From Darkness to Light

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 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?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Mark 8:22–31 ESV

Mark 8:22–35 ESV

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 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?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” 27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Mark 8:22 ESV

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.

Mark 8:22-

1. We are blind

2. Jesus is the light

3. We need Jesus

I’m sure many of us have been in a dark room. Who can tell me what’s the cause of the darkness? .... The absence of light.We just read 2 stories , the first was the story of a blind man at Bethsaida and the second is Peter’s confession on Who Jesus is? In the story of the blind man, we read that there were people who brought this blind man to Jesus.

We just read 2 stories , the first was the story of a blind man at Bethsaida and the second is Peter’s confession on Who Jesus is?. In the story of the blind man, we read that there were people who brought this blind man to Jesus.

And he cried out,

Now the first question we must ask ourselves is why did these people bring this blind man to Jesus? What was special about him that they came to him. Well if you read the book of Mark you will see Jesus has done many extraordinary things, we read in on how people were amazed at his teaching because he taught with authority and while he was teaching in the synagogue a man who has an unclean Spirit cries out in ()

24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

Mark 1:24–27 NIV

24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”

25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

And then we read about how Jesus heals many people, he heals Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever, and hearing this people brought to Jesus all who were sick with many kinds of diseases, those oppressed by demons, He cleanses a leper and people were coming to Jesus from every quarter.

People then bring a paralytic man and Jesus forgives that man’s sins, people question on who can forgive sins except God alone and Jesus to prove to them who He was then goes on to heal this man completely who picks up his bed and goes home thus silencing those who doubted. Jesus then teaches many great parables. He then heals another man who had many demons in him and even there we read the demons within that man crying out ,

Mark 5:7 NIV

7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”

“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”

We then read that Jesus calms the storm when he was on the boat with is disciples, even the wind and the sea listen to Him. He is in Sovereign control over all. And if that was not enough we then read that Jesus raises a dead girl back to life the daughter of Jairus the ruler of the synagogue, he then feeds the 5000 from just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and at the end 12 baskets full were still remaining . Jesus heals a deaf man , then again in another meeting he feeds 4000 people , another mass of people. and then we come to our story of the blind man. So obviously Jesus was well known, hence they brought this blind man to Him. You would expect Jesus to heal this man instantly as we’ve been reading but he doesn't instead Jesus heals this blind man in 2 stages, when Jesus first laid his hands on the blind man, the blind man says that he sees people like trees , but then Jesus laid his hands a second time on the blind man and this time the man’s sight was completely restored. The 2 step healing is not because Jesus’ healing power is limited; rather, it illustrates the condition of His disciples, who are beginning to perceive and understand Jesus’ true identity as we will see in Peter’s confess in vs. 29.

So here in this story we read about a man who was blind and there were some people who brought him to Jesus cause they would have heard of all the miracle Jesus had done and they wanted this man to see again.

The incremental cure is not because Jesus’ healing power is limited; rather, it illustrates the condition of His disciples, who are beginning to perceive and understand Jesus’ true identity as we will see in Peter’s confess in vs. 29.

Spiritually speaking though the Bible tells that all men are blind, we are all spiritually blind, as we read

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

We in fact read King David who say’s He was conceived in Sin, meaning his very nature is sin.

Psalm 51:5 NIV

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

1 Corinthianbecause we are separated from God and the only way we can all see is if we come to the light. The Bible tells us that light is Jesus. We are blind but we can see only if God in His mercy and His grace opens our eyes so we can see Jesus, believe him and trust him with all our heart, soul mind and strength

From such verses we see that a natural man/woman like you and I, will not accept the things of the Spirit of God because it is foolishness. Therefore naturally man does not follow the things of God but rather we follow things of this world because we are in sin, by nature we are rebels against God. says:

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We all have fallen short of God’s standards because of our nature and our selfishness. We are separated from God and the only way we can all see Him is if we come to the light. We are in darkness but praise be to God the Bible tells us that light is Jesus. John, one of Jesus’s apostles writes this

We are separated from God and the only way we can all see Him is if we come to the light. Wr are in darkness but praise be to God the Bible tells us that light is Jesus. John one of Jesus’s apostles writes this

because we are separated from God and the only way we can all see is if we come to the light. The Bible tells us that light is Jesus. We are blind but we can see only if God in His mercy and His grace opens our eyes so we can see Jesus, believe him and trust him with all our heart, soul mind and strength

1 John 1:5–8 ESV

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:4 ESV

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 John 1 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This answer is given to us in our second story where we read Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” .

1 John 1:5–10 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

We are blind but we can see only if God in His mercy and His grace opens the eyes of our hearts so we can believe in Jesus and trust him with all our heart, soul mind and strength. So the key and the most crucial question we must all ask ourselves is Who is Jesus ? And as we read He is the Light, what this means to us is made clearer to us in our second story where we read Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples respond to him that some say he is “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

and the disciples told him that some say he is “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus tells them not to tell anyone because they had not fully understood what the Christ had come to do. And as Jesus began to teach them plainly that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected and be killed, and after three days rise again. Peter just could not accept this, he took Jesus aside and rebuked Jesus. But Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” You see Peter just like our blind man in our first story could kinda see Jesus as the Christ, but for him and those jews around him, the messiah, the Christ played more of a political role in their minds, He was meant to be the leader of a Jewish uprising, and so they misunderstood what the Christ meant.

You see Peter just like our blind man in our first story could kinda see Jesus as the Christ, but for him and those around them during those days , the messiah, the Christ played more of a political role in their minds, He was meant to be the leader of a Jewish uprising, and so they misunderstood what the Christ meant.

Truth is a matter of fact. Let me ask you’ll who do you think Jesus Christ is ? Many religions have different views on him.We live in a pluralistic world, but Christians are convinced that the counterpart to truth is lies, falsehood and fantasies. Islam says that Jesus was not crucified, we say that he was. Only one is right. Judaism says Jesus was not the messiah but we say He is, only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often become incarnate , like Vishnu, but we say only once has God become incarnate, only one of us can be right. So the central question we have to ask ourselves today is the identity of Jesus. Who do you say that He is? Peter didn’t fully understand why Christ had to suffer. His natural human resistance to what appears to be defeat and disaster must now make way to divine logic which turns human understanding of the Christ upside down. And as we go on to read Peter did eventually deny Jesus not once but 3 times cause of his partial understanding but God did eventually completely open his eyes when he did repent and bitterly wept for his denial. Peter as we now know became one of the most prominent apostle who wrote. His character, so full of failures yet Christ saved Him, this should give us a-lot of comfort . Today you may not fully understand who Jesus is, you may be saying that I’ve denied him so many times or you may be saying I’ve committed so many evil horrendous things , God will surely not accept me. I have good news for you Christ gave His all for you and as Paul write to the Corinthians in , declare this to you as of first importance that that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

Many religions have different views on him. John Stott mentions this, “We live in a pluralistic world, but Christians are convinced that the counterpart to truth is lies, falsehood and fantasies. Islam says that Jesus was not crucified, we say that he was. Only one of us is right. Judaism says Jesus was not the messiah but we say He is, only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often become incarnate , like Vishnu, but we say only once has God become incarnate, only one of us can be right. So the central question we have to ask ourselves today is the identity of Jesus. Who do you say that He is?” Peter didn’t fully understand why Christ had to suffer. His natural human resistance to what appears to be defeat and disaster must now make way to divine logic which turns human understanding of the Christ upside down. And as we go on to read Peter did eventually deny Jesus not once but 3 times but God did eventually completely open his eyes when he did repent and bitterly wept for what he had done. Peter as we now know became one of the most prominent apostles. His character, so full of failures yet Christ saved Him, this should give us a-lot of comfort .

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Today you may not fully understand who Jesus is, you may be saying that I’ve denied him so many times or you may be saying I’ve committed so many evil horrendous things , God will surely not accept me. I have good news for you Christ gave His children and as Paul writes to the Corinthians in , “I declare this to you as of first importance that that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”

Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, that makes all things clear and new. We read in

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the unique and final revelation of God, he is unique and final. He is the fulfillment of all prophecy who lived a perfect life. He who knew no sin became sin for us who believe , so that we can have peace with God and life everlasting

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Turn to him, Trust Him, Believe in this Saviour. The way, the truth, the life. The one who brings us to the Light, our Lord Jesus Christ.

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