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. (Mark 8:25)
I find in this story of the blind man in Bethsaida healed by Jesus forcing me to ask a question, “Why does Jesus heal the man in a two-step process?” In the Gospel accounts we have seen Jesus heal with just a word, heal from a distance, and heal instantly. Surely, this is something to think about, wouldn’t you agree? Why the protracted healing of this man, we do not know because we are not told, but we know that this way of healing was both intentional and purposeful. Was Jesus teaching a deeper lesson on healing either physically or spiritually, and that in our lives this can and often does, take time? We simply do not know.
Now, one thing we can be assured of through revelation is Jesus did not need to heal this man with a two-step process. And we can be assured the first part of the healing Jesus administered did not fall short of the intended goal of a total restoration of the man’s sight. So, again, why the two-step process in healing this blind man when all Jesus needed to do was simply speak sight back into this man? Well, I think this is just another wonderful example of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This is simply what happened. This is another historical account in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read biblical narratives like this, we are to be strengthened in our faith that what we are reading are faithfully true historical accounts of what happened. For those skeptics who write the Bible off as mere myth, these kinds of stories remove any possibility of mythology.
In closing, let me give you something else to think about. When Jesus asked the man what he saw after his first stage of healing and the man responded, “I see people; they look like trees walking around” (Mark 8:24), perhaps Jesus wants us to understand that until we are completely healed of our spiritual blindness, which will not happen on this side of the grave, none of us can see with absolute perfect clarity. As I have said often from the pulpit, “No one speaks from Sinai. We all have some of our theology wrong and we will find out this biblical truth only when we cross the Jordan.” Until then, we need to remember we are all afflicted with spiritual nearsightedness, seeing people like trees walking around, and that includes us. Keeping this in view we are more likely to be kind, compassionate, and loving to those who just might not see things just like we see them, and that my friend, is something to think about.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 