Blurry Jesus
5 min read
23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
—Mark 8:23-25
I have never heard or read anyone say this, but I’ve come to believe that the instances of Jesus using His spit to heal is a living metaphor for “every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).
Part of the reason I think this is that the word for “word” in both the Hebrew and Greek is very flexible. It could refer to a variety of things in the context of how it is used, including “thing.” Another reason is that in the narrative flow in Mark, the use of spit occurs in the sequence of events in between the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 in the context of the misunderstanding of His disciples.
The full text of Deuteronomy 8:3 goes, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” What the disciples failed to understand from the feeding episodes is that Jesus is the Living Word of God, the source of the manna from heaven.
And so what’s telling in this healing episode is that the person Jesus healed did not get healed immediately, as is the case in every other instance where Jesus healed. And part of the point of Mark (really, these are Peter’s recollections) telling us this story is to let us know that disciples of Jesus don’t always get it right away, especially if we need signs in order to believe (yeast of the Pharisees) or if our faith is compromised by chasing after the mammon of the world (yeast of Herod).
Jesus who saves us is the Christ of Scripture, the Living Word of God. And when we are saved, we might “see” the Christ of Scripture, but who we see may not be completely clear—maybe somewhat blurry, like a tree walking around. But as we experience the reality of Christ in our lives (His touch), who He is becomes more and more clear—the Christ who is revealed in the word of God—Christ, and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning.
Some people have a difficult time understanding that everything Jesus did in the Gospels contains a parable-like lesson, while at the same time believing that everything we read about Jesus in the Gospels actually did happen (not necessarily in the sequence given). But if we don’t get this, we really won’t be able to see Jesus clearly for who He is.
Father, You are God, and I am not. Help me to not lean on my own understanding. It is what You have done for me that matters. But I pray that You would continue to help me see You clearly, so that I may be healed, and so that I may be a clearer and bolder witness of You, my Lord. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
