July 15-19

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. – Mark 8:22 ESV

Spiritual Blindness is a Universal Condition
A woman named Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. “I just can’t believe it!” she gasped as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes after her recovery from delicate surgery in an Ontario hospital. She wept for joy when for the first time in her life a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted eyes that now were able to see. The amazing thing about the story is that 20 years of her blindness had been unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30. The doctor said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done about her condition. Much of her life could have been different.” (Preaching.com)

Many people don’t realize their spiritual blindness until God uses something to show them. C S Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. Sickness can be God’s megaphone to draw our attention back to Him.”

In Mark 8, God used a man’s physical blindness to show man’s universal condition. Jesus arrived at Bethsaida and immediately a delegation brought “a blind man and begged him to touch him.” We don’t know why or how long this man was blind. But this man’s physical blindness teaches us some things about spiritual blindness and how Jesus can bring healing into our lives.

Reflection
The friends “begged.” There was a sense of desperation for God caused by his circumstances. Is God trying to use something in your life to draw you back to Him? Have you begged God to touch you?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the gift of spiritual sight and healing. Ask God to show you areas of spiritual blindness in your life and anything He is trying to use to draw you closer to Himself.

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 laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” – Mark 8:23 ESV

Spiritual Blindness Has a Divine Solution
A giant ship’s engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one ‘professional’ after another but none of them could figure out how to fix the broken engine.
Then they brought in a man who had been fixing ships since he was young. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away and the engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received an invoice from the old man for $10,000.
What?! the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything..!!!”. So they wrote to the man; “Please send us an itemized invoice.” The man sent an invoice that read: Tapping with a hammer-$1.00 Knowing where to tap-$9,999.00.

Jesus knows where to tap. He knows what you need. He’s God. Jesus used spit to heal a blind man. You ask why did He do that? And you wouldn't believe how many commentators spend pages after pages on why He did that. One commentator said He wanted to make use of the healing quality of saliva. Do you want to know why Jesus did it? Cause He could. It’s not the method – it’s the person! It was a small thing for the Christ who stood, one day, on the edge of heaven and said, "Universe, exist." And it did.

Reflection
Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” What in your life do you feel is too difficult for God to handle?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the solution He has to all of your problems. Take time to ask God to work in your situation according to His power.

And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” – Mark 8:29 ESV

Spiritual Sight Begins with a Bold Confession.
A college student was in a philosophy class, which had a discussion about God's existence. The professor presented the following logic: "Has anyone in this class heard God?" Nobody spoke. "Has anyone in this class touched God?" Again, nobody spoke. "Has anyone in this class seen God?" When nobody spoke for the third time, he simply stated, "Then there is no God."

One student thought for a second and then asked for permission to reply.
Curious to hear this bold student's response, the professor granted it, and the student stood up and asked the following questions of his classmates:
"Has anyone in this class touched our professor's brain?" Silence. "Has anyone in this class seen our professor's brain?" When nobody in the class dared to speak, the student concluded, "Then, according to our professor's logic, it must be true that our professor has no brain! (source unknown)

Jesus didn’t just heal the man to give him sight, He healed the man to prove He was God. Peter would make the bold claim to that effect. John MacArthur writes, “Peter proclaimed Jesus to be God’s supreme Anointed One and the Savior of the world. After more than two years of following the Lord, the apostles’ doubts about who Jesus was had vanished. Both His deity and His messiahship were firmly anchored in their minds. To be sure, they would still exhibit times of failure and weakness (cf. Mark 14:66–72). But they had come to know that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.”

Reflection
Spiritual sight begins when we confess Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. When did you first confess Christ? What do you remember about it?

Praise/Prayer
Praise Jesus for His supernatural power to heal and to give spiritual life. Ask God to grow the boldness you need to confess Him to others.

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. – Mark 8:25 ESV

Spiritual Sight Continues with a Gradual Progression
For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see. A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow," he exclaimed. "I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can't believe red. I can see the shape of the moon--and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is." (Max Lucado, God Came Near)

The blind man, in Mark 8, saw clearly after Jesus touched him a second time. Many have speculated why Jesus needed to touch him a second time. The truth is we don’t know. Everywhere else in Mark’s gospel, things changed “immediately” when Jesus moved. What we do know is that no one is sanctified immediately. Spiritual healing is a process even though physical healing may be immediate.

Reflection
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation, old things pass away and all things are made new.” What are some things in your life Jesus immediately made new when you were saved? What are some areas that God is still working on?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the new life that He has given you in Christ. Thank God for promising to finish the work He has started in your life.

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. – Mark 8:30 ESV

Spiritual Sight Happens in God’s Time
Back in the 1920s, when Lou Little coached football at Georgetown University, he had a player of average ability who rarely got into the game. Yet, he was fond of him and especially liked the way he walked arm-in-arm with his father on campus. Shortly before the big contest with Fordham, the boy’s mother called the coach with news that her husband had died that morning of a heart attack. “Will you break the news to my son?” she asked. “He’ll take it better from you.” The student went home heavy-hearted, but three days later he was back. “Coach,” he pleaded, “will you start me in the Fordham game? I think it’s what my father would have liked most.” After a moment’s hesitation, Little said, “Okay, but only for a play or two.” True to his word, he put the boy in — but never took him out. For 60 action-packed minutes, that inspired young man ran and blocked like an All-American. After the game, Little praised him, “Son, you were terrific! You’ve never played like that before. What got into you?” “Few people knew it,” answered the boy, “but my father was totally blind. Today was the first time he ever saw me play!’”

At least seven times in Mark's gospel alone, Jesus told people not to tell others about a miracle He performed. It was all about timing. Jesus' messianic mission could not be rightly understood apart from the work of the cross. Only when they understood the relationship between His suffering and His glory would they be qualified to proclaim Him adequately as the Messiah.

Reflection
Sometimes it’s in God’s timing to heal us here on earth. Other times it’s God’s timing not to heal us until we get to heaven. Either way, God is always right on time. What’s one area you are waiting on God’s timing for now?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for His perfect timing and the ways you’ve experienced it in the past. Ask God to give you the trust and patience you need to wait on His timing in your life right now.