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Mark 8: 22 – 26 Spencer C. Lawrence , Church of the Cross, Hoffman Estates, IL, January 28, 2007 Today’s lesson is a story of a healing by stages. It is the only story in which a healing by Jesus was not instantaneous. It comes after Jesus fed 4,000 people – a miracle similar to but not exactly the same as when he fed 5,000 people. After that, some of the religious leaders insisted that Jesus give them a sign to prove that he was who he claimed to be. The religious leaders just didn’t “see”, did they? Then Jesus and his disciples traveled by boat across the Sea of Galilee. In the course of their journey Jesus warned them against what he called the “yeast” of the Pharisees – hardness of heart that grew out of unbelief and yielded spiritual blindness. Frustrated with them, Jesus concluded the conversation with a telling question: “Do you not yet understand?” Sometimes both understanding and healing take time. Near the village of Bethsaida – located on the coast of the Sea of Galilee - some people brought a blind man to Jesus. Now blindness was a big problem in Jesus’ day. It’s a big problem in our day, too. But back then there was nothing anyone could do about it. If you became blind, you likely became a beggar. So the man they brought was in pretty desperate straits. They begged Jesus to touch him. They believed Jesus could and would heal the man. In fact, Jesus was both capable and willing. While Jesus is not present with us physically, he is present with us spiritually, and he still is glad when we bring our friends to him for healing. Maybe we can’t usher them down the aisle, but we can bring them to Jesus in our prayers. As Christian people we want our friends and family to be made whole. Sad to say, there are instances in which people are glad when someone is sick. We’ve all heard stories of husbands and wives married to alcoholics who enable their spouses’ alcoholism. Being married to an alcoholic could give them a sense of moral and spiritual superiority. They don’t have to try to have a normal relationship with the ones they’re married to. Illness - alcoholism in particular - can help the caretakers look like victims and garner sympathy from others. And sometimes sick people are actually easier to get along with than well people – mostly because they are so dependent upon their caretakers. We have all sorts of reasons why we would prefer that some folks remain sick. But not the people in this story. They brought their blind friend to Jesus and begged him to touch him. It is odd what Jesus did next. He took the man by the hand and led him away from his friends to a place outside the village. What a strange thing to do! What do you suppose Jesus was thinking? No one can know for sure, but it’s likely that Jesus sensed that the village was a good environment for a healing. Maybe the people there were more interested in seeing a magic trick. Something they could run home and tell everyone about. Or maybe the people distracted the man who was blind. Maybe the blind man was embarrassed by being the center of attention and Jesus wanted to spare him that. Whatever it was, Jesus felt that a change in scenery would be more conducing to healing. Now this isn’t the first time Jesus had done this. Mark 7: 31 - 37 tells how Jesus healed a deaf man in private as well. Whatever else it says it reminds us that Jesus was not interested in attracting attention to himself. He was not trying to make a name. He was interested only in helping the man see again. And if it meant healing him where no one else would notice then he was willing to do just that. This story underscores Jesus’ desire to help us be whole – physically, spiritually and emotionally. When he got him alone, Jesus did an even stranger thing. He spit on his hands and then placed the saliva on the man’s eyes. We talk about anointing people with olive oil – that was the custom in the early church, but here Jesus anointed the man with spit. In a way it’s the natural thing to do. When we cut a finger the first impulse most people have is to spit on it to clean it. At any rate, Jesus anointed him with what he had. But why anoint him at all? Why not just “touch” him the way his friends had asked? It suggests that Jesus gives us what we need to help us believe him. The man apparently needed to be alone, and he needed more than physical touch to believe. He needed to be anointed with something. Jesus gave him what he had and what the man needed. God is not a cookie-cutter God. God doesn’t treat us all alike. No one’s experience of Jesus Christ is exactly like everyone else’s. Jesus adapts to our weaknesses and to our needs in order to forgive us and grant us the healing we most need. Just because your experience is not like someone else’s doesn’t mean it’s not a true experience of God’s grace. Just because someone has had a dramatic conversion and you have not doesn’t mean that God is not active in your life. The point is that when we come to Jesus – for whatever reason, we must set aside our preconceptions of what he might do for and in us. Come, asking for what you think you need and let Jesus decide how to help you. You can be sure that he has your best interests at heart. What happened next? Jesus asked the man if he could see anything. Usually it was very clear when a healing took place, but not this time. The man looked up, perhaps squinting in the bright sun, and said, “I can see people but they look like walking trees.” It was a partial healing, not a complete one. Jesus didn’t blame the man. He didn’t say, “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you believe?” More important, Jesus didn’t give up. He simply placed his hands on the man’s eyes one more time. This time the man could see everything clearly. No people looking like walking trees. No trees looking like walking people. The second time the healing was complete. Some healings occur over time. The Reverend Nicky Gumbel tells about a man who came forward for healing at Holy Trinity-Brompton Church in London, England. He was bedraggled and dirty, obviously suffering from something. Later it came to light that the man was severely depressed. So depressed he couldn’t hold a job, properly feed himself or keep himself clean. My guess is that he was a very needy person whom no one wanted to be around. His need was probably so great people felt sucked dry by it. Not knowing what else to do he came forward for healing prayer. The next time they prayed for the sick, he came forward again. Then again and again and again. For months he kept coming forward. And each time he presented himself for prayer his appearance was different. Clearly something was happening in his heart. He later wrote Rev. Gumbel that over a period of time his depression began to lift. He slowly was able to take better care of himself, improve his appearance and find and keep a job. He wasn’t fully well. He still had bouts of depression, but they weren’t as deep as before and they didn’t last as long, and with God’s help he was able to find his way back from them. He wasn’t totally cured, but he was being healed. Maybe you’ve prayed for someone and she didn’t get better right away. You’re inclined to think that God’s answer is “No.” Or maybe you’re not well yourself and your prayers have gone unanswered thus far. You’re about to give up. Remember this story. Recall that it took more than one time for Jesus to heal this man. And keep in mind what Jesus told his disciples about prayer (Luke 11: 9 – 13): “Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if a child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Healing sometimes comes in stages. Don’t give up. And if we don’t receive the gift of healing we’re begging for, our heavenly Father is more than ready to give us the best gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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