Mark 8:22-26

The New Community (2) - Personal Conversion

Coming To See the Cost of Discipleship

Mark 8:22-26 – Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man (1)

²² They entered Bethsaida.

People brought along a blind man to him,

and asked him to touch him.

²³ He took hold of the blind man’s hand

and led him outside the village.

Then he spat on his eyes,

laid his hands on him,

and asked him, “Can you see anything?”

²⁴ Recovering his sight, he said,

“I see people walking around,

and they look like trees.”

²⁵ Jesus laid hands on his eyes again,

and he could see clearly.

He was back to normal.

He looked hard and saw everything quite clearly.

²⁶ He sent him back to his home

and said, “Do not go into the village.”

Jesus and the disciples reached the far shore, specifically Bethsaida on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, not far from the mouth of the Jordan, in pagan territory under the control of Herod Philip, the brother of Herod Antipas of Galilee.

The symbolism of the geographical location was no longer particularly significant. It is worthy of note, however, that much of what would happen from now until Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would take place across the borders in pagan territory. It may reflect that life in Galilee had become so dangerous for Jesus that it was expedient for him to keep over the border.

His focus now would be on the deeper formation of his disciples. His preaching of the Kingdom to the people in general had climaxed, even if unsuccessfully.

Mark situated this incident immediately after Jesus’ upbraiding of the disciples for their inability to see. It provided a glimmer of hope. It served to introduce the following section where Jesus would further enlighten the disciples on the complementary themes of life within the Christian community and the cost of discipleship.

The fact that the blind man was possibly a pagan was irrelevant to the narrative. The caring involvement of friends was a consistent detail. Jesus’ leading him outside away from the crowd recalled the action of Jesus in curing the pagan man who was deaf and dumb. As with the deaf man, Jesus used saliva, indicating his desire to heal and perhaps seeking the blind man’s consent.

The surprising element in the story, and the reason why Mark included it at this stage of the narrative, was that the healing took place in two stages, the first one incomplete and inadequate.

Mark would seem to be making the point that so far the community of disciples had been exposed to one aspect of the mystery, but had yet to get the clear picture. With what they knew to date their vision was incomplete and even misleading.

Jesus would endeavour to clarify the revelation in the events and teachings that would follow.

Jesus’ direction to the healed man to not go into the village may simply have echoed similar directions after previous healings. On the other hand, it may have reflected a need for space and time to come to terms with the clear vision and to allow everything to fall properly into place.

Next >> Mark 8:27-30