Can You See Yet? | Who Do You Say Jesus Is? | Willow Street

I want to invite you to open your Bibles or the devices on which you have your Bible to Mark. Gospel of Mark 8. This morning, gospel of Mark 8. We'll be looking at verses 22 to 26 and I'm going to read that portion of God's word. Mark 8, 22, 26. They came to Bethsaida and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. And when he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, well I see people and they look like trees walking around. Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes and then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home saying, don't go into the village. This is the word of God. And it is the story of the blind man from the town of Bethsaida. Now on a first read. This miracle is baffling. It truly is. As we've been studying the Gospel of Mark, we have become very accustomed to Jesus healing people's diseases and their demon possession. And we have become accustomed to him doing that instantly. Instantly, instantly. Can you say that with me? Instantly, with a word? Sometimes without a word, Sometimes touching people, sometimes being touched by people. Sometimes in private, sometimes with a noisy crowd, sometimes without question, other times with questions swirling around him. Always without delay, always instant, up close, also at a distance. What we've learned is that Jesus is a healer. He is a healer, a miracle worker. And in fact in Mark chapter seven, when he healed the man who was born deaf and mute, people said, oh my, he has done everything well. And then we come to this miracle. And this miracle is baffling because he heals. But not instantly. Not instantly. This story of this miracle is only found in the Gospel of Mark, nowhere else. Not in Luke, not in John, not in Matthew. It's the only miracle in the Bible that takes place in two steps or two stages. And it is the only time when Jesus asks mid miracle a question of the person upon whom he is performing a miracle. Think of it this way. You go to the doctor, the doctor prescribes you medication. You go back to the doctor for a follow up appointment. And the doctor says to you, how is the medication working out for you? And that's what's happening here in the middle of the miracle, Jesus says, do you see anything? And the man responds and says, well, I see people like trees walking around and all of this begs the question, what's happening in this miracle? Now, on the surface, what's happening is very simple. Jesus is healing a man who is blind in the town of Bethsaida. And a man who is blind is able to see again. On the surface, it's a beautiful story. It's a story filled with kindness and compassion and power. So we're going to study it first of all, on the surface, and what I want you to see here is that it begins with some people who are bringing a blind man to Jesus. Blindness is an important concept to grasp in the ancient world. It was widespread and many people thought that blindness represented a curse from God, that you must have really sinned in order for God to curse you with blindness. That is recorded in ancient history, but it is also recorded in the Word of God. Do you remember the story in John chapter nine when the disciples and Jesus approached a man who was born blind? And do you remember what the disciples asked of Jesus who sinned? This man or his parents? That he was born blind. In other words, where in the world did this blindness originate? Because obviously someone sinned, someone was cursed by God, that this man is born blind. Now, the result of that is that blind people in the ancient world were destitute, they were helpless and they were friendless, with the exception of the man who was blind in Bethsaida. It is a beautiful story and it's one of kindness and compassion. I've never preached this miracle before, so this is the first time. And so I dug deep and I read widely because I wanted to grasp and understand this. And I have to admit to you that as I read this story many, many times, I kind of would breeze through. Verse 22, didn't mean a lot to me. And then this study in preparation for this sermon caused me to stop in my tracks. Do you see what is happening in verse 22? This man has friends and they bring him to Jesus and they beg Jesus to heal him. Do you know what that is? That is a beautiful picture of something we call intercessory prayer on behalf of others. It is what we do for people when we notice that people in our circle have an emotional, a physical, a spiritual need and our hearts go out to them and we are concerned for their well being. And what do we do? We bring them to Jesus in prayer and we beg Jesus to touch those people that we love, that we care about, and to bring healing to them in their physical, emotional or spiritual point of need. Powerful story and it is an inspiring story that should Inspire us right at the get go, right at verse 22. Don't even have to read any further. To bring the people we know to to Jesus and beg him to touch them. That is kindness and that is compassion. Notice how Jesus responds in verse 23. He extends the same kindness and the compassion to the man who was blind. And the word of God says in verse 23, he took the man by the hand and he led him outside the village. Why did he do that? Well, most likely he did that so that the man wouldn't become a sideshow. He did that to get him away from the press of the crowd, away from the curiosity seekers. He did that to create a line in the sand that said, I'm going to take you to a place where you and I can be together with my disciples and I can perform the work of healing your blindness. It is a kindness and a compassion that Jesus exercises toward the man who is blind in them. Jesus proceeds from to restore the man's sight using, interestingly, a combination of touch and spit. Now, two weeks ago, Pastor Paul went into some detail about spit. And I don't plan to go into a lot of detail about spit because I think we all know what it is. But I did find it interesting that the older commentators had trouble saying spit, so they used the word called spittle. And that somehow cleaned it up and made it more formal and, you know, know, more acceptable to talk about the fact that Jesus healed by touch and spittle. Well, it was spit nonetheless. And this is what Jesus did. He took that blind man. And this is the word of God. He spit into the man's eyes. Last night somebody walked out of church and said, are you sure? That's what I said. Well, that's what the word of God says. He spit in his eyes. I said, yeah, that's what the word of God says. Well, don't you think he could have spit on his hands? And I said, but the Word of God says he spit on his eyes and then he touched him. Let me tell you what's happening there. There is a transfer of the healing power of Jesus from Jesus to a man who is blind in a way that this man could feel the touch of Jesus. He could not see, he could not see and understand until he felt that spit landing on his eyes and felt the touch of Jesus on his body. And then he knew Jesus was healing him. Let's return to Mark chapter eight. Jesus then asked the man, do you see anything? He looked up and he said, while I see people and they look like Trees walking around. That simply means that at this point in the miracle, this man has not yet received his full, clear eyesight. If I take my glasses off, you don't even look like trees. You look like weeds to me. I can't see a thing without my glasses. This man was starting to see. Once more, Jesus put his hands on on the man's eyes. And then his eyes were opened and his sight was restored. And he saw everything clearly. By the mighty power of Jesus. The blind man of Bethsaida was blind no more. Jesus healed him. And on a first read. This is a beautiful story. It's a story that overflows with kindness and compassion and power. But let's dig deeper. Why did Jesus heal this man in two steps when he never did that before and he isn't going to do that again? Was the first attempt of failure on the part of Jesus? Did Jesus somehow run out of power mid miracle and need to get a recharge? Was the man without sufficient faith in order to be healed? And the answer to those questions is a resounding no. Jesus never fails. He's perfect in all of his ways. He doesn't start something and not finish it because he fails. Jesus is omnipotent. That means that he has all power. He doesn't need a recharge. His power is all power, and it never runs out. And as far as this man not having enough faith, it's interesting. In Mark chapters one through seven, whenever there was a lack of faith, Jesus generally called it out. He doesn't call it out here. There's no indication in the word of God that this man lacked any kind of faith for this healing. So then why two steps? I believe that as we answer that question, it's important this morning that we affirm first of all that Jesus Christ is our sovereign healer. Did you hear that? He is our sovereign healer. And what that means is that he knows what is needed in every healing. And the way he heals is according to that need and according to what he knows is needed. His methods may differ from one miracle to another, but there is always a reason for the difference. Often that difference is related to what he wants people to learn through the miracle. And as you think about miracles, understand this, the miracles of Jesus, yes, they are intended for the benefit of the person who is receiving the miracle, whether it is a disease that is being healed or a demon that is being cast out. Maybe it's 4,000 people that are being fed or 5,000 men, plus women and children that are being fed. Maybe it's the wind and the waves that are being stilled so that the disciples can be in a calm boat. The truth of the matter is that every miracle that you read in the New Testament has first and foremost the benefit of the person who is receiving that miracle. But. But understand this. Every miracle is also designed and intended by Jesus to teach. To teach lessons, lessons to his disciples. Lessons to disciples then and disciples now. The healing of five of demon possessed people, that was, yes, good for them, but a lesson for us that Jesus has power over the forces of. Of the devil. Amen. All power. The lesson for the disciples in the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 is you can trust Jesus. He will multiply what you have if you're willing to surrender it to him. The lesson that the disciples learned in the boat is that Jesus has all power over nature because he is the creator of all nature. What is the lesson that Jesus wants us to learn from through this miracle? I believe that this is more than just a miracle. I believe that in addition to this being a miracle, this is also a visible parable. A parable, by definition, is a simple story that illustrates a spiritual truth and makes that truth both plain and portable. It makes it plain in that you can understand something you never understood before in a clear way. It is portable in that you can take home what you learned and apply it in your life as you walk with Jesus. This miracle was intended to heal a man born blind, but to teach a very important lesson. And it was a lesson not just about physical blindness. It was a lesson about a greater type of blindness. Because this physical blindness and its healing illustrates spiritual blindness and the healing that Jesus wants to bring to all of us. For spiritual blindness, it's important that you remember that one of the key themes that we have wrestled with in our study in Mark, chapter eight, is how slow on the uptake the disciples have been to understand who Jesus is. And you know that, don't you? We've seen it over and over again. My goodness. You fed from bottomless baskets 5000 men plus women and children, tens of thousands of people. And then a few weeks later, up to two months later, you are asked to feed 4,000 people. And you say, but we only have seven loaves. Don't you remember what happened before you were in the boat when Jesus stilled the wind and the waves. And now you're in the boat again and. And you think he's a ghost. And you wonder, how are you going to get out of this storm? Don't you Remember what Jesus did. And all of it speaks to the fact that those disciples and these right here, can sometimes be a little slow in the uptake, a little slow in understanding who Jesus is and how he works. Do you remember last week in Mark 8:18, how Jesus addressed the disciples? And he said to them, do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see? And ears but fail to see? You have eyes, but you fail to see. You have physical eyesight, but you fail to see. The deeper lessons of spiritual truth. And that, friends, has a diagnostic name. It is called spiritual blindness. What is spiritual blindness? Well, we are spiritually blind when we don't see or understand who Jesus Christ is. We are spiritually blind when we don't see or understand who Jesus is. Read that with me. We are spiritually blind when we don't see or understand who Jesus is. We may think that He's a good teacher. We may think that He's a moral example. We may think that He's a great leader. And, friends, he is every one of those things. But he is so much more. You see, here's the deal. When we don't recognize that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, that he is the one and only Savior of the world. And there is no other way to the Father but by him, we are spiritually blind. When we don't recognize that we are sinners. Every one of us born with a sinful nature, acting out our sin, that that sin separates us from the holy God who created us. And realize that Jesus Christ is the only Savior from our sin. When we don't realize or recognize that truth, we are spiritually blind. And so when we do not confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead so that we might be saved, we are spiritually blind. And the reality is, when we don't believe these truths about Jesus, then we are suffering from spiritual blindness. And the second truth about spiritual blindness is simply we are all spiritually blind. It is a universal human condition. Every one of us are born spiritually blind. It is our natural state. What's interesting, in Mark, just in Mark, chapter eight, last week we met the Pharisees again. The Pharisees were spiritually blind. Let me tell you something about them. They had no desire to be cured. No desire whatsoever. They had no interest in learning who Jesus was, declaring who he was. They were satisfied in their blindness. Then we have the disciples. Clearly they are spiritually blind. And yet their continued presence with Jesus indicates that There is a desire, a hunger to know him and to understand him. They're not there yet. Jesus has told us that, but they're on their way. It's interesting. In Mark, chapter 8, verses 27 and 28, in a conversation that we'll study in greater detail next week, Jesus turns to his disciples and he says to them, who do people say that I am? And they answer him by saying, well, some say John the Baptist, and others say Elijah. Still other is one of the prophets. And it's no different than 2026. Who do you say Jesus is? Well, he's a good teacher and he's a moral example and he's a great leader. And all those categories have been around for all these years. But the reality is that in our natural state, we are all spiritually blind. And here is the good news. God and God alone can heal our spiritual blindness. We can be healed of spiritual blindness, but in the words of Pastor Tim Keller, we need external divine help in order to be healed. God must intervene in our lives and open the eyes of our hearts so that we can see and understand who Jesus Christ is. We can't do that for ourselves. All amount of trying will lead nowhere if we do not first go to the God of heaven and earth and ask him to open the eyes of our hearts that we can see and understand who Jesus is. There is no one in human flesh who can help you with your spiritual blindness. Sometimes people will say to me, oh, Pat, Pastor Mike, through your preaching, you've helped open my eyes to see who Jesus is. And I've been able to trust Jesus. I've never done that for anyone, and I can't do that for anyone. Let me tell you what happens in preaching. Preaching is the reporting of the good news of Jesus Christ. This is the holy word of God. And when a preacher stands up here, whether it's Mike or Paul or Addison or any of our preachers, whether it's Jacob or Conestoga, Josh down at Quarryville, the reality is we stand here in a place where we understand that we are reporting the holy word of God. And we are dependent on the Holy Spirit of God to anoint the Holy Word of God and use that word and his spirit to open the eyes of your heart. We can't do that for you. Only the Holy Spirit of God can do that work for you. As Shannon read about the power and the work of the Holy Spirit of God, only he can do that for you. And the beauty of this truth is that though we are all spiritually blind, in our own natural state, God, through his spirit can heal us of that spiritual blindness. Listen to what the apostle Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 6. For God said, let there be light in the darkness. He has made this light shine in our hearts so that we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. God is the one who shines in our hearts in such a way that by his sovereign power we can recognize who Jesus is. Christ is. Now, sometimes God heals us instantly. Sometimes God heals spiritual blindness instantly. One of the primary stories in the Scriptures is in Acts, chapter nine, when a man named Saul was given papers to go to a city named Damascus and to further persecute the church of Jesus Christ. And the word of God tells us that on the road to Damascus, God struck him down, struck him blind, and he met Jesus Christ. And in an instant, a man who was determined to go to persecute Christians became an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was saved instantly. Sometimes God does that. He heals our spiritual blindness instantly. You know, people like that. Probably you've heard testimonies about that. Just this week, unintended, I met someone, entered into a conversation with him, asked him about when he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. He told this story. He said, well, he said I was a drug dealer on the streets. He said, I was in a neighborhood, I was dealing one time. And he said, all of a sudden, police started coming up, showing up in the neighborhood. He said, so you know what I did? I threw the drugs under a parked car. I turned around, there's a church behind me. I went into the church. I sat down on the back pew. I thought, when the coast is clear, I'll go out and get the drugs and continue to do what I was doing. But as I sat there, I started to listen to what the preacher was saying. And what the preacher was saying got a hold of my heart, and I realized that I needed Jesus. And when the preacher was done, he gave an invitation. If you wanted to trust Jesus, come forward. I thought to myself, I'm not going to do that. And someone comes up behind me and says, do you want to go forward? And at that point, I thought, I better go forward. And he said, that day, I was intending to deal drugs. And that day I met Jesus Christ, and he changed my life. You see, sometimes God heals spiritual blindness instantly. Many times, like the miracle in Mark, chapter eight teaches us, God heals spiritual blindness gradually. One preacher called it the process of illumination. I'll never Forget the time in my ministry years ago when I was in Baltimore and parents of this man that I had a casual acquaintance with called me and they said, mike, we are deeply concerned about our son. He claims that he's an atheist, maybe an agnostic. We're not sure, but we're so burdened. Could you stop by our house on the way home from the office and could you just pray for us, for our son? They were doing exactly what Mark8.22 says. They were bringing their son to Jesus and they were begging Jesus to heal him. So I stopped by. We knelt together in their living room. We cried out to God on behalf of their son. We asked God through Jesus Christ, to heal their son. Weeks went by. No outward evidence of any change. Weeks turned into a couple months. No outward evidence. Then one Sunday, that son showed up in Sunday school. Adult son showed up in adult Sunday school. I'm teaching a series in that class on the doctrines of our church. I'm thinking to myself, the last thing he needs is a doctoral lesson. But okay, God, you're the sovereign healer. He shows up. He sits in the back row. He hardly makes eye contact. He is writing feverishly whatever is being said. He shows up a second week, a third week, a fourth week. I say to him, you know, you've been coming pretty regularly. Would you like to get together and talk about the things that you are hearing and that you are learning? He said, I would love to do that. He came into my office, and that was one of several meetings where we sat together and processed what he was hearing in Sunday school. At one point I said to him, why don't you come to worship? Why don't you stay after Sunday school for worship and get double dose of the word of God? He said, maybe I'll do that. And he did. And he did again. And he did again. And he did again. And over the course of a little over a year, this man made a journey, a process of illumination, until one day he was stopped at an extraordinarily long traffic light. I hate extraordinarily long traffic lights. Personally, I think. Who timed that? That's not right, but in this case it was absolutely right. He said, as I sat there waiting for that light to change, all of a sudden everything I'd been learning about Jesus came together. And I began to see and understand who he is. And. And Mike, I don't know if it's valid or not, but I prayed right there at the traffic light to pray, to receive Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. I said, that is valid and that is wonderful. It was over a year of a process by which he came to know and understand Jesus instantly or gradually. One is not better than the other. Both lead to the same place. You come to know and follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I have a date for my salvation. June 15, 1972. When Jenny and I met and started dating, and when we started talking about our own relationship with Jesus Christ, I said to her, what's your date? When did you come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord? And she didn't have a date. And I was worried about my date at that moment because I was brought up in an evangelical environment that emphasized this is an experience that you have and you have a date. But as she unpacked her experience with Jesus and the fact that her home church, which was liberal, had hired an evangelical youth pastor, and that she began to hear the gospel through him and began a journey that led her eventually to Albright College, where in Albright College, on the very first day, she connected with intervarsity staff, and they helped her realize what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And she committed her life to Jesus, man. She was saved, and I was saved. I had a date. She didn't need a date. She was a gradual convert to Jesus, and she knew that. She knew that. She knew that Jesus was her Savior and Lord. So what should we do with Mark, chapter eight and the miracle that is in this story and the lessons that it teaches us? I've been helped by Pastor Tim Keller in understanding its application in our lives. Number one, very important, if you are a Christian, you should never feel more important or superior to those who are not Christians or to those who are wrestling with questions about who Jesus is. We should never have an attitude. What's wrong with them? Why are they so spiritually blind? If we know people who are on that journey, and maybe they have been on that journey for years, rather than being impatient or critical of them, we need to do exactly what the Friends of the Blind man did. Bring them to Jesus, beg him to heal them, and make ourselves available for that process. But secondly, if you are having trouble believing that Jesus is God in the flesh, the one and only Savior of the world, the only one who can forgive your sin and change your life, then I want to invite you this morning, ask Jesus for help to see. Ask him to open your eyes. Ask and keep asking until you see clearly enough to believe and trust him as the Savior and Lord of your life. I know our church family, and I know that There are folks in our services every weekend who are here because they have a hunger and desire to know God through His Son, Jesus. But they're not quite at the point where they see clearly enough to have and enter into a relationship with the Lord. Understand that that's what you're aiming for. Not just factual knowledge, just a head knowledge of the details, but a personal living relationship with Jesus. Do you know him personally as you sit here? Do you know that? You know that. You know that your sins are forgiven and you have a new and eternal life in Christ. Because if you do not have that assurance that if you are not yet there, ask him to help you to see who he is and understand who he is. It is significant that Jesus said to the man who was blind, do you see anything? And the man was honest and said, yeah, I can see people, but they're like trees walking. If you can't see clearly enough for a relationship, ask for Jesus to help you and he will. Now let me say one last thing. Even after you can see and understand Jesus clearly enough to have a personal relationship with him, you still don't have 2020 vision. I stand here today and tell you that I know that I was saved 54 years ago. I know that. No doubt about it. I was 10 years old, 9. Next day turned 10, and I was saved. And I look back at that and I know from that point on I had the confidence of salvation. But I know Jesus better today than I did 54 years ago. I know him better today than I did 25 years ago. I know him better today than I than I did last year. That's called growing in grace. And every one of us have that joy and that privilege of getting to know him better and better and better until someday when I step over the threshold of earth to heaven, and then I will receive 2020 vision because I will see him face to face. The Apostle Paul writes in First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 12, now we see but a poor reflection, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. This is the word of God. Let's pray together. Thank you, Jesus, that you are our healer. And thank you that all through the Scriptures, the Gospels, we see over and over again your healing power at work in the hearts and lives of people in need. We thank you for this particular miracle and the lessons that it teaches us, especially about your healing of spiritual blindness. Lord, I want to pray very specifically that for those who are worshiping with Us, either in person or online, who are earnestly, sincerely seeking to know you and are honest and saying, I don't see clearly yet. Lord, I pray that you would give them out of the teaching of your word today, a desire, an initiative to ask and keep asking. And I pray that you would bring those who are on that journey to the place where, as we will see with the disciples, their eyes were fully opened and they could declare you as Lord of their lives and believe in their hearts that you are their Savior. With heads bowed and eyes closed, I would ask you today, are there any here who are at that point in your life right now where you are ready to say, I can see him. I know who he is now, and I'm ready to trust Jesus as the Savior and Lord of my life. I want him to take control of my life. And if that's where you are this morning, if. If you now see and understand who Jesus is and you have come to understand that you are a sinner in need of Jesus as your Savior, and you're ready to take that step, step of surrender and trust in him, then I invite you where you're seated to pray sincerely in your heart this prayer of salvation, of surrender. Father, I believe that you love me and that you sent your son Jesus to be the Savior of the world. My Savior, Jesus, I confess today that I am a sinner in need of your salvation. Please forgive me of my sins and please take them away. I believe that you died for me. I believe that you are alive today by God's power. I confess you as Lord and Savior of my life. And I trust you and surrender myself to you. Thank you for your gift of salvation and for changing me. In your strong name, Jesus, I pray, Lord, how I thank you and praise you for those who have prayed that prayer this weekend, confident that your Holy Spirit is even now giving assurance because your Holy Spirit has opened their eyes to who you are. Jesus. Lord, I want to pray also for every one of us who are believers. May we be like the friends of this blind man, willing to bring those that we know who do not yet know you to you in prayer, willing to beg you for their salvation and trust you for your work in their lives. In this congregation, Father, there are folks who have been doing that for a long time for people they loved. And we confess to you that it can be frustrating at times and we can lose patience. Lord, bolster the patience of the saints of God to be faithful in their prayers and intercession for those who do not yet know you give joy and confidence faith believing that you are faithful. We are amazed by your grace and your mercy. And it's in your strong name that we pray with thanksgiving. And all God's people said Amen. Stand with me. Let's close our service today with amazing grace.