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What is the significance of the blind man seeing tree-like people walking in Mark 8:22-25?
This is so interesting to me. It doesn't seem likely that Jesus would have botched his first attempt to heal this man (I don't think we see this anywhere else in scripture), so naturally this draws me to ponder the question: What is the significance of the blind man seeing tree-like people walking around?
Mark 8:22 - 25
ESV - 22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?
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Asked February 25 2014
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Kip Edwards
Supporter
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Tim Thornton
Supporter
This is a very unique and important miracle Its relevance and the proper interpretation are gained by looking at the surrounding context. The miracle is about acquiring accurate perception. Having full vision restored. Often miracles are both literal and representative of spiritual realities. What spiritual sight is about is, the ability to see the true nature of things. Mar.8:11-21 In these verses first the Phariseess display their hypocracy and unbelief v.11 The fact that these are the people who are supposed to be leading Gods people in the way they should go is deeply upsetting to Jesus,V.12,15 This moves Jesus to warn His disciples to beware of the leaven, the subtle but pervasive corrupting influence. The disciples demonstrate that their perspective is narrow and self serving and that they are still clueless about who Jesus is and what He has come into the world to accomplish. So Jesus rebukes them for not seeing what is right I front of them or rightly hearing what he is saying to them and confronts them with their hard hearts. Having. A hard heart is the natural state of things, it represents our natural perception. The two stage miracle which is the only one of its kind has first a healing then a question. He was given sight then questioned, then made to see clearly “Do you see anything?” The man appropriately communicates the simple truth about what he sees. It seems that as a blind man his previous experience using the senses he had made an impression on his mind about what people must look like and what trees must look like. He knew trees were stationary and people walked and on that basis he answered the question. When Jesus rebuked His disciples in the previous section he was rebuking them for not using there catagoricly new spiritual Christ centered perception and letting stand the catagoricly carnal self centered way. We need to receive new sight by Devine intervention, but we also need to be told what we are seeing by Devine intervention. We must learn to pay attention to what it is that we are actually perceiving as the truth by putting this question to ourselves. What do you see? It is not enough to know we have new spiritual vision. Is our perception simply a fuller more colorful version of our categorically blind impressions. Is what we are hearing and seeing being processed through our natural hard heart or are we engaging in Spirit controlled Christ centered perception? Without the Word and the Spirit guiding and teaching, our perception is simply the processing of our natural understanding and not to be relied upon.Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding The next section in Mark reiterates and illustrates the interpretation I am suggesting. Mar.8:27-38 I will summarize because of a lack of space for a full exposition. Jesus ask them who they say He is Peter answered "You are the Christ Jesus brings to light why it is that Peter knows this. Matt. 16:17 “Blessed are you, Simon Bar- Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. How does Peter process this Devine revelation? When Jesus explains the true nature of His Messianic mission and what He as the Messiah must endure V.31 Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. Peter is not seeing treating as the Messiah because his natural understanding of who the messiah would be and what he would do is already settled in his carnal hardened heart understanding. So when the true Messiah and his mission conflict with that idea he has the audacity to rebuke Him. The result of this for Peter is the strongest rebuke to be found anyplace in Scripture. Mark 8:32... he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” It is not enough that we have been made to see we must look to Jesus again and again for Him through His Word in reliance upon His Spirit to tell us what we are looking at and not rely upon our own und
joyce whaley
Supporter
Hi its simplicity again… Jesus being the Son of God did not have to revisit a healing with anyone he was GOD, reconciling the world back to himself. Now I have come to learn in my thirty years of being saved that the Lord Jesus is a teacher at all times so we must ask ourselves what was Jesus trying to convey to us in re-touching the blind man’s eyes. I personally believe that the Lord Jesus deliberately re-touched the blind man’s eyes to signify that there are times in our lives when we might have to revisit a certain matter in life through prayer. Not because God did not hear your request the first time but because the enemy has reinforce or fortified himself in the earth with his ability to interrupt, interfere and delay that some processes in life might have to be addressed in prayer again.
Cindy Jennings
Supporter
I think everyone is making way too much of this. The man was blind--he had to rely on his other senses to understand anything. So Jesus touched him on his eyes to make it clear he was going to heal him. When the man realized Jesus was there to help, Jesus then gave him his sight. I don't think there's any deep spiritual meaning to this incident.
John Naradzay
Supporter
This was not a 2 phase healing. Who said it was so? No, it was a single, uninterrupted and complete miracle. As Jesus placed spittle and raised His hand to the eyes of the blindman, He was in deep in prayer and union with the Father. However, it came about that He noticed some growing diffidence on the part of the blind man. (Understanding that only when the prayer, with its accompanying power was complete, so to would be the miracle, Jesus acted) Do you recall the woman touching His cloak and in turning toward the crowd behind Him, asked who touched His cloak? He felt the power go from Him So too now, the power in the miracle was, in a near instant, to leave Him, but must be done in peace. So Jesus asked the blind man one simple, gentle question "What do you see?" - not so that Jesus could get a "fix" on the status of the miracle taking place nor to make any "adjustments" needed - no, it was done to calm the blind man, to bring the blind man to peace. No. it was not in 2 phases, it was ensure the blind man did not (as the apostles were about to do) define His miracles and events according to their sensibilities (For if Jesus were to allow man to define, according to man, His miracles, life or commandments, all would be in vain!) Which is what happened almost immediately upon the outcome of miracle!
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