Morning Cup of J(esus)
Fueling the Day!
Jesus Heals the Blind Man at Bethsaida
Mark 8:22-26
Then He came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him. 23 So 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 on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town.”
This is a very unusual miracle in Scripture for a few reasons. For one, it is only recorded in the Gospel of Mark. Many of the miracles that are mentioned only once happen to be in the Gospel of John.
Another unusual aspect of this miracle is that occurs in two steps. Jesus treats the eyes once and asks if the man sees anything. When He hears the answer, He treats the man’s eyes again, and the man sees clearly. We know this is not because Jesus didn’t have the power to do it all at once, or that He didn’t know the extent of his blindness.
We are not told exactly why Jesus did it this way. Maybe He was testing the man’s faith or the faith of His disciples. Either way, He ends the miracle warning the man not to go into town.