Healing of the Blind Man
Today’s text is from Mark 8:22-30
22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him
This is an interesting text, and I’m going to take two seemly disparate passages and show that they are actually one in the same.
1. Jesus actually physically heals a blind man. (vs. 22-26) Notice the progression of the blind man’s healing: he saw dimly, then saw clearly. Jesus heals in the end perfectly. Notice the command: “Don’t even enter the village.”
2. Jesus actually spiritually heals blind men. (vs. 27-30) Notice that almost the same thing happens! To see Jesus dimly, we see Him as a great man – perhaps Elijah, prophets, etc. But Peter’s confession reveals what a person seeing clearly sees: He is the Christ – God in the flesh! Notice the command that Jesus gives: “Don’t tell anyone!”
It is awesome how Jesus does a physical thing and unveils a spiritual truth with it. This is one of those examples. What does it mean for you?
Who is Jesus? a person? a teacher? a prophet? a good man? a man worthy of disciples? an angel that is re-cast as a man? an emanation of God? These are all seeing Jesus dimly.
When your eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, you’ll see that Jesus is none other than the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah to come – in short – He is God in the flesh!! This is seeing Jesus clearly.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 am and is filed under Devotional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
