Introduction

The miracle recorded in Mark 8: 23-26 is not found in any of the other gospels. The miracles of Jesus usually took place in the public eye as signs pointing to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, in whom you are to believe to have eternal life. Listen to John 20:30 stating this purpose, ‘And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.' Every miracle provoked the question, ‘Who is Jesus Christ?' Mark 8:1-12 records the very public miracle of the feeding of the 4000. Everyone who ate of the bread and fish witnessed the mighty power of Jesus. Jesus never performed miracles as a showman and strongly condemned the Pharisees for asking him to give them a sign from heaven. Listen to the Lord's rebuke upon those demanding a sign, ‘He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."' The miracle in Mark 8:23-26, however is not done in public, but in isolation. The Lord Jesus goes out of his way to hide this miracle form the people of Bethsaida. He guides the man out of town and strongly urges him not to tell anyone in that town about the miracle. It is also important to note the following two things; (a) Jesus uses the means of touch and saliva to effect the healing, and (b) Jesus heals him in stages. This is the only recorded instance where the healing is not completed in an instance. The privacy of this miracle and the two stages of the healing of the blind man make this miracle unique. There are some very important lessons to be learned from this miracle.

1.    Jesus deals with this blind man individually and privately.

1. Jesus deliberately isolates the blind man. Jesus took this man by the hand and walked him out of the town. Jesus' action isolated the man from the town's folk and also those who had guided him to the Lord. Jesus gives this man his personal attention and now becomes this man's guide. Most commentators agree that Jesus took this man some way out of town (10 -15 kilometres) before the miracle took place. The emphasis in the passage suggests that even the twelve disciples followed but were not actually present when Jesus healed this blind man.
   
   
2. Jesus' action reveals wonderful truths about his character. Our Lord greatly loved people and dealt with them in a dignified way and with of compassion. Jesus never worked a miracle in a cold and clinical way. Miracles were always accompanied with deep compassion and great sympathy for real needs. In Mark 8:2-3 Jesus sees the hungry crowd of four thousand and says, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar." We see the same compassion moving the Saviour in Mathew 14:14, ‘And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.' Matthew 20:29-33 records two blind men crying out to Jesus to heal them. Our Lord's response is given in verse 34, ‘So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.' As Jesus was entering the town of Nain he met the funeral procession taking a young boy to his burial. His mother who was a widow was filled with grief and sorrow. Listen to Luke 7:13-14, ‘When Jesus saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep.' Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you arise.' When we talk about the compassion of Christ we need to remind ourselves that it was not just a feeling, but the catalyst to action. Jesus saw a real need in this blind man and had great compassion on him. Our Saviour was full of compassion during his earthly life and continues to be full of compassion as he sovereignly rules and reigns over all creation.
   
   
3. It is important to think a bit about the kind of man that Jesus was dealing with. Listen to a comment by Matthew Henry, ‘Here is a blind man brought to Christ by his friends, with a desire that he would touch him, v. 22. Here appears the faith of those that brought him-they doubted not but that one touch of Christ's hand would recover him his sight; but the man himself showed not that earnestness for, or expectation of, a cure that other blind men did. If those that are spiritually blind, do not pray for themselves, yet let their friends and relations pray for them, that Christ would be pleased to touch them.' This man in all probability was a sceptic. Perhaps he had heard about the miracles that Jesus performed, but never really believed them to be genuine. We need to remember that fake healers were as prevalent in his day as they are today. Those who brought him to Jesus begged the Lord to touch him. The word translated as ‘begged' is a strong word and could also be translated as pleaded or implored.  They believed that if Jesus simply touched their friend that he would be healed. They came with a sense of expectation and hope that the Saviour would be merciful to their friend. The blind man remains silent he does not say a word to Jesus about his plight or desire to be healed.
   
   
4. In this miracle we see Jesus' compassion, grace, mercy and tenderness towards a man who is greatly in need, but is sceptical about the ability and greatness of the Lord. Jesus healed a number of blind people, yet he treated each one differently. In Matthew 9:27-31 Jesus healed them simply by touching their eyes. In Mark 10:49-52 Bartimaeus is healed by Jesus simply saying, ‘Go you way, your faith has made you whole.' In John 9:6-7 Jesus healed the man born blind by spitting on the ground to make some clay and then anointing his eyes and telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Jesus knew what was in the hearts of these men and healed each one in a way that not only restored their sight but also restored them to the Lord. Jesus did much more than simply heal them, he restored them to fellowship with his Father.
   
   
5. Alexander Maclaren tries to sketch a word picture of this blind man being brought to Jesus so that we can enter into the situation. He says, ‘You see him standing there, hopeless, listless; not believing that this Jewish stranger is going to do anything for him, with his impassive blind face glowing with no entreaty to reinforce his companions' prayers. And suppose he is a man of that sort, with no expectation of anything from this Rabbi, how is Christ to get to him? It is no use talking to him. His eyes are shut so he cannot see the sympathy beaming in Jesus' face. There is one thing possible - to lay hold of him by the hand; and the touch, gentle, loving, firm, says this, "Here is a man that has some interest in me, and whether He can do anything or not for me, He is going to try something." Would that not kindle an expectation in him?' It is very difficult for us to imagine what blindness is like and how vulnerable those who cannot see are. What did his man think as Jesus took him by the hand and walked him out of the city? Walking ten kilometres is a long way and takes a long time. As they walked along the road a great deal was going on inside the blind man. He could not see, so he depended on Jesus to guide him. He did not know Jesus, but had to rely on his mercy. He did not know where Jesus was taking him, so he had to trust Jesus' graciousness. He did not know what Jesus was going to do, so he had to hope in his mercy. I have no doubt that this blind thought, who is this stranger and what am I doing? As Jesus walked with this man his sense of his dependency on Jesus would have grown in leaps and bounds. With every step they took this dependency grew.
   
   
6. If you have the picture of Jesus walking alone with this blind man in your mind it is not very difficult to see the same scene played out spiritually every time a sinner is redeemed by the Saviour. Jesus deals with you as an individual privately. To encourage you he takes you by the hand and walks with you to make you depend, trust, rely, hope and believe him. Like this blind man you were a sceptic and had to be brought by others who believed and trust in Christ's ability. Jesus deals with you in the same, tender, merciful, gracious, and loving way. Long before you committed yourself to the Lord, he took you by the hand and walked you through the darkness of unbelief to bring you into the kingdom of glorious light.
   
   

2.    Jesus deliberately stooped to this blind man's level in order to lift him up.

1. The gentleness of Jesus towards this blind man who was slow to believe and trust is very evident in the help given to him. Jesus helped him believe by using means that he would have known and understood. Jesus did to him exactly what he would have expected from a person seeking to heal him. Spiting onto the blind eyes and touching the eye balls was the common method used by those who claimed they had healing powers. This man was slow to believe and so Jesus accommodates himself to the slowness of this man in order to encourage his trust to grow. In Isaiah 43:2 the Lord gives this promise to those of weak or little faith, ‘A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking flax he will not snuff out.' Where faith exists even if it is very feeble and fragile Jesus will encourage it to develop and grow.
   
   
2. What healed this blind man? Was it Jesus touch? Those who brought this blind man to Jesus certainly believed that if Jesus simply touched him he would be healed. A woman with an issue of blood in Mark 5:25-34 believed that if she could only touch the hem of his garment his power would heal her. Was it the spittle that opened this man's eyes and allowed the light to come in? This blind man was healed not primarily by the touch or the spittle, but because Jesus' willed him to be healed. Jesus is the primary source of every healing. Doctors, nurses and medicines are the means or instruments our Sovereign Saviour chooses to use to give healing. Every time you recover from an illness it is the Lord who has healed you. Our primary hope and trust for healing must always be in our Saviour and not in medical science. This man was healed of his blindness because it was the Lord who willed that his sight be restored.
   
   
3. Why did Jesus heal him in stages? We know that it was not because the Lord lacked the power to heal him. Jesus is God the Son, his power is boundless and cannot be restricted or restrained by anything he has created. Jesus healed this man in stages so that his trust in and appreciation of Jesus would grow. Notice the answer this man gives to Jesus when the Saviour asked him if he saw anything. The man says, ‘I see men like trees walking.'  Light had entered his eyes, he could see shapes and forms but could not determine whether they were trees or men. This man probably saw the twelve disciples walking but could not see clearly. The answer this man gives is very matter of fact. No sense of gratitude or appreciation of what had happened is evident from what the man said. If you speak to the elderly whose sight is fading they will tell you that even though they can hardly see, they fear blindness. A little sight is a thousand times better than no sight at all. There is nothing in what this man says to indicate the slightest bit of thanksgiving. Even though his answer is cold and maybe sullen as Alexander Maclaren suggests Jesus deals with this ungrateful man in a very tender and gentle way. Jesus touches him again and makes him look-up. The word look-up is meant to convey the idea of peering or focussing the eyes to look intently at something. Jesus made him strain his eyes and exercise his restored faculty of sight. Jesus made sure that this man's focus was on the one who healed him rather than on the fact that he could see. This man was healed in stages so that be would receive all the benefits of knowing the grace of the Lord.
   
   
4. Jesus' purpose was not simply to cure the man by restoring his sight, but to redeem his soul. In Matthew 18:9 Jesus says, ‘And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.' To this man regaining his sight seemed more important than anything else, but Jesus in his perfect wisdom and knowledge knew that the redeeming of his soul was more important. This man could easily have been tempted to do what nine of the ten lepers did when they were healed. Listen to Luke 17:11-19, ^ ‘Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.^ Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when He saw them, He said to them. "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."' The nine lepers were so taken up by their healing that they completely forgot that the Lord had healed them. Sadly this situation has not changed as a user mentality exists in about ninety percent of those who call on the Lord to help. In our own land many pray for rain, but very, very few give thanks to the Lord when he sends rain. This man whose faith was slow and weak is helped by the Saviour not to fall into this dreadful sin of ingratitude. First and uppermost in this man's mind was the fact that Jesus had been gracious and merciful towards him.
   
   
5. Why did Jesus send him home and instruct him, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town?" Jesus does not command him not to tell anyone, but not to tell anyone from the town of Bethsaida. This is the town of Bethsaida Julias situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. There are three possible reasons why Jesus gives this instruction.
   
   
1. Shortly before restoring the sight to the blind man Jesus had healed a man who was deaf and dumb in the Decapolis. Mark 7:37 tells us that the crowd was astonished and said, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.' Would the town's folk, if they heard about these miracles have concluded that Jesus was the Messiah because he made the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Would they have come and interrupted his ministry by seeking to make him King in a political sense? Did Jesus pre-empt their action by instructing this man not to tell them or allow them to see that he was cured of his blindness?
   
   
2. R. C. H. Lenski In his commentary gives the reason for the prohibition as follows; ‘This order is given for the man's own sake, and that is all; it is part of the pedagogical treatment that marks this entire miracle. The man is not to lose the deep impressions that have been made upon him by going into an excited crowd. His own family circle is enough.
   
   
3. The town of Bethsaida was known for its hard-heartedness and refused to believe Jesus. Matthew Henry suggests that is the reason. He says, ‘Bethsaida, in the day of her visitation, would not know the things that belonged to her peace, and now they are hid from her eyes. They will not see, and therefore shall not see.' Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to preach repentance. Listen to what he told them in Mark 6:10-11, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city!" Was Jesus' instruction part of shaking the dust off your feet as a testimony against the towns that refuse to believe in Him? Maybe Jesus had all these reasons in mind when he told the man whom he had healed not to go into Bethsaida or tell anyone from that town of the miracle.

Conclusion

This miracle ought to encourage us in two ways:

1. Jesus who is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, who rules sovereignly over all things is very gracious, tender, gentle, patient and merciful towards his people. As Hebrews 13:8 says, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.' There are times when we are slow to believe and trust Jesus and it is very reassuring to know that he will deal with us in the same way as he dealt with this blind man.
   
   
2. We should be greatly encouraged to continue praying for those who are sceptical about Jesus. Those who want to believe but find the gospel too good to be true. Our Lord knows their hearts and knows their weaknesses. We ought to be encouraged to ask the Lord to take them by the hand and walk alone with them and bring them into the Kingdom of glorious light.