Seesomethingdifferent

Title: You have to see something different

Text: Mark 8:22

Introduction:  Blindness is a disease that you loss total visual perception.  You cannot see light.  All you see is darkness.  If you were born blind you have no way if identifying what things are.  Pause.  All you know is darkness.  Now if a person who has loss their sight due to a circumstance, your only visualization is the memory of things that you were able to see in the past. In either of these two cases, you are in darkness.  This is what happens when blindness occurs naturally.  My brothers and sisters, there are some of us today that are not physically blind but are spiritually blind.  For some of us, all we know is darkness.  But there others who have once saw light but something happened and now they only see darkness.  Because of your current condition, all you know is darkness.  Like physical blindness, spiritual blindness is caused in the same way.  Some of us can have spiritual glaucoma is which the pressures of life converge on our optic nerve inhibiting our ability to see light.  Some of us have spiritual cataracts where build-ups cloud our ability to see and keep us in the dark. Others are just spiritual blind due to age and not want to see anything new. Lastly, some of us are spiritually blind to due damage to our spirit and we can no longer see the goodness of God. But the Lord sent me by here to tell you he wants you to see something different.  He wants to turn the light on in your darkness so you can see the vision of your future with Him. 

Background:  Our story takes place in a village called Bethsaida, which means the house of fish.  This is the place where Jesus cast judgment upon because of their unbelief.  I would hate to be a place where Jesus could not perform the great works that he was called to due to unbelief.  This leaves us to question why Jesus is not moving in something places or in some of our lives it just may be due to unbelief.  But the awesome thing in this text is that Jesus can come back into unbelief and changes things.  Jesus has a way of making people believe.  And he usually does it by having just a few believers around.  This is what we have in this text.  Even though Bethsaida was a place known for its unbelief, there were some people there who knew about Jesus and what he could do in the time of need.  

There were some people there that knew the power of Jesus.  They knew as Mark records, Jesus had the power cleanse lepers, forgive sins, heal the lame, restore hands, rebuke demons, feed the multitudes with fish sandwiches, awaken the dead, stop issues of blood, walk on water, and open deaf ears.  If anybody had a need that man could not meet somebody in that town knew that Jesus could do it. There was a man in that town who was blind that obviously these people cared enough about and brought him to Jesus.  My brothers and sisters, if we really care about someone that we know that needs help, bring them to Jesus.  We bring people we care about to everywhere else to get the help they need but our first option should be to bring them to Jesus.  Amen. The text says they brought him to Jesus.  This word in the original language means “they took or carried him” to Jesus. This man had no choice.  He was going to Jesus.  When they got him to Jesus they begged him which meant “to summons with a strong voice”.  They begged Jesus to touch him.  “Just touch him Jesus”.  They knew that just a touch from Jesus and everything will be alright and this man would regain his sight.  Jesus adheres to their earnest cry for help for this man.  But look closely at what Jesus does.  The text says that Jesus took this man by the hand.  This is a significant picture to see.  First of all, blindness in that culture was considered a curse.  Therefore, Jesus touched someone that was defiled.  His touch was a sign of intimacy and connection for those who the world called curse.  My brothers and my sisters, you may not be blind in Jesus’ day but you have done something or had something that people would have called you cursed but Jesus reach out his hand and called you blessed!  No matter had low down you think you are, Jesus is always reaching out to touch you. Not only does Jesus take you by the hand but He also leads you.  His touch is a guiding hand to make your life better.  The text says that Jesus led this blind man out of town.  He brought this man out of the town that was being judge by God.  He brought him away from people or anything else that would or have been a distraction in his life.  Not only does Jesus want to touch you, He desire to have you alone and keep you from things that may hinder you.  That is why some of you lost some friends.  Some of you can’t be around certain family members.  Some of you had relationships end. It was all because God needs you to be alone with Him only so He can bless you. He led this man out of crowds of the village so Jesus can minister to him effectively.  Look how Jesus administers healing.  The text says that Jesus first spit on his eyes.  Don’t you dare frown upon this.  Didn’t your mother or grandmother take her finger and licked it cleaned those eye buggers off you face?  Spit in that day was said to have medicinal purposes.  Then the text says that Jesus put his hands on him.  The laying on of hand is the transfer of power from heaven through an available vessel of God to bless someone.  After Jesus laid hands on this blind man, Jesus asked him a question.  He asked him what does he see? My beloved, when Jesus first touch you what did you see?   He is still asking us that question today, “what do you see?”

This man after Jesus touched him was no longer was blind but he did not have complete sight.  Some of us are just like that we are no longer fully blind spiritually but we still don’t see the things of God with clarity and focus.  As Paul says in Corinthians, we look at a glass darkly.  This man could see but things are blurry and distorted.  He did not see thing as they way they really are or better yet the way God indeed them to be.  The text says the he look up and said “I see men that look like trees and they are walking”.  This tells us couple of things.  First, it tells us that that is man was not always blind if he was able identify what trees every looked like let alone compared them to men.  Secondly, this tells us he was only partially healed.  Some of us are just like this man.  Because of our spiritual blindness you see things that don’t make any sense and we are not completely healed.  But the problem with this is that we see things that are dark and distorted and think it is normal and right.  The Lord wants us to see things differently.

But there is another problem in the text.  The text says that the man look up.  Jesus was right there in front of him.  The text tells us that the man saw men…but he did not acknowledge that the Messiah, the one was healing him was right in front of his face.  We are so spiritual blind sometimes that Jesus is right in our face we don’t recognize him.  We see everything around us but the One who blesses us.   The Lord wants us to see Him.  And he will do any and everything so we can.   Look what he does to this man who now has only partial eye sight.  Jesus touches him again.  But you would think that after Jesus, the Savior of the World, the Messiah, Christ, The Anointed One, The King of Kings, the Almighty God touches you, things would be fully restored.  Sometimes they are. But if we all check the record there are many times in our life that one touch from Jesus just did not do it.  If the truth be told we don’t always get it on the first time.   This had no reflection on Jesus’ power but everything to do our process.  Sometimes in order for our complete deliverance we have to through the process.  Process is for our full maturation in Christ.  Let’s keep it real.  Some of us did not stop cursing after the first touch of Jesus.  Some of did not stop having premature sex after the first touch. Some of us did not stop lying after the first touch. Some of did not stop gossiping etc.  It stops with the process.    This is the only account in the Bible that Jesus touches someone more than once.  When Jesus touched him again, the man looked up and he was restored and saw everything clearly.  He could see now.  He could now see the smiles on people’s faces.  He could see the beauty of God creation.  But most importantly, He could see Jesus face to face.  Is the there anybody in here who want to see Jesus face to face?  But after this man’s sight was fully restored, Jesus gave this man some important instructions that he had to follow.  Jesus tells him “don’t go back to that town or tell anybody from that town what happened”.   Remember, Bethsaida was a place of unbelief.  Not only did this man get new sight, the Lord wanted him to be in a new environment.  The Lord wanted this man to see something different.  He wants this man to have a new beginning.  For many of us, when the Lord restored us in order to maintain a new lifestyle, we can not go back to places that would not be any good for us.  If he delivers you from drugs you may not be able to go back the block to see your old friends.  If He has delivered you from liquor, you can’t hang in bars.  If he has delivered you from John or Sally you can’t talk to them any more.  Tell your neighbor don’t go back!  Isaiah 42:9 says the former things have passed away and I will do a new thing.  The Lord wants you to see something different. He does not want you to look at the same old things and the same old people doing the same old thing.  He has better for you!  He wants you to see something different. 

Celebration: My brothers and my sisters, you may have been like this man who was blinded by life’s circumstances. I am here to tell you that I am like the one who cared enough and believed that there is someone who can open your blinded eyes so you can see something different and see better than before.  I am here today to bring you to the Light that will break through the darkness in your life.  I am here to bring you to Jesus and to let him work on you so you see how life is supposed to be and not the darkness you are used to seeing.  I want you to see something different for yourself.  I am bringing you to the light of the Gospel that shine in your darkness so you can see Jesus clearly. It may be a process that He may have to touch you again and again but you won’t see darkness anymore.  But that day is now if you have some faith. It is only when you see Jesus clearly you can have see something different for your life.  He will give you vision and you won’t perish! Since Jesus touched me I see differently. I got vision! I see differently now. I used to chaos now I see creativity.  I used to see poverty not I see my prosperity.  I used to see hurt now I see my healing. I was once blind but now I see!  I see something different for my children…etc.