Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Mark 8:22-26… *Then they came to Bethsaida.
They brought Jesus a blind man and asked him to touch him.
23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside of the village.
Then he spit on his eyes, placed his hands on his eyes and asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 Regaining his sight he said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” 25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again; then he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”
*Commentary*
After rebuking the disciples for their inability to understand who he really was through the miraculous feedings, Jesus led the disciples to the town of Bethsaida (literally “fisherman’s house”) in Galilee.
Keeping in mind that nothing Jesus did was random, the reader must see a methodical point to what Jesus does next as he heals a blind man in two stages.
He needed to illustrate his point to the disciples about their inability to understand his ministry, and the blind man that was brought to him for healing would provide such an opportunity.
In v. 23 Jesus took the blind man and led him outside of the town to get away from the ones who simply sought a performance from Jesus.
He then spit on the man’s eyes (as disgusting then as it would be now!) and placed his hands over them.
The miracle, however, came in two parts.
The man was then able to see, for he saw people who looked like walking trees.
But clearly he wasn’t fully healed.
Therefore, Jesus placed his hands over the man’s eyes once again, and his sight was fully restored.
The fact that it was “restored” points to the fact that the man was not born blind.
And as usual, Jesus wanted the miracle to be kept secret.
In the past when his miracles became known people would follow in hoards seeking a show from the “miracle man.”
From a medical standpoint, after ten or so years of blindness the brain’s cerebral cortex has to be completely reprogrammed in order to allow the eyes to see clearly again.
Without it, restored eyesight sees a cubist landscape – one that is often frightful and unintelligible.
Objects cannot be synthesized, and as a result a person would be seen as a head, a leg, and an arm – but not all together!
This is the problem the blind man of Bethsaida encountered after receiving his sight initially.
The trees and the men he saw were jumbled together where it looked like the trees were walking around.
Even though the man could see motions and colors, his brain needed to be recalibrated – another medically proven phenomena.
But because the man had no depth perception or ability to synthesize shapes, due to the long time period he was blind, Jesus had to perform another miracle.
This actually proves that a miracle did in fact occur that day.
Though some could have faked their blindness and proclaimed Jesus a healer upon receiving their sight, only a real blind man would claim to see men “walking around as trees” upon receiving his sight.
*Food for Thought *
Man’s salvation is illustrated in this story.
When God saves us through Christ we receive our spiritual sight and come out of our blindness – blindness that the “god of this world” (Satan) put on us since birth.
Now Christ removes those blinders at salvation.
But just because those blinders are off doesn’t then mean that we can see everything clearly.
This story illustrates both justification and sanctification.
We are justified by God in that he simply “declares” us righteous (like the blind man was made to see).
Then God sanctifies us ( “makes us holy”) by giving us the ability to learn and grow in our knowledge of Him through a study of his Word – just like Jesus did with the man when he clarified his vision.
This was the lesson for the disciples.
They could see Jesus in front of them, but they couldn’t quite put him all together.
After the resurrection, however, it would all fall into place, and they would change the world with the good news.
*Mark 8:27-30…* Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They said, “John the Baptist; Elijah, and others, one of the prophets.”
29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
30 Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
*Commentary*
After healing the blind man in Bethsaida Jesus led his disciples 25 miles north into the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
While traveling Jesus asked his disciples who the people they spoke to believed he was.
This is the time Jesus had been trying to get to ever since the disciples returned from their first missionary journey (cf.
6:7-13).
In asking who people thought he was, he was inquiring about what the disciples had heard while they were on their preaching tour.
It is interesting to note that Jesus had not once told the disciples that he was the Son of God.
And though Mark states that Jesus is the Son of God in 1:1 it is never stated by Jesus up to this point to anyone.
His miracles and his words demanded a decision on the part of all who met him that he was in fact God in the flesh, but he made no such proclamations to be God.
Upon asking the disciples who the people thought he was the answer was, “John the Baptist… Elijah… or some other prophet from the past.”
Elijah was the prophet who lived in the 9th century BC who, according to 2 Kings 2:11, never actually died but was taken up to heaven by God.
The prophet Malachi even claimed that Elijah would precede the coming Christ (4:5).
So for Elijah to appear on the scene would mean that the Messiah’s coming would be near.
Other folks apparently believed that Jesus was John the Baptist.
This notion reveals how popular and respected John was and how well-known his death at the hands of Herod Antipas had become.
He was so well-known that his supposed resurrection would not have surprised anyone who thought Jesus was John back from the dead.
Even Herod Antipas, previously, had thought that John was resurrected in the person of Jesus (cf.
6:14-16).
And for Jesus to be a prophet of old (none of whom predicted their own resurrections) would have also been wrong.
All three choices were wrong, and they reveal that Jesus’ mission and identity were hidden despite his miraculous works and immense popularity in and around Galilee.
Peter, however, knew who Jesus was.
He spoke up in v. 29 when Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ” (lit.
“the anointed one”).
Of course Peter was correct, but it’s interesting to note that this truth was not known to him only a short time before, for Mark 6:52 says that all of the disciples had hardened hearts.
Matthew’s 16:17 says that “flesh and blood did not reveal this” to Peter and that it was revealed to him by God.
Then Jesus, in v. 30, warned the disciples not to tell anyone about him.
He knew what the implications would be if his identity as the “Messiah” became public.
The people were looking for a military leader, and Jesus was not that kind of Messiah – a truth that even Peter had yet to discover as evidenced by his words in the context immediately following (cf.
8:31-33).
*Food for Thought *
There are many ideas floating around today about who Jesus was.
But any answer short of “God” is of course incorrect.
This is what makes Christianity so exclusive, for without a proper understanding of who Jesus is there can be no salvation.
That means that all religions that relegate Jesus to some sort of “good prophet” or “fine teacher” without recognizing him as God Almighty and the Savior of all mankind are wrong and ultimately satanic.
Jesus’ question then is the most important question we’ll ever have to answer.
It will determine not only our final fate but our present life on earth.
So, in light of all Jesus has taught you, who do you say that he is?
*Mark 8:31-33…* Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 He spoke openly about this.
So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”
*Commentary*
Right after Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one, there must have been a somber yet joyous moment among the disciples.
They were standing in the midst of the promised Messiah!
But then Jesus did something that took them all by surprise.
Instead of telling them about how glorious his reign as the King of Israel would be, he began to reveal to them that he was going to suffer many things, be rejected by the leaders in Israel, and then be killed.
Following Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, it was necessary for Jesus to teach them what that entailed.
So he speaks words of prophecy in telling them how he will be rejected and eventually killed.
This, of course, was the not the image the disciples had of the Messiah, for they had other ideas as to what that meant.
They, like the rest of the Jews, believed the Messiah would go up to Jerusalem and reign in King David’s stead as King over Israel.
In v. 31 Jesus said that he would “suffer many things.”
This points to Isaiah 53:3-11 where the sufferings of the Messiah were prophesied over 700 years prior.
In saying that he would suffer “many things” Jesus was predicting the fullness of the sins that he would endure to bring about the salvation of mankind.
He would suffer God’s wrath on behalf of sinful mankind.
Jesus’ prophetic utterances about his upcoming death were given to provide certainty that when these events had transpired the disciples would look back and know that this was God’s plan all along.
And v. 32 says, “He spoke openly about this.”
This is a noteworthy phrase because Jesus had never spoken so clearly to the disciples – not even in private.
Mark’s language denotes an outspokenness by Jesus that conceals nothing, for Jesus’ comments show a decisiveness that cannot (and would not) be thwarted.
This was God’s divine plan all along.
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