Stay Away From The Village People

“Stay Away From The Village People”

Text: Mark 8:22-26; Luke 4:18

I. Takes Us Out of Comfort Zone

The people bring Jesus a blind man and ask Jesus to heal him. Notice what Jesus did. The Bible says Jesus took the man out of the village. I am sure the blind man was comfortable in the village. He felt safe in the village. He knew the tree stump was 3 steps to the right and the fountain was 4 to the left. He was in his comfort zone. Jesus removes the crutch of comfort. Jesus removes him from his familiar. Jesus will you do that to you. You come to him with a problem and a situation. His first step will be to remove you from your comfort zone. Some of you need to be taken out of the village. You are accustom to this type of worship, these songs, this beat and Jesus wants to take you by the hand and lead you into an unfamiliar place. God wants to expand your box. Maybe your healing, your touch will come through a hymn. Maybe your change will come alone rather than in a crowd. Jesus removes us from our comfort zone. Get ready to be escorted away from the village. If you are comfortable I encourage you to take a walk this morning. Take a walk out of the village. Let Jesus make you uncomfortable!

II. Doesn’t Say a Word

Don’t you think the man was wondering what was going on? I mean the people bring him to Jesus in the village and without a word he takes him on a journey into the wilderness. Jesus, I don’t mean to complain but I need a healing not exercise. I need a touch not a walk. I am sure the man was a little freaked. In his blindness, he has learned to rely on his hearing and yet Jesus doesn’t say a word. Away from the noise of the village and away from the crowd of the people, he just begins the walk. Jesus, can you give me some idea of where we are going? I am uncomfortable in this silence Lord, where are we going? Jesus doesn’t say a word until he gets him where he wants him. Some of you are uncomfortable in the silence. You have been begging God to give you a word. You have chased prophets and prophecies. Let me know the direction you want me to go in my life? What do you want me to do? All the while, silence. Relax; Jesus is just leading you to get you where he wants you. Trust him through the silence. Trust him to lead you to the right spot. Trust him enough to follow whether he says anything or not. He is ordering your steps.

III. Transparent Enough to Ask for Another Touch

This has always been a strange or peculiar portion of Scripture to me. What happened in this situation? Did Jesus have a power shortage? Did Jesus let down on his prayer life that day and find himself without enough resources to do a complete job? Was he just having a bad day? Did he lose the anointing that he spoke about in Luke? I mean on at least 6 other occasions in Scripture (Matt. 9:27-31, 12:22, 15:30, 20:29-34, 21:14; John 9) he touched and healed one or several men once and they were totally and completely healed of the same sickness that this individual suffered. He didn’t have to do something else. He didn’t touch them again. He didn’t have to try a second time. Maybe he missed his fasting day. Maybe he was drained from the other miracles. You show me one other account where Jesus had to touch someone twice. Show me one other instance where Jesus’ initial touch wasn’t sufficient. According to the centurion, Jesus had enough power to merely speak and healing would take place and without ever stepping foot in the house the servant was made whole. In one instance a woman with an issue of blood touched him and was healed instantly. He didn’t even do the touching and a complete healing took place. And out of nowhere Jesus had to touch a second time. Why? I have come to the conclusion that in reality what happened is that Jesus was taking an opportunity to teach us a lesson. Jesus was teaching us something.

Jesus asks the man what he sees. The man responds to this question by saying, “I can see, but I see fuzzy. Men look like walking trees.” Now the man is healed compared to what he was prior to his experience with Jesus. Compared to his total blindness he is much better. He can see shapes, light, and forms. He sees what he had never seen before. Probably feels much better now.