Sermon Cloud

 

 

For about six years….

• …I used to live just a few miles from Hoosier Pass in Colorado

 

 

Hoosier Pass is located just south of Breckenridge….

• …and it is a high mountain pass  11,541’ above sea level

 

 

 

I used to dread having to drive over this pass

• Especially in the winter….

 

 

 

For one thing, it took quite a while to wind your way up and over this high pass

• ….but particularly in the winter-time….
  • …it could be quite dangerous driving

 

 

But once you reached the top…..the view made the long, dangerous drive worth it

 

 

 

 

You see….this pass of 11,500’ boasted breath-taking views of the;

• ….Mosquito Mountain Range….south Platte River
• ….Mount Lincoln....Mt Bross, Quandry Peak….several of Colorado’s 14k’ mountain peaks….

 

 

But Hoosier Pass was also interesting

• …because (as you might expect)….it is located on the western Continental Divide

 

 

 

Standing on the center of the pass

• One can look to the west
  • And know that all water that falls on that side flows into the Pacific Ocean
  • And to the east
    • All water on that side flows into the Atlantic Ocean

 

 

 

It is the dividing line of the Continent

 

 

It separates the Atlantic Watershed from the Pacific Watershed

• …it divides two great sides of an enormous Continent into distinct sections….

 

 

[…]

 

 

In a very real way; we are on the Continental Divide of Mark’s gospel today

 

 

 

We officially pass the halfway point of Mark’s gospel today

 

But beyond that….Mark’s gospel will take a very noticeable turn today;

• Everything in the first half of Mark’s gospel seemed to be focused on the crowds
  • From this point on…the focus will be more on the disciples than the crowds

 

 

 

The first half deals with a range of subjects;

• The second half will focus sharply on the identity of Jesus…and the implications that that holds for His disciples

 

 

 

The first half is filled with miracles performed by Jesus

• As we cross the halfway point today….we will notice the frequency of the miracles will take a sharp decline

 

 

 

In the first half;

• …Jesus seems to be sporadically going here and there

 

 

 

 

In the second half

• ….Jesus will seem to be on a mission to get to Jerusalem
  • …everything starts to become about getting to Jerusalem

 

 

 

In the first half…the believers in Christ were primarily the outsiders

• …remember chapter three….Jesus rebuffs His earthly family to teach that He has a new family….

 

 

In the second half; the focus will be increasingly on His inner circle….

 

 

 

And….In the first half;

• Jesus was recognized to be the Christ by three sources;
  • Mark, the narrator
  • God, at His baptism
  • And the demons

 

Those are the only ones to profess Jesus as the Christ;

• As of yet….no human has professed Jesus to be the Christ

 

 

 

The first half ends with Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ

• …and all of that builds up to the ending of the second half
  • In which the  Centurian professes of Christ at the end of the book

 

Those are just some of the very noticeable changes that will take place in Mark’s gospel today…as we cross the Continental Divide

 

 

 

We will cross this divide in Mark’s gospel with the story of a miracle….a healing

• ….but as we will see….this is the most unique account of a healing in all of the gospels…

 

 

Mark 8.22-33

 

 

 

So Jesus…who has lately been accumulating quite a bit of frequent sailing miles

• …He is once again making a journey by water….

 

 

Our passage from last week has Jesus, once again, in the boat with the disciples

• …on the Sea of Galilee

 

 

 

This is the fifth journey that Jesus has made by boat in just two chapters

 

 

 

But then….this journey is complete….they get out of the boat;

 

v 22

And they came to Bethsaida

 

 

 

 

Now, we are familiar with Bethsaida

• …Jesus has been here before….

 

 

Chapter 6….Jesus feeds the five thousand….(the first feeding)

• …He does that in the region of Bethsaida….

 

…so we know this to be a primarily Jewish area

 

 

Now….once again, a familiar scene happens in Mark’s gospel;

• …the crowd brings to Jesus a man who needs to be healed….

 

 

 

v 22

And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.

 

 

 

A blind man is brought to Jesus

• …and the crowd seems desperate for Jesus to heal him….
  • …Mark says; begged

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

Now Jesus does something unusual

 

 

 

v 23

And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village

 

 

….now…we’re never told exactly why it is that Jesus leads the man out of the village

• …but, we can speculate….

 

 

 

Perhaps, this had something to do with the faith of the crowd

• ….remember, Jesus does not perform miracles in a circus-like manner…

 

 

Jesus refuses to perform miracles for those who do not believe

• …so perhaps, this crowd is not a believing crowd
  • …and maybe Jesus wants to heal this man away from that

 

 

Perhaps Jesus just wanted the man to be alone, in private with Jesus

 

 

 

Or perhaps, there was another reason

 

 

 

Perhaps this was because this miracle is really for the disciples…

 

 

 

[…]

 

Now….in a real way….all of these miracles are done for the benefit of the disciples

• …so they can learn of Jesus….and have their faith strengthened….

But maybe this miracle is different in a fundamental way….

• …I will try to show that that is exactly the case…

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

v 23

and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him

 

 

 

 

Again….that’s rather unusual…

 

 

 

Jesus spits in the man’s eyes….

 

 

 

Now…We have a danger here in our passage for today

• ….it is a danger that we have faced recently

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus heals a man in a rather peculiar way

 

 

The man is blind….and Jesus is going to restore his sight by spitting in his eyes

• ….and I can tell you what everyone in the room is waiting to hear from me
  • You’re waiting for me to tell you why it was that Jesus spits in his eyes in order to heal him

 

 

 

We cannot help but to be drawn to that detail of the story

• It’s so unusual….it’s so strange….it’s so out of character for Jesus
  • You’re just waiting to hear the reason why He does this….

 

 

 

 

Well….I don’t know why…

 

 

 

Furthermore….I don’t know of anyone who claims to know why

 

 

 

What I do know is this;

• That’s not what the story is about….

 

 

 

We’re not going to learn anything by trying to figure out why Jesus spits on the guy

• …and so we won’t spend any more time there

 

 

Jesus did a similar thing just a few weeks ago as He healed the deaf man

• …but as we saw there….that was certainly not crucial to understanding the passage

 

 

 

And so, that is our goal….to understand what God is teaching us in Mark 8

• …and that meaning is not wrapped up in Jesus’ saliva….

 

 

 

 

Instead…..there is much more to be learned through the other irregularities found in this healing

 

 

 

v 23

he asked him, "Do you see anything?"

 

 

 

Jesus spits in His eyes, lays His hands on him….

• …and then asks him if he can see anything…..

 

 

 

 

This is not normal at all

• The only thing that Jesus ever speaks in His miracles are [what?]…commands

 

Rise and walk

 

Take up your bed and go home

 

Peace, be still

 

And so on…..

 

 

This is the only time Jesus ever asks a question of the one He heals…..

 

 

Can you now see anything?

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Now, right now…..I want us to begin to draw some parallels

• …because what has Mark’s gospel been teaching us about for the past several weeks?.....

 

 

 

 

It has been teaching us about receiving and understanding the Word of God through faith

 

 

The end of chapter 7

• ….Jesus heals a deaf man

 

He opens his ears and loosens his tongue

• …so that he may hear and receive the gospel
  • …and respond in faith

 

 

 

Then Jesus feeds the 4k

• …then….these Pharisees come to Jesus
  • And with hearts completely devoid of faith
    • …they demand a visible sign from Jesus
      • (which he refuses to give)

 

 

 

And then….Last week….that whole passage is about the disciples’ inability to understand the teachings of Christ…

 

 

 

Clearly…Mark has set the context of this passage to be about this same subject

• …..understanding and receiving the revelations of Christ….

 

 

 

And so now….for the only time in all of the gospels

• …Jesus asks a question of someone He has healed…

 

 

 

Can you now see?

 

 

Somebody tell me

• …what is Mark drawing our attention to?

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

The passage immediately before this one

• …where Jesus asked the disciples 5 questions in a row

 

 

Do you not yet understand?

 

Are your hearts hardened?

 

Do you not remember?

 

Having ears to hear, do you not hear

     

…and having eyes to see….do you not_see?

 

 

 

 

…and now…immediately after that

• ..we find the only occurance in all of the Bible in which Jesus asked someone if His healing miracle worked on them

 

Can you now see?

 

 

The connection is unmistakable…

 

 

 

The emphasis that is placed in this passage on seeing is quite incredible

• In three verses; 23-25
  • ….Mark uses eight different words for seeing

 

 

It doesn’t come through the English very well

• …but to read this passage in Greek gives one an unmistakable focus on seeing

 

 

 

 

 

And so……Mark is purposely connecting this miracle to the previous story

• He’s placing the focus on that which the disciples cannot do….see
• And he’s doing it by placing side by side two series of questions by Christ placed to His disciples
  • Can you not see….can you not hear….do you not remember…do you not understand?
  • …..Who do men say I am…..who do you say I am?

 

 

[…]

 

 

Now….this is where it gets good

 

 

v 24

And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking

 

 

 

Apparently, this man was not born blind

• …because he knows what trees look like

 

 

 

But he cannot see clearly yet….

 

 

He sees….but not clearly

 

 

 

So now we find our second irregularity with this miracle

• …this is the only miracle that Jesus ever performed in stages

 

 

v 25

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

 

 

 

So Jesus does the spit thing one time….it works but not completely

• …then He does it again….and now it works completely

 

 

How are we to make sense of that?

 

 

 

Did Jesus just not have enough miracle juice flowing through the hands the first time?

 

Did Jesus not get enough spit on his eyes?

 

Was Jesus just not concentrating enough…maybe He got distracted or something?

 

 

 

Of course….the answer to those silly questions is ‘no’

• …so how are we to understand this?

 

 

 

 

Remember the context here;

• …Mark is speaking in terms of receiving and understanding (based on faith) the teachings of Christ

 

 

 

With that in mind…I think that it is impossible to make sense of this passage without connecting it to the next….

 

 

For the rest of our text…Just ignore the sub-headings in your Bibles that probably say something like;

• Peter confesses the Christ (before verse 27)
• …and Jesus foretells His death (before verse 31)
  • …we are going to treat this (as it is supposed to be)….as one connected story

 

 

 

 

v 26

And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

 

 

 

 

Now Caesarea Philippi….(not to be confused with the Mediterranean Caesarea)

• …this was located 25 miles north of Bethsaida

 

 

 

IOW; a full day’s walk north from this village of Bethsaida

• ….now, they are no longer in Jewish territory
  • ….but once again….they are in pagan Gentile territory

 

 

v 27

And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

 

 

 

 

Now…..we will be dealing with this same passage more next week

• …because we cannot cover everything in one message….

 

So now….think through this with me….

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Jesus has had this rag-tag group of disciples following Him all this time

• ….and they have never really understood His ministry

 

 

 

 

Back in chapter 1; they think that Jesus’ purpose in life is simply to heal people

 

In chapter 4; they cannot understand the parables and Jesus must explain them to them

 

In chapter 4 again; the disciples are terrified for their life…..and Jesus calms this storm

• ….and they wonder…..what kind of man is this?

 

 

In chapter 6 and chapter 7

• ….twice Jesus feeds the crowds
  • …and both times….the disciples never even thought that Jesus could do this

 

 

 

And then, last week;

• Jesus gives His disciples a teaching that goes completely over their heads

 

 

He’s talking about spiritual matters

• …they think He’s hungry….

 

 

He’s talking about the sin of unbelief

• ….they think He’s talking about buying bread

 

They_just_don’t_get_it

 

 

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

…..And now, Jesus restores this man’s sight

• ….but He does it in stages….

 

 

 

…and immediately after that…we read this story of Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ

 

 

 

Now….we’re going to talk about the actual confession of Peter next week

• …but what do we see immediately with Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ?

 

 

It is incomplete…..

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

For the first time…..someone gets it partly right…

 

 

 

Until now, the only confessions that Jesus is the Christ have come from three sources;

1. 1.     Mark as the narrator
2. 2.     God at Jesus’ baptism
3. 3.     And the demons as Jesus was about to cast them out

 

And so, this is the very first time that a person has testified of Jesus’ identity

 

 

 

But look at Peter’s understanding of the Christ…

 

 

 

v 29

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

 

 

 

Peter confesses that this Man is the Christ…

• …the Annointed One
• …the One to come
• …the Redeemer
• ….the One what was promised in the Scriptures

 

 

 

But his understanding of who the Christ is to be……..is not accurate

 

 

 

Notice that immediately

• …Jesus began to teach them that He must suffer many things

 

 

Jesus has not said this before….this is new teaching territory

 

 

 

And now….despite all of the parables that Jesus has told

• ….and all of the misunderstanding that the disciples have had
  • …look now at verse 32

 

v 32

And he said this plainly

 

 

 

 

We’ve not seen that before….

 

 

Jesus has been One to teach in riddles and parables

• …and He has expected His disciples to understand what He is teaching through miracles…
  • …but now….Jesus speaks this plainly to them

 

 

[…]

 

 

 What is all of this saying?

 

 

Peter is the spokesperson for the disciples….

• …we give Peter a lot of credit here for being the one to confess this
  • …but all he was doing was speaking what the disciples were thinking

 

 

 

….and what are the disciples thinking?

 

 

 

They have an understanding of the Christ

• ….but that understanding is only partially correct
  • …just like the blind man was partially healed

 

 

…do you see what Jesus was doing with the blind man?

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Jesus had no lack of power to heal this man….

• ...this is the Man that spoke to the wind and the waves
• …this is the Man that casts out demons with a Word….and cleansed lepers with a touch
  • …this is the Man that has raised the dead to life

 

….there is no shortage of power

 

But instead….Jesus is using this miracle to teach His disciples how they will see Him….

• …their understanding of Christ will come first as trees walking
  • ….and then it will become clear

 

 

 

Peter expresses the trees walking…

• …that is; the Christ who is triumphant
  • …the Christ who is victorious
    • ….not the Christ who suffers

 

 

 

Mark wants the reader to connect these three episodes together as one teaching;

 

 

Mark wants you to connect the questions that Jesus asked in the boat to the questions that Jesus asks in Caesarea Philippi

 

Do you not understand?

Do you not have eyes and ears…do you not remember?

 

Who do men say I am?

Who do you say I am?

 

 

….and then, between those two sets of questions

• Jesus gives a man the gift of sight
  • ..but He does it in two steps

Between the we don’t understand at all’s of vv 14-21

• And the we understand You’re the Christ, but we just don’t understand what a Christ is supposed to be of vv 27-33

 

 

 

Between those two episodes

• …a man is given sight in two stages….

 

 

 

 

In the same way; the disciples are being given understanding of the Christ in stages

 

 

 

They have gone from thinking that He was simply a circus of miracles

• …to an understanding that He is the Christ

 

 

They just now have to understand what it means to be the Christ

• …and that’s why Mark’s gospel will focus the last 8 chapters on these disciples….

 

[…]

 

 

The disciples have come to this understanding of Christ gradually…in stages

• …and their understanding of Christ will be completed the same way

 

In the same way; we also come to a mature faith in Christ

• …a faith that understands Him to be the Savior that He is
  • ….we also come to that understanding gradually….in steps

 

 

 

When we first come to Christ

• …we come to Christ as The One who will save our eternal souls from damnation

 

 

 

But as we grow in Him;

• …as we experience Christ…..
  • ….that moves into a pure enjoyment of His presence
  • ….a delight in all things Christ
  • …a deep desire to be like Him

sound like Him

speak like Him

act like Him

 

 

 

That doesn’t happen immediately…..

 

 

 

But just as the blind man begins to see

• …and as he remains in contact with Jesus…
  • ….his sight gets clearer

 

 

And just as the disciples will also abide with Jesus

• ….and also have their understanding of the Christ mature and grow

 

 

 

So also…..must our understanding of the Christ grow as we abide in Him

 

 

You see….we come to Jesus as spiritual babies

 

Sucking our thumbs

• …and selfishly crying about everything that we don’t like

 

 

 

Have you ever noticed how selfish a baby is?

 

 

 

That’s how we are when we come to Christ

• …we’re babies….we’re infants….

 

 

 

But we feed of the milk of the Word

• …and we grow in stature and understanding

 

 

 

…and we mature in our understanding of Christ

 

He is become for us….no longer the Source of blessing

• ….no longer the fire insurance that we’re really glad we have when we die

 

 

 

But He becomes our life

 

 

 

We see Him as He really is

• …as everything that is worth living for….
  • ….as that which we cannot live without
    • ….and as the only thing worthy of our devotion…

 

 

 

 

Listen to the way Paul puts this;

 

1 Corinthians 13:10-12

…but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

 

 

 

…and the beautiful thing is that that is guaranteed to happen

• ….as long as we do as this blind man
  • …and do as these disciples

 

…and abide with Christ….

 

The sad truth is this;

 

…there are many here this morning that are still seeing men as trees walking

 

 

….there are many here this morning that are still drinking the spiritual milk that you were drinking decades ago

 

 

 

But the miracle is that there are many;

• Who once saw men as trees walking
• And once drank spiritual mile
• And once sucked their thumb and cried and dirtied their diapers

 

 

And the miracle is…..they now see the Christ more clearly

 

The miracle is that Colossians 1.10 is a description of your life

 

 

Colossians 1:10

…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

 

 

That may describe you…..

• ..and if it does…..then that is the Spirit of Christ testifying to your spirit that you are His

 

[…]

 

 

There are others that want those words to describe you this morning;

 

Do you want to see the Christ clearly?

 

 

Abide in Him

 

Remain in Him

 

As James says; Draw near unto God and He will draw near unto you….

 

[…]

 

 

Take comfort in the fact;

The sight of the blind man was all Jesus

 

 

All the blind man did was go with Jesus…and do what He told him….

• …the miracle belonged to Christ….