Men Walking As Trees

MEN WALKING AS TREES

Mark 8:22-26

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A lawyer's dog ran into a butcher shop and stole a roast. The butcher went to the lawyer's office and asked him, "If a dog is without a leash and steals a roast from my store, do I have the legal right to require payment for the meat that was taken from me?”

2. The lawyer answered the butcher, "Oh yes, absolutely." The butcher said, "The dog was your dog, the meat was my meat, and -- according to your own advice -- you owe me $10 for the meat your dog took from me today."

3. The lawyer agreed with the butcher and immediately wrote the butcher a check for $10.

4. A few days later the butcher received a letter from the lawyer. The butcher opened the envelope and found an invoice for $60 for the lawyer’s consultation fee!

B. TEXT

22They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"

24He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."

25Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village.

C. THESIS

JESUS SAID, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”(Jn. 8:12). Jesus Himself is the light of New Jerusalem. But we must allow Him to bring the light into our lives. TITLE: “Men Walking As Trees.”

I. BETHSAIDA: PLACE OF UNBELIEF

1. Its name means "House of Fishermen". In modern vernacular we might call it "Fishermen's Paradise/Heaven." It must have been a wonderful place.

2. When Jesus came into Galilee, and to the town of Bethsaida, Isaiah the Prophet(9:1-2) painted a different picture about this town: that it was in darkness; “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:15-16).

3. There are a lot of people who are in darkness:

Darkness of depression

“ “ despair

“ “ grief

“ “ pain

“ “ understanding

Some people are at the point of suicide. Let Jesus bring light into your darkness!

4. TATTOO ON THE MIND. A man was walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong, & came upon a tattoo studio. In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available. On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever.

But what struck him with force were three words that could be tattooed on one’s flesh, “Born to lose.”

He entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, "Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, “Born to lose”, tattooed on his body?" He replied, "Yes, sometimes."

"But," the man said, "I just can’t believe that anyone in his right mind would do that." The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, "Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind."

5. Bethsaida should have been a town full of faith. Why? Because:

a. ¼ of the apostles came from that town; Philip, Andrew and Peter.

b. Jesus paid numerous trips to that town and

c. performed many outstanding miracles there.

6. But instead, it was a town which earned Jesus' condemnation. In Matthew 11:21 Jesus said, "Woe to you Bethsaida! If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would've remained unto this day."

7. WHAT WERE THE SINS OF TYRE & SIDON?

a. They took treasures from the Lord’s Temple and put them in heathen temples, and

b. they sold Israelites as slaves(Joel 3:4-6;Amos 1:9). c. Jesus said that if those heathen cities had seen the miracles He did in Bethsaida, they would never have experienced divine judgment, because they would have responded positively and with faith.]

8. So Jesus compares how people respond to Him. Somebody will say, “God will not compare me with others!” I disagree. That’s why it matters how we obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

9. “Can’t we just do what we want and God doesn’t really care, as long as we’re not in overt sin?” NO! At the Bema judgment of Christ we believers will give account to our Lord as to how we obeyed God’s will for our lives. 10. Bethsaida was a town that did not respond to the Lord with faith and where, eventually, Jesus had to remove people from in order to perform a miracle, and then not allow them to go back to its contamination.