Examining Your Spiritual Vision Series

EXAMINING YOUR SPIRITUAL VISION

Mark 8:22-26

I suffer from extremely poor eyesight. I recently had a physical and the nurse asked me to read the last line that I could see on the chart. My response was “what chart?” Without glasses or contact lenses I would not be able to tell you who was sitting on the first pew, (in fact I wouldn’t even be able to see the first pew). But thanks to corrective lenses I am able to see clearly.

Many people can see just fine physically but they are blind spiritually. It has been said that “there is none so blind as he who will not see”. This was the case for the Pharisees that confronted Jesus in - verse 11“the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.” These men did not believe in Jesus and they did not want to believe in Him. Even if He had given in to their demands and given them a sign from Heaven they still would not believe that He was the Christ.

Spiritual blindness was also an issue for the majority of the people in Bethsaida. They had seen miracle after miracle at the hands of Jesus, yet they continued to reject Him.

Furthermore, there are countless people in the world today who suffer from spiritual blindness. They reject the fact that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Like the people in Israel, they will face eternal consequences as result of their unbelief.

There are others who possess sight but their sight is dim. This was the case for the Lord’s Disciples. They did not reject Jesus’ message but they did have a hard time fully understanding it. Thankfully Jesus did not give up on these men. He did what was necessary to correct their spiritual vision.

We have a description of this great work here in Mark Chapter 8. When we last saw Jesus and the Disciples they were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was warning them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees”. The Disciples completely misunderstood the significance of Jesus’ message and instead of focusing on His teaching, they began to discuss their situation concerning literal food. They had forgotten to take bread with them and they were concerned as to where their next meal would come from.

It seems that they had completely forgotten that Jesus has just fed a great multitude with only 5 loaves of bread and a few fish. As a result, Jesus addressed their lack of faith. He asked them how many baskets of leftovers they gathered after He fed the five thousand and again when He fed the four thousand.

Prior to the feeding of the 4,000 Jesus healed a man who was deaf and He would soon heal a man who was blind. Both of these men suffered from physical issues that served as metaphors for the spiritual issues that the Disciples suffered from. The miracle that is recorded in our selected text serves as an illustration of what Jesus can do for those who suffer from spiritual blindness.

When we go to the optometrist they perform an exam to determine how well we can see. If there are any issues, they will do what is necessary to correct our vision. God does the same thing for our spiritual vision through His Word. The Scriptures show us how well we can see and they also serve to correct our vision. For that reason I would like to look to the text and preach on the thought “Examining Your Spiritual Vision.”

When Jesus arrived in Bethsaida word began to spread that He had returned to the area. Bethsaida is where Jesus had previously fed more than five thousand people with a little boy’s lunch. Some of those who were fed by Him may have been present on this occasion. As was common, people were coming to Jesus looking for a physical healing. Mark tells us of one such man. We see in verse 22:

I. THE CONDITION THIS MAN ENDURED

v22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.

This man was blind and he likely dealt with other issues as a result of his blindness. Many blind people in those days were beggars as a result of their inability to work. In Mark 10:46 Jesus encountered a blind man whose name was Bartimaeus, when Jesus found him, he was “sitting by the roadside begging”. We don’t know what this man’s financial situation was but he may have been a beggar as well. Another issue for those who were blind was the fact that they were outcasts in society. It was believed by the people in ancient Israel that those who were blind, deaf and suffering from other disabilities were under God’s judgment. (John 9:1 now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?") Jesus told the Disciples that it was not because of sin that this man was blind; rather it was so that “the works of God should be revealed in him.” That was true in this case as well!