Christians, Can You See Clearly?

The Gospels record thirty-seven distinct miracles of Jesus. There were countless other miracles that He performed that are not recorded (John 21:25). Of those we know of; one is more interesting to me than the others because Jesus brings complete healing on the second attempt.

Mark 8:22-25, “And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

Think of who Jesus is; He is God (John 1:1-5,14).

John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16 are two of several verses that explain that Jesus is the creator. In other words, in Genesis chapter one, all those, “And God said, let there be…” was the voice of Jesus Christ.

All of Jesus’s other miracles were complete. When He calmed the sea, we read of a “great calm” (Matthew 8:26; Mark 4:39). We do not read of six-foot waves reducing to two-foot waves. When He feeds the multitude with a boy’s lunch, everyone leaves “filled.” No one went home hungry (Matthew 14:20). When He heals the deaf, we do not read anyone saying, “Well, the right ear is doing great, but I still can’t hear out of the left.”

So then, when Jesus healed this man, why did it take Him two tries?

With what we have already discussed, it is safe to say that Jesus did not need two attempts. His words alone created the universe, and while on Earth, He performed many other miracles using only His touch or voice. Evidently, He is trying to teach us something. Let’s examine the passage.

In verse 22, we read that other people brought the man to Jesus. Every Christian should take people to Jesus, either telling them the gospel directly or getting them to church to hear it from someone else.

In the following verse (Mark 8:23), something interesting happens. Jesus takes the man by the hand and walks him out of town. Removing him from the area is interesting because Jesus tends to heal people where they are; some were in large crowds, some in more secluded areas, but with this man, Christ leads him out of town before healing him. Why?

Jesus is showing us that when He deals with us, He deals with us alone. I was at a church service the night I placed faith in Christ as my Saviour. There were around sixty people there, but the minister’s sermon spoke directly to me. I do not know if the Holy Spirit was convicting other people’s hearts, but He was working on mine. The sermon seemed to head straight at me. Even with dozens of others in the room, what God was saying to me was the only thing that mattered. As far as I was concerned, it did not matter if there were sixty or sixty thousand; God and I were alone. Just like this blind man, Jesus had led me out of town.

When Jesus asks the man if he can see, the fellow responds, “I see men as trees, walking” (Mark 8:24).

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that the blind man can see! The bad news is that he can’t see all that well. He sees something walking; that must be people. Things are blurry, and the people look like trees.

In the last verse of the passage (Mark 8:25), Jesus touches the man’s eyes. The man can now see clearly. It takes more than one try, but the healing is now complete.

Let’s apply this to us in a spiritual sense.

The man can see people. However, he can only see their outward appearance enough to know they are people, but the details could be more precise.

Many Christians never see a person deeper than their outward appearance, such as the color of their hair or clothing. We never see them clearly; we never see them as souls.

Everyone has a body, but everyone is a soul. When we die, our current body returns to dust, and our soul and spirit go to heaven or hell. Then, our soul and spirit receive a new eternal body at the resurrection.

Christians, do you see people as bodies, just like a tree, or do you see them clearly, as a soul?

Everyone will live forever. The only question is where we will go after we die. Christians should understand that the blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can wash our sins away and give us eternal residence with Him in heaven. Do we see people clearly? Do we see them as souls needing a Saviour, or do we see them as trees walking?

Remember how this story begins? Other people brought the blind man to Jesus. They must have known Christ could heal him. This man was brought to Jesus because of a physical ailment. How many have you brought to Him because of the illness of their souls? How we answer that question tells us whether or not we see people as trees or as souls.