Sketched VIII Day 12 Giver Of Sight: Digging Deeper
September 8, 2020
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Mark 8:22-26
25 Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
The Original Intent
1) Why did Jesus lead the blind man away from the village for his healing? (verse 23)
If we rewind two chapters back to Mark 6 we see Jesus sending the disciples out in pairs to preach and heal. Jesus gave His followers power over demons, the ability to heal the sick, and the instruction to call the Israelites to repentance, all for the sake of spreading the kingdom of God.
Jesus also included a warning that if any place would not receive, or listen to the message, then the disciples were to shake the dust from their feet as a testimony against that place. (Mark 6:7-11) In Matthew 11:16-24, Jesus curses the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their consistent rejection of truth and persistent unbelief.
“Then He began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:20-21)
As a result of their spiritual blindness and hearts dull of hearing truth, the village of Bethsaida was no longer allowed to experience the fullness of God. They had firmly chosen unrepentance as their stance towards God.
Could this have been the reason the blind man’s friends begged Jesus to touch him? Even in the midst of judgment, God still had mercy and led the blind man out of the village to restore his sight.
The Everyday Application
1) Why did Jesus lead the blind man away from the village for his healing? (verse 23)
The book of Mark is full of references to Jesus wandering desolate places to be alone and to receive refreshing from His Father. In many ways, God will take us on paths that lead us away from our villages. Sometimes, our “villages” where we spend our most time are places where faith dies, where we are pulled away from the Lord because the voice of the “crowd culture” is so deafening.
In order to do a new thing, and usher in times of refreshing, the Lord will lead us down lonely and isolating paths away from the crowds, just as He did with the blind man in Mark’s narrative. In Exodus, when Yahweh led the Israelites into the wilderness and met them on the mountain, He initially wanted to converse with the entire congregation at one time.
Unfortunately, the crowd was frightened and asked Moses to be their representative instead. So, Moses and God conversed on the mountaintop for 40 days. “The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:21) Sometimes the clearest place to find God is in the midst of thick darkness.
When life is chaotic and uncertain, solitude is the surest place to find God. To know Him, and the fellowship of His sufferings, requires an intimacy that cannot be found in peace and security wrapped around material things or even other relationships.
Instead, God’s peace is found when you leave what you have known to follow Him. “He who dwells in the SECRET place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalms 91:1) The place of intimate healing is often found in the desolate corners of life.
The Original Intent
2) Why did the man’s healing come in phases?
The first stage of the blind man’s healing took place when Jesus physically removed him from the village of unbelief (Bethsaida). The second part took place when Jesus did an unexpected thing.
“When He had spit on his eyes and laid His hands on him, He asked him, ‘do you see anything?’” (Mark 8:23)
The physical blindness of the man was much like the spiritual blindness of the disciples. Although they were witnesses, and took part in the miracles of Jesus, there was still a veil covering their spiritual eyes. They could not comprehend the full scope of who Jesus really was, and is, as God.
After spitting and laying hands on the man, the blind man responded that he could only see partially. His condition mirrored the disciples’ partial spiritual blindness. In fact, earlier in the chapter, Jesus had just fed the 4,000 and warned the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees. The disciples thought He was talking about physical bread, and frustrated, Jesus responded, “Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?” (Mark 8:17-18)
Often, spiritual understanding is the cure for spiritual blindness. (Mark 8:21) As the man’s blindness began to lift, Jesus completed the healing by laying hands on him one more time. “His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”
In fact, after this healing, Peter’s spiritual sight was made new, and he finally saw Jesus clearly for who He was as the Son of the Living God. (Mark 8:29)
The Everyday Application
2) Why did the man’s healing come in phases?
Paul said that “we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.” (1 Corinthians 13:8-10) Until we come to the point of perfect understanding in Heaven, some things remain a mystery.
I suppose that not being able to see everything clearly can be one of the most frustrating things about the faith walk. I’m sure the blind man was wondering why Jesus couldn’t just heal him on the spot in the village. I’m really sure the blind man was wondering why Jesus spit on his eye! At that point, I’m not sure I would have had the faith to see what Jesus would do next.
There have been many times when I asked God to come through at a certain time and place and He didn’t. Often, God doesn’t move and act on our time, or in the way we imagine to be best. Sometimes, He takes the long route and gradually we discover His “why” as we keep walking forward and trusting Him.
Like a child, the Lord teaches us heavenly precepts at the level where we are. “Who is he trying to teach? Who is he trying to instruct? Infants just weaned from milk? Babies removed from the breast? “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there.” (Isaiah 28:9-10)
You’re not going to find your growth in the place of comfort! For many of us, these have been some of the most painful and uncertain times we have ever experienced. But in this midst of all that uncertainty, the Great God is preparing you for a better place. In this place, you will find your healing!
The Original Intent
3) Why did Jesus warn the man to not even enter the village after his healing? (verse 26)
Paul posed an interesting question in Romans 6:1-2, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
Once Jesus called the blind man out of the place of sin and unbelief, there is no going back to the place of blindness. Once the blind man’s sight had been restored, Jesus set him on a new path of renewal.
There were instances where Jesus warned people to go and sin no more like the woman caught in the act of adultery John 8:3-11 or the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda John 5:1-16. In the case of the blind man, the wrath of God was resting on the village of Bethsaida due to the corporate sin of unbelief.
Unbelief is an affront to God’s character because the premise is that God is a liar, He will not perform according to His word. God has declared that if anyone is to approach His throne, that person must first acknowledge that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. “For without faith it is impossible to please God” and, “for the just shall live by faith.” (Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 10:38)
The Everyday Application
3) Why did Jesus warn the man to not even enter the village after his healing? (verse 26)
Have you ever left a toxic relationship before? It took a really long time for me to heal from the effects of a bad relationship, yet there is still the haunting question of what if I tried again? Your brain, and wise friends, tell you not to return because you will be worse off than you before. Sometimes people will return to what was comfortable and familiar, even if it will put them back into bondage.
Even the Israelites wanted to go back to slavery because walking by faith in the desert with God required surrendering control. Lot’s family was warned to not return to sin-filled Sodom, yet Lot’s wife still looked back and was instantly punished for it.
Sin will always beckon you to return like a siren’s song. Fear and doubt will tell you to continue doing what you were familiar with, even if it disobeys God.
At some point, we all have to choose not to go back to our personal “Egypts” and “Bethsaidas”. Instead, we can make the same choice as Paul, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:7-8)
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