Mark 8:22 -

Glasses my Freshman year

When I first matriculated at Moody Bible Institute as a Freshman. I still had braces… UMKC does a good job the the students there are not a quick as a professional orthodontist. I also was beginning to lose my hair. So I thought I don’t really need to wear my glasses too. I was fine not wearing them in highschool why would I need to wear them in college. braces, baldness, and bifocals where not a winning combination with the ladies in my mind.

I sat in the middle rows in the autoriam and I could not read the words.....I moved closer....I was setting a the front row and I could not read the words.

I finally realized that braces, baldness, and bifocals while not a winning combination with the ladies was better than braces, baldness, and blindness when it came to my grades.

I gave up on having a girlfriend and I am glad I did Because well.... Sarah

Have you ever had an experience spiritually like that. Have you even realized just how blind you use to be. Years later looking back on the situation you thought wow. I had no idea what God was doing in my life. I was too blind to see what incredible things He was setting up for me and for others.

I believe there is a Man in the Bible who would you would identify with in that. He is actually one of the more prominent figures in all of Scripture and yet what we have of his life showed us that he was spiritually blind to what God was doing for a large part of it.

His name is Simon but you might know Him by the name Jesus gave him…Peter. And he is going to tell us part of his story.

1st Person

the words were ringing out on my weary ears! Jesus had just said to us, “Do you not yet understand?” “Having eyes do you not see? and ears do you not hear?” Boy, at the time, was that troubling to me. I had be following Jesus for over a 2 years now. Surly He had to know that I was committed why would He question if I understood?

I have since learned that if I knew then what I know now I would have to say that I was..... Well I’ll let you decide.

What I am about to tell you is similar to what I dictated to John Mark those many years ago.

We crossed the lake so many times with Jesus. He loved to take us with Him across those deep waters. We would all pile into the boat together and sail and row our way from one side to the other. Jame and John, Andrew and I knew the water better than the others but we all had some knowledge of it. Matthew was the most knowledgeable of where to go when we reached the different ports.

Have you ever had a moment in your life that was major turning point? This is a story about one of those crossing that has stuck with me over the years and I have carried with me more so than the other disciples I would say. It was a turning point in my life?

We had crossed over the waters to Bethsaida one of the towns I grew up in. I still knew most the people and the places there... not much changes in Galilee.

The crowds of people and livestock and the commotion of the market and the docks made this village noisier than most.

in the mist of the commotion some selfless people brought a sightless man to Jesus and they begged Jesus just to touch him. little did I know that the next few days with Jesus would be a defining moment in my life. It always made an impression on me when people brought others to Jesus. That is why I have asked Mark to include those details. This was after all a man who could not have found Jesus with out the help and sight of others.

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him away ...

walking with a blind man is little more deliberate than walking with those who can see, every careful step we took I wondered where Jesus was taking Him and what Jesus might be getting ready to do.

As Jesus led him through the crowds and down the winding roads the noise of the village grew fainter and fainter until it was replaced with the sounds of the countryside and we found ourselves outside the village in a place where He could hear Jesus’ voice and be alone with Him.

We all watched to see what he would do.

I had never seen Jesus do what he was about to do! First and strangely, He spat on the man’s eyes.

we were all thinking Jesus want are you doing? For us Jews spit is unclean. Then Jesus took His hands and laid them on the man and asked “Do you see anything”

The man looked up! we could see his opened eyes! and we thought wow another blind man healed!

But this is what was different than any other miracles we had seen Jesus do.... The blind man looked up and said, “I see people — but… they look like trees, walking.”

All us disciples looked around at each other, a little bit worried.

Jesus didnt look worried.

He laid His hands on him again.

The man opened his eyes.

And he saw everything clearly.

I have thought long and hard about this. It is the only time I can remember Jesus healing in two-stages. I don’t know if the man could not see clearly the 1st time because of his lack of faith or if Jesus was trying to make a point to us and to me. The older I get the more I think it is the later. And that is why I asked Mark to put this story in the Gospel we wrote together.

I view my own life somewhat as paralleling the miracle of blind man of my hometown Bethsaida. Now listen and I will show you why...

To Ceasarea Philippi

From there Jesus took us to the far away place of pagan worship known as Caesarea Philippi. This was up near the source of the Jordan river. It is a 2 day journey to get up there I kept thinking to myself as we were walking why is Jesus talking us to this dirty gentile place. It use to be a center of Baal worship then a few hundred years ago the Greeks made it a shrine for the worship of Pan. Lately the Romans had refurbishment it as a place to worship Caesar hence the name. This was the last place we need to go for Spiritual instruction.

And yet on the way to this eerie, dark place Jesus asked a question that has been burning in all of our ears ever since.

Do you know what He ask?

English Standard Version Chapter 8

Who do people say that I am?”

This is what made Jesus so incredible to us. All the other Rabbi circles the students asked the question but Jesus was different He would sometimes ask us the questions.

Which was sometimes difficult…I mean how would you answer that question?

Some of the disciples said, “well some say you are John the Baptist. Yes! and we have heard others say you are Elijah. There are also some people who say you are one of the prophets.”

in His unconventional way Jesus asked us another question But who do you say that I am?

I decided to open my mouth. And when I was a younger man whenever I opened my mouth as you know it was normally not a good thing. I think Matthew has told you about how I asked to walk out to Jesus on the water. That sunk like a rock literally. Maybe that is why Jesus called me Peter or Rock haha. I don’t have time to tell you all the dumb things I have said and that is a good thing because this story is not about me anyway. But this time .... In a rare moment of prophetic distention I said the right thing.

In fact I have become somewhat known for this statement. It was a turning point in my life.

I said, “You are the Christ!” Which in Greek means Messiah, the anointed one of God. It was like I was truly seeing who Jesus truly was for the very first time.

Do you know what Jesus said back to me, “And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.”

It was God who helped me see who Jesus truly was. It was God who opened the eyes of my heart.

At the time I did not understand why but Jesus told me not to tell anyone about who He really was. Naturally we wanted everyone to know that Jesus was the Messiah, that would make us famous too, but He told us not to tell ...which was just unbearable! I mean how do you keep a secrete like that. I have since leaned why Jesus did not want us to tell that He was the Messiah but I will get to that soon enough.

Because while I was wondering about these things…Jesus told us something that frightened me. Actually it frightened all of us from Thomas to Matthew.

He said, “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed”

I was looking around at the guys like there is no way we are going to let Jesus be killed.

Then He went from the scary to the bazaar. He said he after 3 days He will rise again.

Rise again after you die? Well we will all rise again at the end of time Jesus...

But he said He would be raised after 3 days and we were like so the end of time is 3 days after you died?

I took matters into my own fisherman’s hands. I had just made one of the most profound statements of my life and I was ready to do it again.

I took Jesus aside and said, “Oh No! Lord this will never happen to you!

Jesus get a grip me and the disciple are going to keep you from dying. ...I kind of always viewed myself as speaking for all the disciples as you know.

Jesus looked back at the disciple who were looking at us and I had this feeling that maybe I was in trouble.

“Get behind me, Satan! for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man? He said!

Well it was not the dumbest thing I ever said, you might remember the roster crowing episode, not one of my shining moments but this was right up there with almost as dumb.

I realize now so many years later that Jesus needed to spit on the eyes of my heart just like He spit on the eyes of that blind man.

I have often wondered if Jesus did the miracle in steps because He wanted to make the point us disciples and especially me that we needed to take a few more steps in our faith before we would truly saw Him clearly for who He was.

Man’s plan, our plan was for Jesus to defeat the Romans and take political power over Judea…Gods plan was to defeat Satan and sin on the cross. And it was not until that death and resurrection that my sight was restored and I saw everything clearly.

The blind man saw men like trees walking at first and I was also like that, I could not see the forest for the trees. I could not see that the Messiah could conquer the age old problem of sin instead of the temporal problem of the Romans… I did not see that His kingdom could out grow Judea and spread to the gentile and even to the Romans themselves.

Just like that blind man in my hometown, I needed Jesus to work on me a little more so I could see clearly.

Ben Hardee Speaks

This is the great intermission in Mark’s action packed thriller. From here on the book shifts and the story heads to the cross.

In fact if you listen to Marks Gospel on the audio bible on after this story the reader fades out to intermission and the song “I can see clearly now the rain in gone comes on.”

Not really I am joking but it should because at this point the cataracts fall of the eyes of the disciples hearts and they begin to see Jesus more and more for who He really is.

In high school I thought I could see fine but I couldn’t.

And that is true of us spiritually. We sometimes think we can see fine but we can’t.

like Peter, like the blind man…

Sometimes we don’t see clearly because Jesus needs to work on us more.

The blind man in peters hometown didn’t see clearly until Jesus worked on him more.

Peter did not see clearly until Jesus worked on him more.

If you are having trouble seeing clearly what God is doing in your life maybe you need to let Jesus work on you a little more.

Sometimes we don’t see clearly because Jesus needs to work on us more.

I hope when we come back to Mark’s Gospel after Christmas we will all see Jesus for who He really is!

We are going to go through Mark verse by verse. And we are going to see Jesus for who He really is. Not just as a messiah who would conquer a political system but as a messiah who would conquer sin, death, and Hell. Not as a messiah who is only the king of the Jews but a Messiah who is King of kings …the one to who every knee will bow. Not just as miracle worker or a good teacher or a prophet, but as God’s only son. We are going to see a Jesus who is able to no only heal our physical needs but our spiritual needs as well. We are going to see clearly a Jesus who loves us enough to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

And if we don't see clearly I hope we will to ask this Jesus to work on us a little more. Amen.

"All the Way My Savior Leads Me"--1875

"Blessed Assurance"--1873

“He Hideth My Soul"--1890

“I Am Thine, O Lord (Draw Me Nearer)"--1875

"Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home (Jesus is Calling)"--1883

"My Savior First of All"--1891,

"Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!"--1882

"Rescue the Perishing"--1869

"Tell Me the Story of Jesus"--1880

“To God Be the Glory"--1875

All of those songs were written by one person… A woman by the name of Fanny Crosby.

“If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind…for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour.” ― Fanny Crosby

She was not bind she could see clearly she wrote those songs in technocolor.

1 Corinthians 13:12 CSB

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.