Friends, this passage has me so engrossed that I know a sermon is in process...here a just a few of my thoughts. I pray that it is a blessing.
“They came to Bethsaida. Some
people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the
blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put
saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see
anything’? And the man looked up and
said, ‘I see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his
hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and
he saw everything clearly.” (Mark 8:22-25)
I know all too well what it means
to struggle to see clearly. It started
in the second grade, when I began having trouble seeing the chalkboard. Even
now as an adult, if I’m not wearing my contacts or my glasses…well, just forget
about me seeing anything clearly. In
addition to my experiences with struggling to see in the natural realm, I find
this text particularly intriguing because I’m in a space of (re) discovering,
(re) examining and (re) imagining divine possibilities and promises.
The text says some people brought
this blind man to Jesus and begged Jesus to touch him. We have no indication from the text that the
man had any desire to be healed. It
could have been that he was comfortable in his condition. It is very well plausible
that he was content with the status quo.
However, there were some in community with him who apparently saw (no
pun intended) what this man needed, even if he did not want to / could not / or
had no desire to. Thank God for those
who care enough to lead us to a place of healing, even if we are too weak to
admit, too proud to confess it, too ignorant to be aware of it or to blind to
see it. Thank God for friends who plead
to Jesus to touch us.
As much as his friends wanted to
help him, there was only so much they could do.
There was only so far they could take him. They recognized their
limitations and provided what they could, but ultimately took him to the one
who could do what they could not. Jesus
responds to their request, takes the man by the hand and leads him out of the
village. How comforting to know that in
the midst of our condition, Jesus reaches out to us. The text says that Jesus leads the man away
from the crowd. Sometimes our healing
will take place in isolation – away from those who are familiar with our
condition…away from those people and places with which we are familiar…away
from the situations that lull us into complacency. This man trusts Jesus to
take him to an unknown place and to do an unusual thing to bring about his
healing. Jesus puts saliva on the blind
man’s eyes and touches him again.
Sometimes our healing comes through humiliating experiences. Imagine this man not knowing how this healing
would take place, unable to see what Jesus was actually doing. He could only feel the wet sensation on his
eyes. Jesus then asks the man if he
could see anything. The man replied I see people, but they look like
trees. We have our first indication that
he was not always blind. He was able to
see before, but something happened. What
is blinding us from seeing the promises of God?
What prevents us from clearly seeing the possibilities for our lives?
Jesus had to touch him again, the
text says, he looked intently and his sight was restored. Sometimes we expect our breakthrough to
happen instantly, but just like our sanctification, there needs to be a
process. The text says he looked
intently (other versions say he made him look up). His vision was restored and he saw everything
clearly. Experiences have a way of
clouding what we see. Disappointments have a way of blinding us to what God has
said. Interestingly enough this text
comes after Jesus has taught crowds, performed miracles and yet the disciples
still have difficulty perceiving (seeing) what is happening. What happens when
life presents us with situations that appear contradictory to what we believe
God has promised? My prayer is that we
are in a community of believers who will lead us to where we can’t take
ourselves and ask God to touch us. My
prayer is that we are not so consumed, depressed or overwhelmed that we can’t
take look again.
God,
I pray that whatever we have
allowed to eclipse our view of you and your promise for our lives be
removed. Forgive us for focusing so intently
on that thing/those issues that we have lost sight of you. Take us to a place where we can be
intentional about seeing you again.
Abounding in Love and Growing in
Grace,
Veronica
