Do You See Anything?
TRANSLATION
(22) And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. (23) And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and placed his hands upon him, he asked, “Do you see anything?” (24) And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” (25) Then Jesus placed his hands on his eyes again, and he was healed and saw everything clearly. (26) And he sent him to his home saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
(27) And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (28) And they told him, “John the Baptist, and others Elijah and others one of the prophets.” (29) Then he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” (30) And he charged them not to tell anyone about him. (31) He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and be killed and after three days rise again, (32) and he said this plainly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. (33) But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but rather on human concerns.”
(34) And he called to himself the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (35) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (36) For what profit is it if someone gains the whole world and forfeits his life? (37) What will anyone give in exchange for his life? (38) For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
OBSERVATIONS
The three paragraphs which make up this segment may, at first glance, seem unrelated. However, all three dealt with the same subject: the opening of eyes in order to see clearly. Repeated words in the first segment, “blind man” (vss. 22 & 23), “his eyes” (once in vs. 23 and twice in vs. 25), and “see/saw” (vss. 23, 24, & 25), emphasized Jesus’ healing a man who was physically blind. This miracle then served as a metaphor for Jesus opening the spiritual eyes of his short-sighted disciples.
Just as the blind man did not immediately regain his vision, so it took time for the disciples to see what Jesus wanted to show them. First, Jesus asked them two questions about his identity with the repetition of “say that I am” (vss. 27 & 29). According to Matthew, Jesus explained why Peter had given the right answer: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 16:17). Jesus went on to teach his disciples the hard truth that his ultimate purpose in coming to earth was to suffer and die. When Peter objected, Jesus had to rebuke the spiritual short-sightedness of the one who had given the correct response just moments before.
Jesus then continued to share with the disciples even more difficult truths. Following him as disciples meant that they, like their master, would have to suffer and be willing to die for the sake of the gospel. Yet, in losing what has only temporal value, they would ultimately gain that which lasts for eternity. Just as it took time for the blind man to see clearly, so it took time for the disciples to grasp what following Jesus really meant for their lives.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus healed the physically blind man. (22-26)
II. After Peter made his great confession, he demonstrated great spiritual confusion. (27-33)
III. Jesus sought to give deeper spiritual insight to his short-sighted disciples. (34-38)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus came to give sight, both physical and spiritual, to those previously shrouded in darkness.
APPLICATION
Discipleship is something we should never take lightly. The more we know about Jesus and the life to which he calls us, the more we come to realize that following him as his disciple will likely be very costly. Salvation, the gift of God, may come without cost, but discipleship inevitably has a huge price tag attached to it.
In this passage which falls exactly at the mid-point of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus clearly spelled out what discipleship would entail for the twelve: self-denial, hardship, rejection, and probable death. Just as Jesus was facing execution in Jerusalem at the hands of the Jewish leadership, so his disciples would be faced with being willing to sacrifice their lives if they were going to follow the Savior faithfully. This holds true for all of us who claim to be Jesus’ disciples. As we seek to follow our Savior, we should constantly remind ourselves what is at stake: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?”