The Healing of the Blind Man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–26)

Jesus was sought to bring sight to the blind. Full restoration to spiritual health is a process. Jesus’ healing the blind man in stages illustrated the disciples’ gradual move toward clarity of understanding.

I. Jesus led the man away from the crowds.

22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23a So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.

A. He took the man outside the city.

Why? Probably because the city of Bethsaida had already been judged because of its unbelief. No more evidence would be given to them.

The village would be busy, noisy, distracting for a man who could not see. Away from these distractions, he could focus on the Jesus whom he could not yet see.

B. Jesus led the blind man out of the village because of his concern for him.

Jesus led the man outside the village, probably to establish a one-to-one relationship with him and to avoid publicity.

In general Jesus’ miracles were public events. But there are three exceptions in Mark: 40 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. 41 Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” (5:40-41); 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” (7:33–34) and today’s scripture. These may teach that a true understanding of Jesus comes through a personal relationship with Him apart from the crowd’s opinions.

II. The touch of saliva and Jesus’ hands.

23b And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25a Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

A. In this healing Jesus touched the man’s eyes twice.

At the first touch the man received his sight, but his vision was confused. He saw people who looked like trees walking around.

Jesus placed his hands on the man again, and his sight was fully restored. The fact that this miracle took place in two stages shows that Jesus’ miracles are not formulaic and that healing can be a process.

B. Why did this healing take two stages?

Was it perhaps because of the man’s imperfect faith? Mark does not say. But there seems to be no reason to attribute the two stages of this miracle to the man’s lack of faith. He apparently had as much faith as did the paralytic whose friends brought him to Jesus.

This two-stage miracle also shows us that Jesus will not give up on us. He who has begun a good work in us will bring it to completion

III. Jesus sent the man home.

26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

A. It is possible that Bethsaida was not his home.

Jesus sent him home and cautioned him not to enter that town. Now that he had been healed, why go to unbelieving Bethsaida where Jesus had been rejected?

His job was to go home and spread the Good News of the kingdom, and to demonstrate its power by showing others what Jesus had done for him. Should he not give another opportunity to the people in Bethsaida? Perhaps they would believe if they heard how Jesus had restored his sight. No, Bethsaida had been given adequate evidence, but still had refused to believe. It is a dangerous thing for anybody to reject the message of God and harden his or her heart in unbelief.

B. It’s also possible that because Jesus had pronounced judgment on Bethsaida.

The truth is we are not sure why Jesus told him not to go back into the city to witness to these hard hearted people. It would make sense to me to send him back into the city to show them what Jesus had done.

Jesus tried to limit the attention given to His healing work. Jesus didn’t want an audience to watch Him perform miracles, He wanted followers of faith. The lessons that we need to learn from this today is don’t seek after signs, but live by faith in His Word, and let Jesus work as He wills, and expect variety in His working.