Bible Reading: Mark 8:22-25
Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked,
"Do you see anything?"
He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
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.
A Reflection:
A year ago Helen and I were walking in the fields from Walgrave to Old and Helen mentioned to me the wind turbine on the horizon. ‘What wind turbine?’ I asked. Proof, if I needed it, that I should talk again to my optician about a cataract operation. Six months, and two cataract operations later, I can see clearly now, as the song goes, with my distance vision, though I still need glasses for reading.
It is a blessing to be able to see. There are many people around the world who have deteriorating eyesight without the benefit of the NHS, and I have friends and relatives who have the daily struggle of being blind or partially sighted. I thank God for the advances in medicine that are correcting many of the problems.
As I have said before, the ways in which Jesus healed people are many and varied; the only common factor is faith. This, though, is the second example of Jesus using spittle to heal someone, he also did it to heal a man who was deaf and dumb. It is, however, the only example where healing by Jesus took place in two stages. Initially the blind man went from being blind to seeing people that looked like trees walking. Following further ministry his sight was restored.
Seeing people like trees walking can encourage us to continue praying for healing when we don’t see results straight away, or when we only see partial healing. We don’t know why Jesus needed to pray for this man twice, but it certainly wasn’t through any lack of faith on his part. If you are praying for healing for yourself or for someone else, don’t give up; keep knocking on heaven’s door; God will answer.
The image of seeing people look like trees walking can also be an image of our growing understanding of God and of his ways. This side of eternity there will always be things we don’t see clearly, things we don’t understand about God, about this life, and about eternity, but as we continue as followers of Jesus, our knowledge and understanding of God, like the blind man’s sight, will become clearer.
In his letter to the church in Corinth, St Paul reminds us, ‘Now we see only a poor reflection, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Pray:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
And give me the faith in you to persevere in prayer even when the answers are not immediate.
Amen
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord