Mark 8:22-26

Mark 8:22–26 KJV (WS)

22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 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. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Introduction

We’ve talked about this song before, but does anyone remember the song, “He’s Still Working On Me”?

There are some really great lines in that song.

He's still working on me To make me what I need to be How loving and patient He must be 'Cause He's still workin' on me

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart Don't judge him yet, there's an unfinished part But I'll be better just according to His plan Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

The message of this song is right in line with the message of this passage.

We’re going to see that quite clearly as we study this tonight.

Jesus visits Bethsaida.

What is important about Bethsaida?

It was the home town of Andrew, Peter, and Philip.

John 1:44 “44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.”

It was situated on the NE shore of Galilee.

It’s name means house of the fisher.

It was slated for judgment because of it’s unbelief.

Luke 10:13 “13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”

A blind man is brought to Jesus.

The people ask Jesus to touch this man.

You know for a society that I have been told didn’t care for people with disabilities, it sure seems like we’ve seen a lot of people bringing their disabled friends to Jesus.

This man had at least some friends or family that cared enough about him to bring him to Jesus.

He takes the blind man outside of the town.

Why did he take him out of town.

There are a few theories.

It could be that he did not want the unbelievers of Bethsaida to see another miracle.

They had already rejected the evidence that he had given them.

He would not make them responsible for another miracle.

It also could have had something to do with the man’s disability.

Bethsaida was a busy, noisy town.

By taking the man out of the town, it would have been much quieter.

The man would have found it much easier to focus on Jesus outside of the city.

Touch means more than sound to a blind man.

Once they are outside of town, Jesus begins to work on addressing this man’s need.

Jesus uses tools that seem strange to us in order to accomplish his will.

Spit and touch.

Two things that the blind man could feel.

Touch means more than sound to a blind man.

The strangeness doesn’t end here.

This is a unique healing that shows us something not seen in any other gospel.

After spitting on and touching the man’s eyes, Jesus asks him what he sees.

The man says he sees men as trees.

The only way he can distinguish them is because they are moving.

He is not wholly healed.

What is this?

Is Jesus limited in his power?

Can Jesus not heal this man????

What disappointment did this man reveal in his voice?

Before anyone can say anything, Jesus touches the man’s eyes again, and makes him look around.

This time, the man could see all men clearly.

Jesus was not limited or incapable of helping him.

He did this on purpose.

I believe he did it on purpose for the sake of the disciples and for us.

Do you remember last week’s message when the disciples were unable to remember and understand the lessons that Jesus had been teaching them?

They had seen Jesus feed the thousands, but they hadn’t fully applied those lessons to their lives.

Their spiritual vision could see but it was blurry.

It was like they were unable to distinguish between men and trees unless the men moved.

Perhaps they were embarrassed by their lack of sight.

Perhaps Jesus is showing them, I’m not finished with you yet.

He sends the man away with instructions.

He tells the man to go home, but not to go into Bethsaida.

He must have lived somewhere other than the city.

He is not to share the story with anyone in the town.

Bethsaida had been given the evidence they needed to believe.

They would only see Jesus as a healer.

Like the Pharisees from the previous passage, Jesus would do nothing more to feed their unbelief.

There is a contrast between those that refuse to see and those that want to see but can’t do so with clarity.

The citizens of Bethsaida did not want to see.

The disciples were just struggling to see clearly.

But, like this man, Jesus was still working on them.

Sometimes Jesus reveals things all at once.

Sometimes Jesus reveals things through a process.

Sometimes Jesus fixes our problem immediately.

Sometimes Jesus fixes our problems in stages.

The question for us, is this, can you trust Jesus?

When you don’t understand his methods, can you trust him?

When you are in the midst of an unfinished process, can you trust him?

He is always good.

He is always loving.

He is always in control.

We can trust him.

Application

One of the hardest things to do as a pastor is to go into a situation where nothing appears to be going right and to try and tell people that they need to trust God.

We see this in the blind man’s experience.

He had been touched by Jesus, but he could not see clearly yet.

Jesus would finish the process, but for a moment, for that point in time, it seemed like this man and his problem might be too much for Jesus.

Do you trust Jesus when you are tempted to view your situation as being too much for him?

It may be a health situation.

It may be a financial situation.

More and more I hear of people having family issues.

Don’t let Satan deceive you into thinking that your family problems are beyond Jesus’ power.

Things may not be what you hoped, but don’t lose faith, Jesus isn’t done working yet.

Another difficult situation is when someone who has been saved for a long time acts as though they haven’t been.

We see this in the disciple’s training.

They had been given sufficient evidence to trust Jesus.

They were obviously struggling.

I think we can all relate.

It would be very easy to get discouraged when we find ourselves struggling with morality issues that we should have progressed beyond already.

Discipleship is a process.

It’s not a switch to be flipped.

It’s a piece of furniture from IKEA.

It’s a LEGO set with 160 steps.

You can follow steps 1-50 and your project still won’t look like the picture on the box.

You don’t give up on the project, you trust that the designer knows what they are doing and you keep moving forward.

The same is true for our spiritual lives.

You may have been saved since you were a child.

But you still struggle with some of the same issues that you struggled with 10 years ago.

Don’t give up.

He’s still working on you.

One thing every child of God can trust is that we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

Conclusion.

But for now, He’s still working on me.

It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars.

I’ve been saved for 32 years, but don’t judge me yet…

There is still an unfinished part.

What about you?

Is he still working on you?

Do you trust him to finish that work?

Do you trust him even when things don’t seem to be going right?

You can.