Spiritual Sight 1-21-24

Overview

The Two-Stage Miracle: A Parable About Spiritual Sight

A miracle is an extraordinary event involving the supernatural action of God, and the Gospels show Jesus performing them in a consistent pattern: a word, a touch, and immediate healing. The leper in Mark 1:40-42, the paralytic in Mark 2:10-12, and the woman with the hemorrhage in Mark 5:25-29 are all healed in a single, decisive moment. But there is one exception in all of Scripture—the blind man at Bethsaida in Mark 8:22-25. Jesus touches him once, and the man sees people who "look like trees walking." Only after Jesus lays His hands on him a second time is his sight fully restored.

Why a two-stage miracle? Jesus did not miscalculate. Remember that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning—and embedded in this miracle is a parable. Spiritual sight is one of the great themes of Mark's Gospel. Just before this episode, Jesus rebukes His disciples: "Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear?" Mark 8:17-18. Just after it, Peter rightly confesses, "You are the Messiah" Mark 8:29, yet still misunderstands what kind of Messiah Jesus came to be—which is why Jesus must teach again and again about His suffering, death, and resurrection (Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33-34). The disciples, like the blind man, need a second touch.

So do we. The law functions as a mirror, exposing our sin and our need for a Savior, and the gospel announces that Jesus has redeemed us by His blood and reconciled us to God. We confess Him as Christ. And yet our vision of Him often blurs. We may see His forgiveness clearly one day and then wonder if we must contribute our own faith or works to His finished work. We may doubt whether some particular sin is really covered. We may see Him as absent when He is omnipresent, or powerless when He is omnipotent, or as One who should remove every difficulty rather than use difficulties to mature us. Our sight needs to be improved.

The good news is that Jesus is not finished with us. Just as He laid His hands on the blind man's eyes a second time, He continues to touch us through His Word, removing the cloudiness, sharpening our vision, opening our minds to understand the Scriptures Luke 24:31, 45. Amid every struggle, question, and doubt, His gracious, repeated touch is at work—again and again—giving us spiritual sight to see Him clearly.

Transcript

Would you open your Bibles, please, with me for our study this morning to the eighth chapter 3s

of the Gospel of Mark. 7s

The eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, 10s

you'll find that on page 38 in the New Testament, Mark the eighth chapter. 15s

Miracles. 23s

Miracles. 25s

As with everything, it is important to define what is meant by that. 27s

So many years ago, I came across a definition of miracles that I particularly like. 33s

Miracles are extraordinary events involving the supernatural involvement of God. 38s

Jesus was certainly no stranger to miracles was he. 57s

And when you look at the miracles of Jesus, you see this repeated pattern throughout Scripture. 64s

Jesus' miracles were really one stage, in other words, 71s

he would speak he would touch and there would be a healing. 75s

And usually that healing would be absolutely immediate. 81s

One stage word touch, immediate healing, for example. 86s

In Mark the first chapter we read, a leper came to him begging him in kneeling he said to him, 90s

if you choose, you can make me clean. 97s

Move with pity. 102s

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, 103s

I do choose, be made clean, immediately. 107s

The lepercy left him and he was made clean. 113s

Or in the second chapter of Mark, in verse 10, the second part of it, 117s

we read, he said to the paralytic, 124s

I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home. 126s

And he stood up and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them, 131s

so they were all amazed and glorified God saying, 137s

we've never seen anything like this. 141s

Mark 5. 145s

For she said, if I but touch, his clothes, I will be made well, immediately. 147s

Her hemorrhage stopped and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 154s

One step, healing, usually immediate. 162s

One step, except one. 168s

There's one miracle recorded in Scripture performed by our Lord. 177s

That was not a one step. 187s

Weir. 196s

One. 197s

Book with me, please. 200s

At verse 22 of our text. 201s

Scripture says, they came to Beth's seda, some people brought the blind man to him, 204s

and begged him to touch him. 209s

Jesus' healing of the blind was certainly not uncommon, 211s

and oftentimes when Jesus healed, he touched. 216s

Look at verse 23. 220s

He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, 222s

and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, 225s

can you see any? 232s

Interestingly, there's a very similar miracle here, close by. 237s

Turn back, please, to chapter 7, verse 32. 243s

There, the Scripture says, they brought to him a deaf man, who had an impediment in his speech, 249s

and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 255s

He took him aside in private away from the crowd and put his fingers into his ears, 259s

and he spat and touched his tongue. 265s

Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, 271s

if I thought that his be open, if his ears were opened, 273s

and he was able to speak. 281s

Jesus, once again, using touch, but also using the saliva. 285s

Now, why did he use a spittle? Why did he use saliva? 293s

We don't know. 298s

But what we do know is that the healing is a critical thing, 300s

and it's not a cure, not because of Jesus' spittle, but it occurred because of the word of God. 303s

Now it gets complicated. 314s

Let's go back to verse 24. 316s

Jesus asked the question, and of 23, can you see anything? 321s

And the man looked up and said, I can see people, but they look like trees walking. 327s

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, 334s

and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 340s

There's the only miracle that Jesus performs, recorded in Scripture, that it's a two-step miracle. 345s

Now why is that? Why is that? 354s

Did Jesus need to do some type of divine duiver here? 360s

Did he simply miss the prescription, and now he has to go back and correct the error? 365s

Why a two-stage miracle? Why this one being the only miracle that's a two-stage? 373s

Why Jesus? 385s

Jesus tells the story of the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, dangerous path. 390s

Robbers come upon him, and they beat him, and they leave him for half dead. 399s

Jesus says, a priest comes along and sees the situation walks on the other side. 406s

But the Samaritan comes along and sees the situation and the Samaritan stops, 416s

and tends to the wounds of the man. 422s

Put someone's own animal, take them into the inn, gives the innkeeper to Denariah equivalent of two days worth of wages, 425s

and tells the innkeeper that whatever other care is needed, whatever other bill here is run up, 433s

he's going to settle when he comes back, the Samaritan cares for the man who had been beaten and robbed. 440s

Jesus poses the question, he says, which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man, 450s

and the response comes the one who showed him mercy, and Jesus says, go into likewise? 455s

That's a parable. 463s

Remember a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. 466s

A miracle is an extraordinary event involving the supernatural action of God. 473s

A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. 485s

Could it be in this two-stage miracle that embedded in the miracle is a parable? 497s

When the themes in the gospel of Mark is seeing clearly, understanding spiritual sight, 517s

for example, in chapter six of Mark we read, 530s

then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased, and they were utterly astounded, 536s

for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. 542s

Chapter 7. 552s

Beginning with verse 18, he said to them, with regard to a parable, 554s

then do you also fail to understand in the eighth chapter of Mark, verse 17, the eighth chapter? 558s

It says, and becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, why are you talking about having no bread? 572s

Do you still not perceive or understand, are your hearts hardened? 579s

Do you have eyes and fail to see? 584s

Do you have ears and fail to hear? 588s

And do you not remember? 592s

It's the theme of Mark of seeing clearly, of spiritual insight, of understanding here. 596s

Why think of Peter? 608s

Look, please, at verse 27, chapter 8. 612s

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Cessaria, Philiply, and on the way he asked in 616s

Cyples, who do people say that I am? 623s

The responses, John the Baptist Elijah, one of the prophets, then Jesus follows up with the 627s

Christian verse 29. 633s

He asked him, but who do you say that I am? 635s

And Peter answered him, you are the Messiah. 640s

Peter understands that Jesus is the Christ, but what Peter misunderstands is the type of Messiah that Jesus is. 646s

Jesus then teaches, and he teaches. 662s

Look, please, at verse 31, chapter 8, then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great 674s

suffering and be rejected by the elders that chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. 683s

In Mark 9, the Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands and they will kill him and three days after being killed, he will rise again. 697s

Jesus again, in Mark 10th chapter, see we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed to the chief priest and the scribes and they will condemn him to death. 710s

Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him and after three days he will rise again. 723s

Here's the point. 736s

Notice here the need for the repeated touch of Jesus. 741s

Notice what surrounds the text, but the one who couldn't hear and couldn't speak, then you had the sight restoration to the blind. 752s

Then you have right after that with regard to Peter, an understanding that Peter says, you are the Messiah, but he misunderstands the type of Messiah that Jesus is. 764s

It's the Mark and theme of spiritual insight, the Mark and theme of hearing and understanding that Mark and theme of getting it. 782s

In what we see, in Jesus' teaching, teaching and teaching, the seeping again and again and again, is we see for a repeated touch of Jesus. 794s

Could it be that embedded in the miracle of the restoration of sight in the two stage miracle? 826s

That embedded in that miracle is a terrible, about the need for the repeated touch of Jesus. 844s

Think about our own lives, from a moment. 871s

The law in Holy Scripture comes to us and the law one of the functions of the law is the function of the mirror. 877s

The mirror shows us our sinfulness. 884s

A function of the law is it shows us our need for a Savior. 888s

We are confronted with the law and we see that we cannot redeem ourselves. 894s

The glorious gospel, Jesus has come and has redeemed us. 901s

He's brought us back the meaning of that word. 906s

On the cross, He shed blood and reconciliation, the death is pain and forgiveness is one and forgiveness is pronounced. 910s

We can confess Him as Savior. 925s

We can confess Him as Christ. 930s

We can confess Him as Messiah. 933s

And yet we can struggle with having 2020 vision with regard to Jesus. 939s

We can see Him as one who indeed forgives us and we understand that. 953s

But then the sight becomes Audi. 962s

The sight isn't clear and we think that we have to contribute something to what Christ has done. 966s

And so often we can say, well, what we contribute then is our own faith and so faith is up to us to drum up instead of understanding faith as a gift of God. 972s

We can see Him. 987s

We can see Him and understand Him as one who forgives us but then sometimes. 989s

Sometimes the vision just isn't crisp and we can say to ourselves but there must be some type of exception. 996s

What about that one sin? 1004s

That one sin? 1006s

Certainly there must be an exception for that. 1010s

We can see Him. 1015s

We can see Him sometimes as being absent in our lives as the vision becomes cloudy instead of understanding that He is omnipresent. 1018s

We can see Him sometimes as He must not have power to deal with a certain situation in my life. 1028s

Even those scriptures says He is omnipotent and the vision is cloudy. 1037s

We can see Him as one who in our mind should fix all of our problems and just fix them with an immediacy. 1043s

Instead of seeing what the scriptures say that sometimes God uses the challenges and the difficulties in our life because it's a way that He uses to grow us and mature us to get us out of the kindergarten of our walk into greater maturity. 1052s

And He uses the challenges and the difficulties in life to do that. 1071s

But we can see Him as one. 1080s

We should simply take away all of our challenges and difficulties and the vision is clear with regard to the Jesus that has revealed in Holy Scripture. 1083s

We can confess Him as Christ. 1101s

But so often our sight, it just needs to be improved. 1108s

Doesn't it? 1116s

Could it be? 1121s

Could it be? 1124s

That embedded in the miracle of the sight restoration is a parable? 1126s

That talks about our need for His continual touch of His Word. 1140s

To bring ready and sight. 1155s

A midst struggles and questions and doubts that every single Christian has. 1166s

Isn't it good to know that He's not finished with us? 1184s

Isn't it good to know that His Scripture says that Jesus laid His hands on His eyes again that the Lord Jesus continues to touch us with His Word? 1193s

And as a result, then Luke 24 becomes reality for us by His grace where it says, then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. 1210s

Isn't it a gracious word to hear of the continual touch of Jesus upon our lives with His Word? 1225s

Because then as it also says in Luke 24, it becomes a reality for us where it says, then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 1231s

A midst our struggles and doubts and wonderings. 1248s

God continues to come with His touch, giving us spiritual sight, removing the cataracts of the cloudiness. 1257s

So we can see clearly, graciously, again and again and again, 1284s

His touch. 1305s