Mark 8:22-26-- Walking, Not Jumping

And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around." Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

There are a number of blind men that Jesus healed in his ministry (Mark 10:51-52; John 9), but this is the first of two healings of blind men in Mark.  This story is unusual in the Bible, because it is a healing that was miraculous, but not instant. The blind man was brought to Jesus by others who asked Jesus to heal him.  Again, Jesus shows that the faith of one’s friends or supporters is enough for Jesus to heal someone (see commentary on Mark 2:1-12).  Jesus used spit on the blind man’s eyes and laid his hands on the eyes.  Jesus sometimes used his spit to heal people (Mark 7:33; John 9:6).  It seemed that Jesus knew that his healing might not be complete, for he asked him if the man saw anything.  His sight was not completely healed, so Jesus laid hands on him again.  Then Jesus commanded him to go straight home and not to enter the village.  Since everyone Jesus told to be quiet about their healings proclaimed it to everyone they met (Mark 1:44-45; 7:36), Jesus is trying to avoid the situation by telling the man not to be where people gather.  Many commentators see the healing of the blind man to be used by Mark as a symbol of the disciples’ lack of understanding.  Blindness is often used in Scripture as a metaphor for lacking understanding (Exodus 23:8; Isaiah 32:3-4; John 9:39; John 12:40; Romans 2:19; II Corinthians 4:4; II Peter 1:9).  The context of the surrounding stories is about the disciples’ only partial understanding of Jesus’ teaching, even as the blind man was only partly healed at first.

Often we are taught, or it is implied, that once we become a Christian, we have arrived.  Everything that we need is right there, we have the whole kingdom and the whole Spirit and we don't need anything else.  Some of us are taught that our salvation is guaranteed, so we don't need anything more.

However, the way of salvation isn't a gate that we pass through, but it is a path that we walk.  And the path has bumps and bandits, mountains and migraines.  The path isn't easy, and we don't receive everything we need right off. 

Look at the disciples:   It took them three years to get the basics, and after they were still learning and growing and trying to get along with people.  Discipleship is a life long process because we never become perfect and we always struggle with our human weakness.

Jesus is our God, but isn't it interesting that as powerful as he is, he does not choose to heal us completely the first time.  He does not choose to grant us everything we need to be a full disciple as soon as we are saved.  Perhaps he doesn't want us to be complacent.  Or perhaps he knows that, as humans, if we jump in the deep end the first time swimming, we will drown.  He eases us in, a step at a time, giving us a lifetime to grow.

This means that we aren't finished and we always have to be listening for opportunities to be a better disciple.  No matter how experienced we are, we can always learn something else.  Let us walk with humility, letting God teach us daily.