Mark 8:22-26 - Here's Mud in your Eye

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.

 

So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

 

And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

 

Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

 

Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

Mud in the eye isn't always pleasant

Yes, it's true that this is not the passage of John chapter 9 where Jesus made mud out of his own spit to apply to the blind's man eye but it is the first thing I thought of when I read this passage from the Gospel of Mark.  In both cases, anyway, Jesus used matter to heal. He had in the past just spoken the Word and the healings happened yet in this case and in the case of John chapter 9, Jesus applied "ointment" and effected the healing that way. To us, it seems disgusting and yet this is how Jesus operated.

Notice the special attention He gives to this man. After He is apprised of his condition, Jesus led him out of the town, away from everyone else. It was just him and Jesus. And even then the healing wasn't all at once but in degrees.  Finally, the man goes from seeing people walking as if they were trees to seeing everything clearly. This is how Jesus deals with me. He gives me "special attention" and He patiently applies His healing to my life. And my healing isn't all at once. Rather, as I approach Him in faith, He brings me His healing, little by little. And like mud or spit in the eye, it isn't always pleasant....but it works!

I love how the podcast The Path which comments on this passage, brings up St. Ambrose of Milan.(You can listen here)  'Just as the blind man was healed through the touch of Christ, using the things of this world, we also are healed through our baptism.' Sadly, one of the things that Evangelicals are missing because of their proper rejection of Roman Catholic heretical abuses, is the comfort and Truth that God uses water to heal us.  John chapter 3 says, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God."  It is my baptism that began the work of Salvation in my life and, Lord have mercy, it is His Spirit that shall complete it.  May I remember this day that God is using matter to reveal His presence to me.  May I look for God in all things. Amen.