Mark 8:22-26

Passage

When Jesus and His disciples get to the other side, they go into Bethsaida.  Once more the people of the town bring out a man that they beg Jesus to heal.  This time, the man is blind.  Jesus takes the man by the hand and leads him out of Bethsaida.  Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and laid His hands upon the man.  Jesus asks the man if he can see anything.  The man replies that he can see something, but they looked like trees walking.  Jesus lays His hands upon the man a second time and the man’s sight was completely restored.  He saw everything clearly.  Jesus sent the man on his way and told him to not even go back into Bethsaida.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Here is another town that at first glance looks to be filled with plenty of “Good Samaritans.”  They bring a blind man to Jesus so that He could be healed.  However, we aren’t told that any of these people are friends with the blind man.  We aren’t told that any of these people even know the man.  Notice that Jesus intentionally takes the man out of the city before healing him.  When we add to this the end of the story where Jesus tells the man to not even go back into Bethsaida, we can see that this town is just like the last.  They aren’t “Good Samaritans” at all.  They are self-serving people looking for a show.  This blind man is just an excuse to “see a miracle.”

What does this passage seem to teach us about making sure we genuinely look into people’s motives?  Have you ever done something that looked genuine from the outside but was really for less-than-pure motives?  Why?

Second Thought:

Let’s return to the point about Jesus taking the man out of the city.  It could be that this is a deep comment upon their unbelief – or at least their human need for empirical evidence.  Remember Jesus in His hometown of Nazareth?  He could do nothing in the town because of their unbelief.  But when Jesus went out of Nazareth he could do plenty in the surrounding towns.  The fact that Jesus takes the man out of the town may actually be evidence of their lack of belief or refusal to believe without proof.  This reinforces the teaching Jesus just had with the Pharisees.  With Jesus, we don’t need a sign.

Have you ever tried to be spiritual in a place that isn’t interested in allowing people to be spiritual?  What about trying to be spiritual in a place that is downright antagonistic to spirituality?  Why is it harder to accomplish what needs to be done in such places?

Third Thought:

Jesus needs to lay His hands on the blind man twice.  At first, this may seem like Jesus made a mistake the first time.  Perhaps the healing was incomplete.  However, I think there is a different reason than “imperfection” or “incompleteness.”  When has God ever been imperfect or incomplete?

This is the only story in the Gospels where a miracle of Jesus had to be repeated in action.  Given what I’ve already said about the people in Bethsaida, I think Jesus is making a statement to the man.  By only partially healing the man at first, Jesus is making the case to him that even his faith is not strong.  The man needs to be careful that he does not lose what little faith is currently within him.  This especially makes sense when we remember again that Jesus warns the man to not go into Bethsaida.  Jesus wants this man to protect and nurture what he has.

Of course, Jesus completes the miracle to demonstrate the God’s healing is complete.  When we depend upon ourselves we seldom get it perfect.  But with God, we can be completely healed.

Why do you think this man may have had a shallow faith?  What can this story teach us about the importance of our circles of influence and our community?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 8:27-30