan ritual or incantation - there was real purpose in all Jesus' actions with the man that day.
There were some places/villages where Jesus could not do many "mighty works... because of their unbelief." (Matt 13:58.) In some areas of our lives Jesus is likewise limited in what He is able to do for us. But when it is possible, He does a work to open the way (providing Himself with more room), that He might be better able to help.
Step by step, I think that this is what Jesus was doing with the blind man. Initially, he was only able to receive a partial restoration, but Jesus brought him forward, to the point where he had the where-with-all to receive full sight.
In this episode, the blind man did not come to Jesus, but was brought by others. What Jesus did was give this man "a measure of faith" which allowed complete healing from his blindness.
Why lead him out of town first? Why call Abraham out of his home country? Why call fishermen from their nets/boats/families? Why call everyone to take up their cross, deny themselves and "follow Me"? Remember, Jesus went about "doing good", so being called away from something than promotes unbelief is for our own good, however dear it might seem to us. Can we trust?