Are you eager for Jesus to heal you? Not everyone is. The Gospel of Mark (8:22-26) recounts a story where an apathetic man is brought to Jesus in Bethsaida for healing by his friends. Recognizing the man’s recalcitrance, Jesus performs one of His most unusual miracles – a step-wise healing.
In this story, friends of a blind man lead him to Jesus with the desire for Jesus to touch him. Their faith was obvious – they doubted not a moment that one touch from Jesus could heal their compatriot. The man himself, however, exhibited no earnestness or expectation of such a blessed event, as other blind men did. How lucky he was – as a spiritually blind as well as physically blind person, he was fortunate to have friends and family praying for him even though he did not pray for himself. Jesus, of course, had the entire picture when the man arrived and structured His cure accordingly.
The first move was to exit the village, and it was Christ Himself who led this blind man out of the town. He did not ask the man’s friends to do the work; Jesus humbled Himself to take the initiate and effort to escort this uninspired soul. This teaches us to be eyes to the blind, as Job was (Job 29:15), even if they resist. Never had a blind man been blessed with such a leader, nor you and I. I am eternally grateful for those who had concern enough to lead me to Christ.
Scripture records how Jesus refused to perform His healing in the town. The motivation was not to obtain privacy, for Jesus could have led him easily to a house with a private inner chamber. Rather, Jesus’ actions rebuked Bethsaida because His previous mighty works there had been in vain (Matthew 11:21). Woe to Bethsaida! He was telling her, in effect, she was unworthy to have additional miracles performed within her walls. Perhaps Jesus also wished the blind man to have in the open country a larger perspective once his eyesight was restored.
To cure the man, Christ, our blessed oculist, spit into his eyes and put His hand upon him. This was a sign – Jews believed the Messiah would be able to heal the blind with His spit. Jesus even told the Christians at Laodicea how He would put salve in their eyes to make them see (Revelation 3:18).
Unlike His usual cures where healing occurred instantly, this miraculous sign unfolded in stages. Jesus asked the man to tell Him if he saw anything, and to report the condition of his eyesight. This was for the edification of the man’s friends, who were no doubt nearby. The man’s first report described men walking as trees, yet he was unable to distinguish between the two types of objects. Obviously the healing was incomplete. The man had glimmerings of sight between himself and the sky, but could not differentiate between the two entities.
Jesus finished the task quickly; Jesus never does His work by halves. Jesus placed His hands again on the eyes and dispensed His healing power, dispersing the remaining darkness. This time when the man looked up, he saw every man clearly and the walking trees disappeared.
It is normal for Jesus to heal in His own Way. He does not tie Himself to a single method; rather He has the power and authority to establish the approach based on His will and the situational circumstances. This is how He heals you and me – sometimes quickly, sometimes gradually. Often He leads us physically or spiritually to places that provides important context for the lesson, as He did in this case. Not surprisingly, that place is often “outside the city”, in the quiet wilderness, away from those who do not believe.
Christ’s healing is always by grace, for we are all blind at various points in our lives. We should ask ourselves whether, if through our faith, we see evidence of Him and His healing, or whether we are unable to distinguish “the men from the walking trees”. Once we see, we are called through the Great Commission to tell everyone, not to remain silent as Jesus told the blind man. As with those in Bethsaida, there are those who will see and those who will never see. As the man’s loyal friends did, pray for those who are still blind yet claim they can see (John 9:41). It is what friends do.
In His love and service,
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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