Word Live: Seeing Clearly
Think today about the people you will meet. Ask God to make you aware of them so you can relate well to them.
Bible passage
Mark 8:22–26
Jesus heals a blind man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spat on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’
24 He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Don’t even go into the village.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
In one African country the customary greeting is not ‘How are you?’ or ‘Did you sleep well?’ but one of personal affirmation: ‘I see you.’ In reality, we don’t always truly see the people around us, do we?
Without doubt the blind man experienced a real physical healing, but the fact that this healing comes in two distinct stages perhaps reminds us that physical healings have spiritual parallels. Mark seems to be driving home the point that we must grow in our spiritual awareness and that involves our eyes being opened both to God and to people.
We may see people without really noticing them. Perhaps they simply form the backdrop to our lives, rather like extras in a film, but we don’t truly engage with them. Sometimes we see people in a utilitarian way, for the function they perform, but never know their name or anything about them.
When God touches our eyes we begin to see others in the way that Jesus saw people – each made by God, created to know him, and with value in his sight. Spiritual awareness involves being attentive to both God and also the people around us.
Author
Tony Horsfall
Respond
‘Forgive me, Lord, that I am often blind to the people around me. Open my eyes and help me to see them with your eyes of compassion. Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
‘One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’1 Thank you, Jesus, that you have enabled me to see who you are.
Today’s reading describes a strange event – a two-stage miracle that only Mark has recorded. It is odd that Jesus’ saliva and touch result in only a partial healing and that the blind man needs a second touch. Taken on its own, this event is spectacular at best and unintelligible at worst – until it is understood in the light of the disciples’ condition and Jesus’ remedial education. Yesterday, we learned that the disciples were diagnosed with poor vision; today, Jesus uses a blind man as a visual aid to clarify the disciples’ lack of (in)sight and how they might be cured.
The peculiarity of this episode is not that Jesus heals a blind man but that it occurs in two stages. After Jesus has applied saliva on the blind man’s eyes and laid his hands on him, we would expect the man’s sight to be restored right away but instead it is blurry. So, Jesus touches his eyes again and this time the man’s sight becomes clear. It is unlikely that Jesus misjudged his powers, so we must look for another explanation for this anomaly.
Jesus leads the blind man out of the village (v 23), so the disciples are probably the only witnesses to this miracle, implying that this happened for their sake. If so, what did Jesus want the disciples (and by extension us) to learn from this two-stage healing of the blind man? I suggest that the man’s progressive healing from blindness to blurred vision to clear sight is reflective of the disciples’ gradual progress in understanding Jesus’ identity, teaching and mission. In other words, the two-stage healing of the blind man mirrors the disciples’ understanding, showing that insight into the things of God is progressive and requires a divine helping hand. The next episodes will confirm this reading.
Reflect on those areas in your understanding of God that are less clear and ask him for insight.
Author
Cor Bennema
