The Look of Faith: Mark 8:22-26

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!