Reflective Bible Study

As we move through this year looking at the miracles of Jesus, we come to a very unique, one of a kind, miracle. This miracle is the only one that Jesus ever did that holds this specific characteristic. While many of Jesus’ miracles are included in multiple gospels, and while some of the miracles are reserved for only John’s gospel, Matthew’s gospel, or Luke’s gospel, only one miracle is exclusive to Mark’s gospel. I don’t know why Matthew and/or Luke chose not to include this miracle, while Mark did, but when we read about what happened, we discover something powerful about Jesus’ miracle working ability, and through this miracle, we learn about faith in Jesus.

Let’s read this miracle, then dive into what we can learn from what happened. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 8, and we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 22, Mark tells us that:

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.”

On the surface, this passage contains a pretty routine miracle, except for the detail that it appeared as though Jesus did not get the healing right the first time. In a strange turn of events, Jesus has to redo the miracle for it to work fully.

Why might this have been? In my own mind, we can discover the answer by stepping back through this miracle and the details that were shared leading up to Jesus being alone with this man. We discover the answer and a powerful insight when we ask the question: Where is faith displayed in this event?

The first place we see faith in this passage is with the people in the village. While these people probably want the blind man to be healed, they are probably more interested in simply seeing a miracle than they are in the actual wellbeing of the man himself. Those present likely wanted one more reason to praise Jesus as a person, and it is less likely they were the sort of people who would have praised God. It may even be possible that these people disliked God, because of what they saw displayed in the lives and attitudes of the religious leaders, but they liked Jesus.

However, Jesus came to give praise and glory to God, and Jesus came to show us what God the Father is like. Jesus is not interested in receiving the praise of these people. So Jesus takes the man outside of town, and away from the faith of this group of people.

At this point in the event, we have Jesus, the blind man, and perhaps the disciples outside of the village. We only can assume the disciples are present because we know the details of what happened, but other than this, we are given a picture that contains simply Jesus and the blind man.

With these two people present, where is faith displayed?

In Jesus’ case, He has all the faith He needs, but He also doesn’t want to force His will on people. Jesus loves each of us and while He wants to save us, He is also mature enough to know that there will be those who reject Him. Because of this, it is unlikely that Jesus uses His measure of faith in this miracle.

This leaves us with the blind man and his faith. We don’t know much about this man but since the man had an idea of what trees looked like, it is possible that he wasn’t born blind, but instead became blind through some injury, illness, or situation. It is also possible that this man had tried anything and everything he could to heal his blindness.

When Jesus steps onto the scene, and rumors spread about His ability to heal people, this man likely gets a sliver of hope, but he has experienced getting his hopes dashed enough times that he doesn’t want to put too much faith in Jesus’ ability.

In this passage, we discover that other people bring the man to Jesus, and this could be because he had reservations about going to Jesus himself. When Jesus pulls him away from the crowd, the man may have even thought that Jesus wanted to let him know privately that He could not heal him, while saving face with those who believed Him to be a miracle worker.

There is a lot in this passage to suggest that the man did not have much faith in Jesus’ miracle working ability, but there was a sliver of hope present. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus asks him in verse 23, “Can you see anything?”

Verse 24 tells us that “The man looked up and said, ‘Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.’”

In this verse, we see the man look up, but not much had improved. Perhaps the man was so doubtful that he hadn’t expected anything to happen because he was afraid of getting his hopes dashed again. But with Jesus, a small sliver of hope and faith broke through in this partial miracle. The man experienced a change greater than what he had expected. Jesus had taken the tiny, mustard-seed-sized faith the man had and turned it into more than the man thought possible.

But Jesus wasn’t finished yet, Jesus wanted the man to regain all his eyesight. So Jesus repeats the miracle, but this second time, we see a different response from the man. Verse 25 tells us that, “This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly”.

With the second miracle, we see the man displaying greater faith. After seeing a sliver of improvement, the man is ready to let his hope and faith loose. After the second time Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, Mark tells us that the man “looked intently”. This was the look of faith, and it was the look of expectation. With this second take of the miracle, the man wanted and believed that healing was possible – and his faith in Jesus healed him.

While Jesus could have brought the man back into the village, Jesus knew the man did not live there. So Jesus sends the man home, telling him to go a different way, because Jesus knows the man will praise and give God thanks, and Jesus isn’t interested and He doesn’t need the crowd’s praise.

In this unique-to-Mark’s gospel miracle, we see the amazing truth that our answers to prayer will likely be relative to the faith we have. If we have a visible faith that actively moves towards our prayers, it is likely that we will ultimately receive answers. But if our faith is weak or non-existent, and we pray without any visible movement, then it is possible our prayers will be weak and/or remain unanswered.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always seek God first and intentionally make your faith in God visible. Don’t shy away from sharing why you have hope in a world full of chaos, and give God the credit for everything He has done for you leading you towards salvation and eternal life.

Also, be sure to intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself, learning from the best source we have about what God is like. I once heard someone say that God is good but He isn’t safe. I can understand this idea, but is it in the Bible? When faced with challenges, ideas, or thoughts to ponder, take these thoughts to the Bible and let God’s Holy Spirit help you discover the answers for yourself.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue reading Mark’s gospel, and while we are looking at how Mark leads up to Jesus facing the cross, we come to a parable Mark includes that challenged the religious leaders in a very clear way. However, before thinking that we are off the hook with this parable being given back then, this parable also has a strong challenge for us living today as well.

Let’s read what happened, before unpacking why I believe this parable is just as relevant today as it was in the first century. This parable and our passage are found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, and for our time together, we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1:

¹ Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. ² When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. ³ The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. ⁴ Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. ⁶ The only one left to send was the man’s own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ⁸ So they grabbed the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this scripture?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
    turned out to be the most important of all.
¹¹ This was done by the Lord;
    what a wonderful sight it is!’”

¹² The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

In this parable, Jesus gives a strong message against those living in the first century. In this parable, we see messenger after messenger coming to ask for the owner’s share of the harvest, but the tenants outright refuse all requests. The owner lastly sends his own son hoping and believing that the tenants would accept him. However, the tenants believe that killing the owner’s son would then mean that the property would become theirs.

But when we logically summarize this parable, these evil tenants are not thinking rationally. These tenants have a strictly inward focus and they have lost sight of what they were hired to do. While it is possible that the vineyard would become the owner’s sons when the owner passed away, there is no guarantee that this would be the case. The owner could sell the land off and leave money for his son instead.

Part of me also wonders if the tenants believed the owner to have died already and that the son was now the rightful owner. While not accurate at all, it could explain why the tenants decide to kill the son and believe that they would then inherit the land they were actually only hired to manage.

But the thought process these tenants have is not rational or logical. It does not make sense in my mind that killing someone’s child would make them like you or want to keep you around. If jail wasn’t in the picture for someone today who murdered another person, it would be illogical for an employer to keep an employee hired after the employee had killed the employer’s child. Nothing these evil tenants do in this parable makes them worthy of staying hired.

After sharing the parable portion, Jesus attaches this parable to an Old Testament scripture that wasn’t written as a prophecy, but was turned into a prophecy that symbolized Jesus’ ministry. The stone that had been set aside as the corner stone those building Solomon’s temple believed to be worthless. However, when they reexamined their plans, they realized it was the most important stone of all.

In the exact same way, Jesus, who many of those in the first century believed was worthless and a nuisance, turned out to be the most important Person in history. Most of the religious leaders in the first century rejected Jesus and plotted His death. The first century Jews rejected Jesus and they rejected Jesus’ followers after Jesus returned to heaven. The first century Jews rejected the One who is the most important of all like the builders of Solomon’s temple rejected the stone that had been cut as the cornerstone.

When we look at Jesus’ parable, it is easy for us to look back and conclude that this parable represents the Jewish nation over the generations. God had sent prophet after prophet and messenger after messenger to help lead the people back to Him, but these prophets and messengers were killed, abused, and rejected by the Jewish leaders at the time God sent them. Since this parable concludes with the owner sending his own son, it is tempting to conclude that this parable was only for the Jews. However, this would be a mistake.

The big conclusion in this parable and the transition statement Jesus makes emphasizes a more lasting truth. In verse 9, Jesus asks and answers the question: “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others.” This is because the tenants refused to return His portion of the harvest to Him.

In this parable, there is no indication that the next tenants would be any better. All it says is that the current tenants were evil. It is very reasonable in my mind to conclude that another set of tenants, if they turned out to be evil as well would be rejected and a third, forth, or even fifth set of tenants would be chosen. I suspect that this could continue forward until the owner actually found tenants who were both responsible and mature.

While I’d hope the owner of the vineyard ultimately finds tenants that are not evil and tenants who return His portion of the harvest to Him, looking at the history of the Christian church doesn’t paint a great looking picture.

However, the key in this parable and in the prophecy Jesus points back to, is how we respond to the messengers God sends our way and what we do with God’s Son Jesus. Will we stay focused on Jesus and pay attention to the messengers God sends? Will we return God a portion of what He has blessed us with? This is what we are challenged to do in this parable, prophecy, and promise.

While the first century religious leaders rejected the owner’s Son Jesus, we don’t have to. While the Jewish people rejected God’s messengers throughout the years leading up to Jesus, we don’t have to reject those messengers or any current messenger God sends our way. The messengers that God sends our way today will all have one set of things in common: The messengers God sends will point people back to what Jesus did on the cross for us, they will amplify what the Bible teaches us about God, they will call us to repent and rededicate our lives to God, and they will remind us to look forward to Jesus’ return.

This is the role of God’s messengers today. God’s messengers lift God up and they don’t seek their own fame or glory. God’s messengers give God the glory. God’s messengers have their focus fixed on living for eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to pay attention to what He is doing in the world today. When God sends us messengers, pay attention and let the presence of a messenger prompt us to return to God. Even if false messengers come, take the opportunity to open your Bible and rediscover what God teaches us in and through His Word.

This is why I always also challenge you to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Only by praying and studying the Bible for yourself will you discover what the Bible really teaches. When eternity is at stake, the most dangerous thing you can do is assume truth based on what someone else has said or done. Don’t let anyone else filter the Bible for you. Study the Bible in prayer personally and discover what God wants to teach you about Himself in your life today!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!