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Thoughts on why Jesus healed one blind man in two stages

July 6th, 2015

This is something I’ve wondered about. We are not told, but why do you think Jesus healed this blind man in two stages instead of instantly?

(Mark 8:22-25)
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.
(Mark 8:22-25)

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  • Gina Cook Great question and although we can only speculate, I think MacArthur may have something here…”Could it be… I can’t be dogmatic cause the text doesn’t say it…but could it be that this the only time you have a two-stage miracle is right at the crux of the point that the disciples saw some things but didn’t see everything clearly? Why is that there and only Mark has it and it’s right here?

    They believed. They had turned from the darkness and walked into the light. They came out of darkness into light, out of death into life, but there ability to see comes in stages. Does Mark place this here because that’s how our spiritual sight comes, in stages? This is an unforgettable miracle, is it also intended to be an unforgettable analogy? Like the man whose sight came in stages? So the disciples’ spiritual sight comes in stages gradually more and more? First it’s out of focus, and finally and eventually after the cross and after the resurrection it becomes crystal clear and they see it perfectly?

    One writer says, “Like the blind men, the disciples who have eyes but fail to see, the disciples have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear.” Their ability to see both physically and spiritually, he says, are a gift from God, not of human ability. There’s no hint that as his faith grew, his healing progressed. His healing from failed sight to partial sight to complete sight came solely from the repeated touch of Jesus. Isn’t that how it happens to us? We start with a little bit of sight, a little more, and a little more till we come to one day full sight. And this is the work of God through our Lord on His…on behalf of His Holy Spirit.”
    July 3 at 4:42pm · Edited · Like · 3
  • Steve Ray Webb Also, why did Jesus lead the blind man out of the village instead of healing him where they had met? Interesting to speculate about…
    July 3 at 4:44pm · Like · 1
  • Jeff Laird I think Christ healed the blind men in different ways specifically to counter our natural desire for “magic”. The variations proved that it was His power, not some voodoo formula, that was at work. If He’d done it the same way three times, Benny Hinn would have people on an assembly line so he could spit in their eyes.
    July 3 at 5:04pm · Like · 7
  • Wendyl Leslie The Disciple’s Study Bible has this note on this passage:

    “Miraculous events may become symbolic parables. Jesus healed the blind man in a unique two-step process. As in 7:32-37 Jesus used the power of touch in healing. Unique here is the apparent pa    …See More
    July 3 at 5:24pm · Edited · Like · 4
  • Wendyl Leslie Here’s one more. The ESV Study Bible has this note:

    Jesus led the blind man out of the village, perhaps to be away from elements of unbelief and hostility (cf. 5:40; 6:6). “Do you see anything?” In the context of 7:31-8:26, and especially in light of     Jesus’ focus on the disciples’ lack of understanding (8:17-21), the man’s answer may be analogous to their limited apprehension of Jesus. They see him vaguely (see v. 29), just as the blind man now sees people merely “like trees, walking.” Jesus’ healing of the man in two stages may have been intended to emphasize this fact. This interpretation is supported by the fact that vv. 22-26 contain no less than nine terms related to “seeing.” The disciples will soon understand that Jesus is the Messiah (vv. 27-30), but they will not yet fully grasp that he is to be a suffering Messiah (8:31-9:1).
    July 3 at 5:29pm · Like · 4
  • Patrick Thompson I’m sure one can find many different thoughts on this passage, however, I have enjoyed many of Ray Stedman’s commentaries and particularly for this Scripture. Jesus’s healings were parables in action, pictures of the truth he was attempting to convey. And in this case, spit becomes a symbol of the Word of God. It is the visible form of that which issues from the mouth. Our Lord was perhaps awakening the faith of this blind man, who could feel but could not see. And through the application of spit to his eyes, he sensed that something was going to happen which would involve the power of the spoken Word of God. At any rate, Jesus was certainly teaching his disciples this lesson. It is the Word which is the creative agency in God’s work, always. The author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that we understand it is by the Word of God that the worlds were framed out of things which do not appear (Hebrews 11:3). This is what I believe is symbolized here.
    We must see this as a deliberate act, done for the benefit of the disciples. Jesus is teaching them again. This incident falls in that section of Mark which deals with our Lord’s attempts to instruct the disciples. He is teaching them lessons by what he does and what he says. Here he deliberately does this in a two-stage fashion, because he wants these disciples to see that they are like this blind man — they, and we who read this account — and that we need our eyes opened in two stages, as this blind man did. Therefore this miracle is symbolic of the developments which follow this account. If we read it this way, we will see it as a very accurate introduction to what follows.
    July 4 at 2:50am · Like · 3
  • Tim White Ed, I would pipe in, but I believe they have covered the topic sufficiently. I could add nothing, but only enjoy my verbosity.
    July 4 at 9:24am · Like · 2
  • Alyson Dreyer Great question Ed.
    July 5 at 9:00pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait Thanks Alyson, and thanks to all for your insights. This is a really good place to ask questions smile emoticon Our pastor covered this passage in our last Bible study, gave us his “takeaway”, and since it’s one I’ve wondered about, I’m glad I asked.

    While t    here is only one correct interpretation, is it possible that there may be two of God’s purposes in the two-stage healing? I see God’s wisdom in not using the same “formula” for every healing because of the consequences thatJeff mentions. I also see the context and wisdom of teaching the apostles that their spiritual eyes would be opened gradually, in stages. Could these two things be concurrent?
    July 6 at 2:36am · Edited · Like · 1
  • Robbie Holmes I have given this much thought too, I like the completeness of the healing, not halfway or “nearly” restored sight, but complete. Jesus healing is complete and perfect.
    July 6 at 7:03am · Like · 1
  • Byron Earnheart Another thought to this…and I agree with all of the above…but isn’t our healing sometimes a multi-staged process? Personally, I’m going through some things in my life that will take some time to heal. I’m ok that God heals in stages sometimes. It keeps me close to Him.

    While I think yes, the apostles needed to see this like they did, we need it too or else God wouldn’t have put in in Scripture this way.
    18 hrs · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait I agree Byron, that is what I see as the application for us.

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