Overcoming Blurred Vision

Series Intro

Intro

Background

Today we are hangout it in Mark’s Gospel. Unique in all of the gospels because it’s believed to be the first Gospel written. And while he wasn’t one of the twelve disciples, he was a little boy then but he grew up in the house of a believer and it’s believed this his house was that hangout spot for Christians. Acts 12:12 let’s know that when Peter had been delivered from Jail this Mary was the mother of Mark and it says that the believers where at her house praying. His uncle Barnabas was a traveling preacher. He just grew up around the church he grew up hearing the stories about Jesus. Peter even calls him a spiritual son.

One day his uncle Barnabas says hey Mark you come on a travel with me and Paul as we go preach.

Mark’s life tells us a lot about the importance of a godly household.

Well he develops a passion for Jesus Christ and for making sure that story of Jesus is known.

He writes the story of Jesus for some Roman Christians who are under persecution and they are wondering… where is Jesus and when is he coming back.

He writes with urgency when you get back home and read this book you’ll see that he keeps saying… immediately, right away he shows Jesus as active and getting stuff done.

And while he’s working people are wondering… who is this?

His disciples are with him and even they ask the question… who is this?

In Chap. 4 When they get caught in a storm and Jesus makes the wind and the waves stop the disciples got scared and said to themselves WHO IN THE WORLD IS THIS?

In chap. 5 When he gets near the demon possessed man the demon said… Oh I know who you are, you are the son of God and the disciples got to see it.

In Chap. 6 he feeds 5,000 with two fish and five loafs of bread and the disciples got to see it.

In Chap. 7 he walks on water and the disciples got to see it.

But also in Chap. 7 a crowd brings to Jesus a deaf, mute and they say heal him… Jesus takes the man away from the crowd and heals him.

In Chap. 8 he feeds 4,000 with seven loafs of bread and the disciples got to see it.

And here were are in Marks gospel with a story that only Mark records.

Where Mark tells us that as Jesus came into Bethsaida, “they” brought a blind man to Jesus and implored him to heal the man.

Listen there’s something to be valued in the actions of the people, they brought him to Jesus.

We live in a time when people are willing to bring somebody to some self help guru, so holistic smooth maker, to the yogo instructor to ladda doddie and everybody but Jesus.

We need people who are willing to bring friends and family members to Jesus...

but there is something else that bothers me about the text… the actions of Jesus bother him. The text says that Jesus took him out of the village. And I had to ask the question, why in Chap. 7 when the crowd brought the deaf mute to Jesus and now in chap. 8 when they bring the blind man, why did Jesus leave the crowd?

I prayed about it and the Lord said to me… they loved him but couldn’t handle him seeing.

I. Love That Limits

Listen brothers and sisters one of the hardest things to admit is that sometimes we are surrounded by people who love us but can’t handle what God is doing in our lives.

Sometimes our vision of what we could be and could do is blurred by people who love us but limit us because they can’t see God doing great things in our lives.

Have you ever found yourself struggling with not telling folk close to you want God is doing because you know they are going to criticize it?

Have you ever seen God move but had to shout by yourself because you can’t tell anybody about it?

One of the hardest things to admit is that sometimes people who we know love us and who are close to us are the people who blur our vision with their negativity so much so that we begin to doubt our own vision.

Jesus had to get him away from the same folk who cared enough to bring him to Jesus but didn’t have faith that Jesus could heal him.

… Story of Mr. Armstrong and how his mother loved him and his sister…but limited them.

… Story of Jahina getting an associates and her mom getting mad.

Listen my brothers and my sisters in this new year, God will sometimes pull you away from the crowd because sometimes the crowd is causing you to have blurred vision.

And you’ve got to have the spiritual maturity to deal with the separation so that God can work on your vision.

But not only do we see Jesus take him from the crowd, something else in this text is troublesome. The text says that Jesus spit on his hands and laid his hands on the mans eyes… then he asked him, “Do you see anything”? And the man said I see men but I see them like trees, it’s blurry.” and Jesus laid his hands on the man again and he began to see clearly.

II. Learning To See Again

This passage is troublesome because its the only place in the Bible where Jesus has to “try again” I mean he fed 5,000 on the first attempt, he walked on water… he called Lazurus, he turned water to wine…

So why does Jesus have to touch the man twice.

I asked the Lord, Lord what’s going in the text? The Lord said to me… look at the conversation… and I noticed the question the Jesus asked the man… “do you see anything”.

Yall this is good. When Jesus opened other blinded eyes… he doesn’t ask them if they can see.

When he healed the def he didn’t ask him if he could hear.

But here Jesus asked the man if he could see anything...

The man wasn’t born blind, he was born with vision…and we don’t know why he lost his vision but what ever his condition was it took a progressive healing and the Lord chose to heal him progressvly.

Sometimes God works with us progressively so that we are not content with half of the vision. Many of us settle for partial vision when God has so much for us. God has to progressively correct the negativity and doubt that has caused us to have blurred vision.

III. Living With Clear Vision

When Jesus healed him he told him not to go back to the same situation but rather to go home.

When you get clarity of vision for your life, you have to be mature enough to live with it and not go back to the same situation that caused you to have blurred vision.