Services | A Blind Man Sees

Bulletin

Hymn # 226 “Follow On”

SCRIPTURE READING – Matthew 10:37 - 39

Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate

Praise and Worship
“How Great Is Your Love”
“Echo Holy”
“Great I Am”

Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“A Blind Man Sees”

PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection

“What An Awesome God”

Sermon Notes
Mark 8:22 At Bethsaida people bring a blind man to Jesus to heal
Mark 8:23 Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and puts His hands on them and asks if he could see
Mark 8:24 The man answers I can see men moving as trees
Mark 8:25 Jesus again puts His hands on the man’s eyes and he sees clearly
Mark 8:26 Jesus sends the man home, but didn’t want him to go to the village
Isaiah 35:3 - 10

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Scritpures

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Transcript of Service

Jesus. Is going to come into contact with a man who cannot see. He's going to heal them a little differently than he does other people. But it also shows us. Through what has happened before and what will happen after. Sometimes being blinded in your sight. Is easier to heal. In being blinded spiritually. Let's take a look at the remedies for both the site. And the spiritual blindness.

The title of the day sermon is the blind man sees. I'm gonna start with a question. How good your memory? We're going to test it. During the message. So. If you have your Bibles and you should, I want you to turn to the Gospel of Mark, starting with Chapter 8, we're going to start in verse 22. And so we're going to see Jesus continuing on in his ministry and says and they came to beseda and they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored him to touch him. Up and through this point. Every time there's been a person who is. Been blind or has been deaf, or has had difficulty speaking. People have brought that person to Jesus for healing. In a few chapters we will see that a blind man on his own initiative. Comes to Jesus and ask for heal healing and Jesus will perform that healing differently than he has done. So in these other times, even up until today's healing that we're going to talk about and so. These group of people bring this blind man to Jesus, asking for him to touch him obviously, which means to heal him. And taking the blind man by the hand he brought him. Out of the village. So what we?

See here and again the same thing that happens in. The other healings when the man was deaf and had difficulty speaking, Jesus removes him from the crowd and brings him by himself with Jesus and his disciples so that his disciples might see what takes place, but he doesn't want to see the multitude. See the healing for a number of reasons. And so he brings this man out. And I'm sure part of it has to do with so that he can have one-on-one with this person who can't see, and also because he wants this separation from the crowd and him. And so after and after spitting on his eyes. And laying his hands on him, he asked him. Do you see any? But I find it interesting when people have brought Jesus. Healings of people who are blind or deaf that Jesus takes some physical action. And other types of healings when it comes to whether it's forgiveness of sins or a person who's lame, or a person who has hemorrhage, gene, or even a person who has died, Jesus will often just speak. But in this case, Jesus. Spits on the man's eyes. And then places his hands on him. There is this personal identification with this healing. Now this healing is a miracle because the man is blind. Up until fairly recently, even if at all now, we cannot take nerves and heal them. It may take some kind of computer messaging or whatever and surgery, but once an optic nerve or other types of nerves are damaged, we have a limited ability of healing that person.

Now I'm pretty sure as science and as people progress and we learn more and more, there may be some type of. Ability to correct nerve damage. But Jesus doesn't perform surgery. Jesus doesn't. Get to the optic nerves or the whatever nerves that are the problem, he spits on the man's eyes and places his hands on him and then asks him a question. Can you see? Anything. Up in this point, usually when Jesus heals, he just heals. When you tell someone. Rise up and walk. They rise up and walk. When somebody is hemorrhaging, they are hemorrhaging stops. When somebody has died and Jesus raises them from the dead, there isn't this waiting for this resuscitation that they immediately come back to life. There is an immediate response to the healing or the resurrection, but in this case Jesus asked. Do you see anything? And so the man's going to answer. They looked up and said I see men, for I see them like trees walking around. Now, if you read the commentaries and whatever a lot of people will say, well, what happened was probably the man wasn't born blind. And so he's seeing Fuzzily, but he's saying, OK, well, the best way to is I remember what a tree looked like. So there's this. Mass and it's moving around. But I don't see clearly. It's all fuzzy. It's all dark. Then again, he laid his hands on his eyes. And he looked intently and was restored and began to see everything clearly. Jesus heals, but the second time again he places his hands on the man, and now he sees clearly. Now the problem is most people start getting sidetracked with whether the man was born blind or became that way or whatever. I'm going to tell you what I think and obviously what I think is right. Otherwise I wouldn't bank it. If you recall, this is where your memory comes from. For the last several weeks, we've been taking a look at what Jesus has been doing and Jesus. Fed over 5000 men and other people with five loaves of bread and two fish. And while walking on the water, his disciples became afraid and he said guys. Are you hard hearted? Don't you understand? Then after. Healing the man who had difficulty, who was deaf, he put his. Fingers in his ears and he spit on his tongue. The man was restored. Jesus then talks about the. The Lebanon of the Pharisees and as they're travelling on a boat again, the disciples, because they only have one left of bread. We're all concerned that, oops, we don't have enough bread, even though Jesus just fed 4000 with 7 loaves and a couple of fish. And so again and she says. Do you have eyes and not see? Do you have ears that understand? And generally it's because of their hard heartedness.

What I think Jesus is doing it is Jesus could have healed this man on the first try. Because that's who he is, and that's the power he has. But I think he's teaching us something. And that is when it comes to spiritual blindness. Sometimes it takes more than one application to start seeing clearly. The. One of the favorite hymns is. Amazing Grace and it says Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me. I was once I was lost. Now found was blind, but now I see now this problem is that usually when we come to faith, we don't see entirely clearly. We have some full idea of who God is. We have some idea of how Jesus loves us, but we don't have a clear understanding of exactly who he is and what he's called us to be and who he's called us to do. It takes a little bit, so we initially see, but we see not clearly. And then as we walk with him and as his life permeates in our life and our heart is softened and no longer hard, we start to see more and more and more clearly. Now we all don't seek clearly. Now even the most spiritual one among us doesn't seek clearly.

The scriptures does say that someday we will see clearly. We will seek. Clearly and be known as we are known. But there is a process and I think Jesus is saying guys. Your disciples. You've seen my miracles. You're seeing what I've been doing and your your heart has been hardened. You're kind of like this guy who I've had to place my hands twice so that he might see clearly. And I want you to see spiritually clearly. So you don't walk away from me in order to seek, clearly you must follow me and learn from me and identify with me. And again, that's what we need to do is we don't see Jesus clearly at first sight. We see him better and better and better as we walk with them as we learn from him and as we see how he operates in our life. And so when we sing that song. I was once blind, but now I see. Maybe we should add. And may I see greater and better and better and better and more and more clearly, so that I know exactly who you are. Because let's face it. Think back when you first became a believer, you struggled. Well, I know Jesus forgives sins. But you know my sins are kind of bad. And then you learn well grace. Yeah, but I'm kind of, you know, I'm, I'm a pretty bad guy. What about all these other people who were maybe worse than me? And then you learn that grace is that no one ever deserved it. So we learn more and more and to see more and more clearly. And so Jesus.

Does this and so for those of you who don't see. Jesus can lay his hands on you. And you can start to see. For those of you who have started walking with him and don't quite understand where he is and what he's doing, he will make it more and more clear as you allow him to place his hands on you and to heal you. And he being Jesus, sent him to his home, saying do not even enter the village. He had removed him from the village. Perform this miracle so that the man might be able. To see. So that the disciples could see. What? Jesus wanted them to see. He healed this man's lack of sight, but he's also healing. The disciples lacks the sight, and we're going to see that in our next message that the disciples start to dawn on them exactly asked me who Jesus is. They don't see clearly because they think he's. Going to form a certain way and he's going to have to tell them no. I'm not that kind of Messiah. But he doesn't want this man to go back to the he wants him to go home because he doesn't want the notoriety in this area. He wants to teach his disciples not to become famous and a healer in this society. But why does he do this? Why does he? Heal the death. And those who are mute and have difficulty speaking and those. Who? Can't see at all. Isaiah Chapter 35 says this. Encourage the exhausted and strengthened the feeble. Say to those who are anxious, heart with anxious heart.

Take courage. Fear not. Behold your God will come with vengeance. He will recompense of God will come, but he will save you. God is going to pay those who do evil. That God is going to save you. And it says. Then the eyes of the blind will be open. And the ears of their death will be unstopped. He took his fingers out of the ears. He became unstop. Then the lane will leave like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy, for waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the arable. The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground spring of water. In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, brass will become reeds and rushes, which means grass will grow so high that they'll be tall. A highway will be there a roadway and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor any vicious peace will go upon it. These will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk there. That's what the Messiah is doing. We're saying the Messiah. This is what God is going to do and accomplish. And the Messiah is the one who's going to usher this in. And so all of a sudden now Jesus says I'm healing the blind because I'm the Messiah. I'm God. I'm healing the death because I'm the Messiah. I'm God. I'm healing the mute because I am this I. I am God. If you're anxious of heart, you can rest and have peace. My peace, because I am God. I am the Messiah and we the redeemed, not the Holy Ones, not the awesome ones. Not the perfect ones. The ones that he came and redeemed, the ones.

That we now have our righteousness because of him. We will be able to walk there where the lion will lay down with the lamb. We will have No Fear. And the ransom the Lord will return. And come with joyful shouting to Zion with everlasting joy upon their heads. And they will find gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Here's. I am here. To restore peace and joy and love all of those. Things. Because if you follow me, you will see. You may not see them clearly. It may seem like trees walking as men. But as you follow the Messiah. All of these things will happen and we will as we sing, follow on, we will be able to walk in the past of the righteous, walk in the path of the redeemed. That's a message. For those who desire to follow him. All that our hearts might not be so hardened. That's why I constantly say when Jesus.

Through the father in the Old Testament says I'm going to create a new covenant. And I started writing it on stone tablets. I'm going to write it on your heart. And as I say, our hearts are harder than stone tablets. Yet God will etch it into our lives so that they may change us so that we may trust him, that we may have faith in him, that we may see. Who he is and that we might hear who he is. And then we might shout joyfully who he is. The great I am. The I am whose the resurrection and the life. The I am. Was the bread of life. The I am. Leads us. And provides for us and cares for us. If we would just. Soften our hearts. And C. And like I said, for those of us who don't see clearly. Maybe, just maybe, like this man. We have to be asked. Do you see? You say a little fuzzy. Not 2020. But when it comes to seeing God, I want to have better than 2020 vision. I want to have perfect vision. To see him for who he is, to worship him as he deserves to be worship.

And to follow him because he deserves it because he is who he is and. Will present joy and peace. And love. And holiness and righteousness. In this world today. You see a lot of evil. So much so that we don't quite understand it. I don't want to take their path. I want to take the path of the Messiah. And all God's people said.


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