If Jesus were marketing his skills, he might say something like: I heal the blind so that they can see clearly. But, today, after Jesus heals the blind man, he says people look like trees walking around! Does this mean Jesus can only help us some of the time, but not all the time?
To understand what’s going on, we have to have our eyes opened: it’s a matter of seeing (understanding) the text correctly.
You see, blindness is a metaphor.
It not only means the man can’t see, but it also means that he doesn’t understand the meaning of what Jesus is doing, how Jesus aligns with the Old Testament message.
A lot of people misunderstood what Jesus was doing.
Many Judeaens believed Jesus was going to bring a violent uprising against Caesar to reclaim the Holy Land.
But, this isn’t the case. They aren’t seeing Jesus’s ministry correctly. They are seeing “trees walking around.”
In other words, their idea of what’s happening is actually quite silly.
It’s the same with us. All too often we don’t “get” Jesus.
We think of him as some sort of magician and God as some sort of Father in the sky.
Or, for nonbelievers, Jesus is just another philosopher. He may have had some good things to say, but that’s it, they don’t believe he’s the Son of God.
But, to understand properly, we have to have our eyes fully opened. We need to see clearly.
Jesus is bringing the kingdom to bear on the world through his suffering, death, and resurrection—not a violent uprising, not as a magician, and not just some wise philosopher.
Only when we understand this will we be able to see people as people. We will finally be able to see things as they truly are.
Yes, Jesus can heal us, but we have to be willing to allow our eyes to be refocused on what Jesus is really doing.
The Reading
And they come to Bethsaida. And they bring a blind man to him and implore him that he might touch him. And taking the blind man’s hands he led him away outside the village, and spitting in his eyes he laid hands upon him and inquired of him: “Do you see anything?” And looking up he said, “I see men, such that it is as if I perceive trees walking about.” Then he again laid hands upon his eyes, and he stared hard, and he was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, “You must not even go into the village.” (Mark 8:22-26)
I understand with you.