22 They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him,
Can you see anything?
24 The man looked up and said,
Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.
25 Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus then sent him home with the order,
Don’t go back into the village.
Read Mark 8:22-26 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While reading our passage for this journal entry, a thought entered my mind related to how Jesus managed His popularity/fame. Often times, we see people coming to Jesus to be healed while there is a crowd present, but in this passage, it seems as though the “crowd” brought the man to be healed.
In other places in the gospels, when other people (i.e. the Pharisees or other religious leaders) bring someone to Jesus, it is usually a setup or a trap. While nothing in this passage indicates that this was similar to the traps of the Pharisees, Jesus does seem to be extra cautious about it. Not only does He take the blind man out of the village and away from the crowd who brought him, He also tells the man once he has been healed to not go back into the village.
With how Jesus acts in this passage regarding healing the blind man, it really appears as though there is a trap present – and if we look a little closer, we can see it.
Verse 22 ends by saying, “Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him.” This trap is a popularity trap, and had Jesus performed the miracle with the crowd present, He would have sent the message that He was doing it for the crowd and not for the sake of healing a sick person. The trap would draw the focus away from God and onto Himself.
The crowd begged Jesus to heal this man. This places Jesus in an interesting dilemma. Does He help a hurting person but potentially send the wrong message about God, or does He not help for fear of drawing the focus onto Himself?
Like other places in the gospel, whenever Jesus is given an either/or choice, He chooses a third, different option: separate the blind man from the crowd, so that He can show love towards the man while not sending the wrong message about who He is.
Jesus did not come to bring glory to Himself. This is clearly seen in the details of this event when we look closer at it. Instead, Jesus came to show us who the Father is, what He is like, and to heal the divide that sin caused in our relationship with God.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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