Mark 8:22-33 The Strangest Miracle
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As we continue our study through the Gospel of Mark we come to what may be the strangest and possibly most confusing miracle in Jesus ministry. The healing of the blind man in Mark chapter 8. I know that saying a lot considering in the Gospel of mark we have seen.
1:23 unclean spirit
Simon’s mother-in-law with fever (1:29-33)
the leper (1:40-45)
the paralytic (2:1-13)
man with the withered hand (3:1)
Jesus stills the sea (4:35)
legion being cast out in to the pigs 5:1
Mk. 5:22ff daughter of synagogue official (sick & died)hemorrhaging woman 5:25
6:33ff feeding of the 5,000
Jesus walks on water Mark 6:45ff
7:24 syrophonecian woman with unclean spirit in her daughter
7:31ff deaf & mute
8:1ff feeding of the 4,000
what makes this miracle so different is how it came about. How Jesus performed it. Why did he do it the way that he did.
Mark 7 - sticks fingers in his ear and touch his saliva to his tongue
Mark 8 - it not just that he spits in this mans face it that he was not completely able to see the first time and it wasn’t until Jesus laid his hands on his eyes the second time that he could see clearly. maybe even stranger is the fact that he asked him if he could see. Normally Jesus issues a command not ask a question.
notice that both times the man said he can see men
v. 25 I can see everything clearly
Why is this story here? What are we to learn or understand from this miracle?
We have discussed the last several months that everything in Mark up to this point is point to and going to climax in v. 27ff
Mark has been trying to answer on question and one question alone. WHO IS JESUS?
He has all power of healing, demons, calming the storm, walking on water, feeding 5,000 and the 4000, he teaches with authority. etc.
the answer is overwhelming when you truly examine the scriptures.
1:1-8 John is preparing the way for the Messiah
Jesus baptism 1:9-13 you are my beloved son
Mk. 1:15 the time is fullfilled the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel
the demons know exactly who he is, The Holy One of God
but people don’t really seem to get it.
CH. 4 after jesus calms the sea “who is this man”
Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,
for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
CH. 8 where will be able to find enough bread to satisfy all these people?
v. 14 they have no bread v. 16 they can’t focus on what Jesus was saying because they were so focused on the bread.
So jesus ask them 8 questions
why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?
do you not yet see and 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 (5,000) how many pieces you picked up?
and do you not remember (4,000) how many pieces you picked up?
do you not yet understand?
NO THEY DO NOT!!!
then we have this miracle about seeing clearly and immediately after we have the pivoting point of the entire Gospel of Mark
Mk. 8:27-30
“on the way” - 9:33, 34; 10:17,32, 33; 11:1, 11, 15, 27
On the way Jesus ask them a question who do people say that I am? John the baptist Elijah or a prophet.
v. 29 who do you say that I am? Peter blurts out “you are the Christ” - what is Peter confessing that Jesus is the promised one of Gen. 3:15, you are the anointed prophet priest and king, it’s as if all of a sudden they can see for a moment, as if the veil that has left them so clueless has left them.
Jesus warns them not to tell anyone, Why?
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Peter only understands partially, his vision of jesus is still unclear, foggy.
he began to teach them - up to this point he hasn’t told them anything about suffering. It’s not until they realize he is the christ that he begins to teach them about His suffering.
9:9f, 30; 10:32ff He is not trying to get them to understand that He is the Messiah; He is trying to get them to understand what kind of Messiah He is.
But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
why so harsh - because Jesus is on the way - he has come to die, he is going to die, he going to accomplish the will of the Father, he his headed to the cross.
Peter has created his own image of Jesus in His head. He had his own idea of who Jesus would be.
back to our story. the blind saw after Jesus spit on his eyes but he didn’t see the clearly, he didn’t see the full picture. Just like the disciples they began to see who jesus was but they could not see clearly until jesus explained what it really meant that he was the the Christ the suffering servant.
after the confession Mark is asking us the question, What kind of Christ is He?
the disciples cannot see him clearly and that is why he tells them to tell no one. he doesn’t want them giving a shallow incorrect view of who the Messiah is.
so what does this all mean for us?
I think we live in a time and culture where many churches are filled with disciples that see Jesus bu they do not see Him clearly.
Our American churches are filled with people who like Jesus, are fascinated with Jesus and are familiar with the things He has done. Yet, they do not know Him, nor do they see Him clearly. Many of them, just like the disciples in Mark 8, have created their own picture of Jesus. As a result we find ourselves surrounded by people who call themselves Christians, yet they fail to see that you cannot inherit the promises of Christ without trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Instead of trusting in Christ, they trust in thousands of personal experiences. Instead of trusting wholly and completely in the atoning, finished work of Christ on the cross, they see Jesus from afar, acknowledge the great things He has done, yet never personally trust His death as the all sufficient means by which they must be saved. They see Him, but they do not see Him clearly.
We face another problem as well. Our churches are often filled with people who fail to see the inseparable connection between the life that Jesus lived and the life He calls His followers to live.
he is not just telling them about his life but theirs as well.
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
This is why in chapter 8 He says if you want to be my disciple, you must follow Me. He is saying that you must not only embrace and trust in the death of Jesus Christ; you must also embrace the life and suffering of Jesus Christ. The failure of the disciples is that they do not see Jesus’ death, nor do they see His life, clearly. As a result, they do not clearly see what it means for them to trust and follow Jesus. Their blindness to the suffering and rejection of Jesus leads to their blindness to the reality that they must also suffer and be rejected if they want to follow Him
people in our churches began to believe that you can enter through the small gate and never walk the narrow path, that you can somehow accept His death but never embrace His life.
The problem is that now I stand before people every week who believe their eternity is secure because they affirmed some facts about Jesus’ death. Yet they know nothing about embracing his death. They know nothing about embracing His life. They fail to see the inseparable connection between not only entering by faith through the small gate, but by faith walking the narrow path.
Or could it be that some of you, like Peter, are worshiping a Jesus that does not exist? Could it be that some of you have created your own picture of Jesus that, although nice, is not reality-a Jesus who asks you to believe in His death but does not require that you follow Him in His death.