Men as Trees, Walking

If you have a Bible, we’re going to be in Mark 8:22-30 tonight and we have an amazing passage to look at tonight. Practically, there is just so much in here for you all that I cannot wait for you to see. One of the miracles that we seem to keep coming back to here in the Gospel of Mark is the restoration of sight or the curing of blindness. We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus is constantly restoring the sight of those that are blind and we shouldn’t be surprised that He does this because it is one of the distinguishing marks of the Messiah. The prophets in the Old Testament pointed ahead to the day where the blind would receive sight and this is clearest in the words of the prophet Isaiah who prophesies in Isaiah 35:4–5 . We read these verses a few weeks ago. “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.” This is happening all through the Gospels! God Himself has come! And as the Lord has come, the eyes of the blind are opened and the deaf are hearing! As we have gone through the Gospel of Mark, we have talked about how Mark has a favorite word and he uses this word approximately 41 times throughout his book. Does anyone remember what word that is? Immediately! Mark is constantly on the move, getting us from one point to the next. Jesus is healing and immediately things happen! Demons are immediately cast out, the dead are raised to life immediately, the sick are healed immediately! But we are going to see something different in our verses today. Typically what we have seen in Mark is that when Jesus heals, He heals immediately and He heals completely. But something out of the ordinary is going to happen tonight but there is an intentionality in why things happen the way that they do in these verses and it all comes down to spiritual sight. It is one thing to have your eyes open to see the Words of Scripture, it is another thing for the eyes of your heart to be open to who Jesus really is. What we are also going to see is that reminder that Christianity is a marathon and not a sprint. There is definitely a definitive time where you are justified in the eyes of God when you become a Christian but the work that leads to that justification is often gradual. Let’s pray and then we will read Mark 8:22-30

Mark 8:22–30 NASB95

And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.” Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

Partial Sight

As you can see from these verses, Jesus is working in ways that we have not yet seen to this point. What do you notice in these verses that Jesus does that is different from what we have seen throughout the book? One of the things that Jesus does differently is that He leads this man out of Bethsaida. Verse 23 says that Jesus brought Him out of the village. When Jesus heals, it is usually in public minus a few times when He brings the person away from the crowd but for some reason, Jesus brings the man all the way out of the village. There are a number reasons as to why Jesus may have done this but it may just be to get this man away from the crowd so that the man can be focused. It may be that Jesus wants to make sure that this man does not feel the pressure of all the village waiting to see if he will be healed. Something else that Jesus does differently is spit directly on the man’s eyes. Now why does He do that? We have seen all throughout the Gospels that Jesus does not need to do a secret ritual to heal. He can simply command and it happens. Jesus does this likely so the blind man knows exactly who it was that heals Him. The next thing that Jesus does differently is at the end of verse 23, He asks the man, “Do you see anything?” This is the only instance in all four Gospels where Jesus asks someone if they are better after healing them. It’s almost like Jesus has taken the man to the eye doctor and now He is switching between the two different lens settings asking the man, “Is the sight better or worse?” Now what we would probably expect at this point is that the man would say, “Yes Jesus! I can see! I can see completely and clearly!” But that doesn’t happen. Instead the man says, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.” Now that’s an odd statement. Clearly this man has not been blind his entire life because he can tell that something is off. He knows what people and trees look like. What’s happening here? It’s not like Jesus is this power source that only got charged to 50% and that is why this man is only partially healed. Jesus isn’t resetting the router of His supernatural power. What’s Jesus doing then? He is using this man as an object lesson. It’s an object lesson partially for the blind man, but really it’s an object lesson for the disciples, and it is an object lesson for us. What is it that this is teaching the disciples then? It is teaching them that their spiritual sight and their spiritual understanding as to who Jesus is is coming to them gradually. What we have seen throughout the book of Mark is that even Christ’s closest disciples do not clearly understand who He is. Just last week, Jesus Himself asks the disciples in Mark 8:17–18 “And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember.” Sinclair Ferguson said, “Their spiritual understanding did not come instantaneously, but gradually. They, too, needed the second touch from the hands of their Master.” A time will come when the disciples are gonna get it. In fact, we read earlier that Peter finally gets it here in chapter 8. But think in your own life. For some of you, you may have gone to church for years before you saw clearly who Jesus was. I think of my life where I was exposed to the truth very early on but I remained unconverted until I was in middle school and even after that moment, I still was not as good of a Christian as I could have been. No, Jesus in perfect patience, gave me the opportunity to see clearly. It very well could be that you aren’t a Christian now but God is using this time for you to start recognizing that you aren’t seeing clearly. A big question then is this: Do you see anything? This man’s answer is so important for us because it can be very easy to answer in two negative ways. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his book Spiritual Depression has a sermon called Men as Trees, Walking. And he mentions these two ways that this man could respond. The first way that this man could have answered was, “Yes, I can see.” But the problem is that his sight wasn’t perfect. He could say that he could see when really he couldn’t and he could have lived the rest of his life saying that he was one way but he was really another. He would spend the rest of his life talking to trees and cutting down people. He may even go as far as convincing himself that he can see clearly but as we know, he can’t! The second negative way that Lloyd-Jones mentions is that this man could have done the exact opposite of running around saying that he could see when really he couldn’t. What he could have done was become completely hopeless. The man could have said, “Jesus you tried and it didn’t work so what’s the point? You spat my on my eyes, you touched me, it worked for others, but it just isn’t going to work for me.” People get desperate when they don’t see things as they should so instead of begging for more, for asking for more wisdom, for clearer sight, they just stop reading their Bible, stop praying, stop going to church, and stop doing anything remotely Christian. What do we do then? Lloyd-Jones gives this answer, “What then is the cure? What is the right way? It is to be honest and to answer our Lord’s question truthfully and honestly.” This man has the sense to say to Jesus, “I still can’t see clearly. I see bits and pieces but I can’t see the whole thing.” By being honest with Jesus, Jesus then proceeds to lay His hands on him and then He can finally see. Do you feel like you are this man? Do you feel like you can only see trees where there is supposed to be people? Ask! Ask for clarity! James says in James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” In this blind man, we see a picture of so many different people and the disciples see a glimpse into their own lives. R.C. Sproul said, “It is as if, through this two-stage healing, Jesus was saying that the disciples had begun to see dimly. They were not in total darkness as the pagans were. Their eyes had beheld many of the marvelous things of Christ. They had some understanding. But they had not yet seen clearly.” So, what does it look like when you finally do see clearly? That is what we see in verses 27-30.

Seeing Jesus Clearly

In verses 27-30 we see that Jesus and his disciples have traveled about 25 miles north to Caesarea Philippi and He asks them the question: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Who do people say that I am? The disciples give Him a number of different answers as to what people have said about Him. Some say that He is actually John the Baptist. Others say that He is Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. There is so much confusion as to who Jesus is that people assume that He has to be a prophet that has been resurrected. Caesarea Philippi was known for the numerous false gods that were worshipped there and there was at one point a temple built in Caesarea Philippi for the false god Pan. Despite all of the idolatry surrounding this town, it is near this very town where Peter will make his great confession. Look at Matthew 16:13–17, we will read the account again: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” What happens here? Peter finally and clearly sees exactly who Jesus is. Notice there is not hesitation in Peter. He doesn’t say, “Well, I think there’s a chance you might be the Christ, the Son of the Living God but I’m still not quite sure.” No, Peter wastes no time because he doesn’t need to think about it. He knows exactly who Jesus is. This is an important reminder for us to because when the world asks us who Jesus is, we aren’t to hesitate. We need an answer and we aren’t to soften the answer. If we claim to know the real Jesus, we must be ready to declare this Jesus and who He really is: the Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Alpha and the Omega, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Far too many quote on quote Christians are far to hesitant to proclaim the Jesus that they claim to know. Peter’s response is important but so is Christ’s reply to Him. Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Well done Peter, you put the clues together and figured it out all by yourself.” Or, “Good job Peter! That’s a great guess, you must have done your research.” What does Jesus say? He says, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, BUT my Father who is in Heaven.” This is another reminder for every single person in here that your salvation is not your own doing. You are not saved because you wandered around in the dark and just so happened to find a light switch. No, your salvation is entirely the Lord’s doing. The reason that we are able to know the Lord is because God has revealed Himself to you. We cannot know God unless He first reveals Himself to us. You did not make the first move in your salvation. No, God had to move to you first. God has the first, middle, and last word of salvation. Jesus says in Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” You are not saved because you caught sight of God first. You are saved because from eternity past, God the Father had His eyes on you and through a sovereign process, God brings you to the exact moment where your spiritual blindness becomes spiritual sight. I think about my own life. I look back on it and I am able to see how God, and it had to have only been Him and not my own doing, brought everything together perfectly. I look back at how God orchestrated me going to the private school where I first got saved. I look at how God moved people into my life to convince me to go to Liberty where my spiritual life finally started to move forward. I look at how God orchestrated people and places and things to bring me to where I am today and I’m starting to see how God is using today to move me to tomorrow. I have saved in my phone this quote that my old youth pastor shared with me from Charles Spurgeon and Spurgeon said, “I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love.” Only God can do what He has done in my life and I promise that God is at work in your life to do this very same thing. The only thing you can’t do is tell yourself that you can see when you really can’t. So, do you desire to see Christ? My prayer over these past 5 years of being your pastor is that you all would see the supreme worth of following Jesus, that He that would begin this work in you would bring it to completion. Spurgeon said, “When the Lord Jesus Christ brings a man to see a little, and to desire to see more, He does not leave him till He has led him into all truth.” Have you been led to the truth? Every Wednesday night we share this truth with you. Every Wednesday we talk about how we need a Savior. We talk about how our spiritual blindness needs to be made sight. I ask you the very same questions that Jesus asks the blind man and the disciples: Do you see anything? And who do you say that Jesus is? Do you know the answers to those questions? And not just knowledge about those questions but has the answers to those questions burned into your heart and brought you to life? Can you say with Peter, “You are the Christ?” And can you say that with the full assurance that Jesus is exactly who He claims to be. If you cannot say or see that, what’s it going to take for you to do that? If you feel like you are mistaking men for trees, won’t you at least admit to Jesus that you aren’t seeing things as clearly as you should? Jesus puts these questions before you today, won’t you answer them? Let’s pray.