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Mark 8:22-26 You Can Be Healed
1. Trust the ones who know
• The beginning of this story is that some people came and brought this blind man to Jesus because they knew that Jesus was the one that could heal him
• 22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
• At this point in the story- the blind man hasn’t really spoken hes just going along with these people that are pulling him towards Jesus- there’s two great components to this story
• One- The people must have cared about this man enough to bring him to Jesus
• This is New Testament living! Philippians 2:4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. THIS IS WHAT MOST CHRISTIANS ARE DOING IN YOUR LIFE
• They knew where the healing was and they wanted to bring him to Jesus!
• Two- the guy must have trusted these people enough to know that they knew more than he did about his healing
• A blind man cant see- he must trust other people to take him to where they know he must go
• Sure, you got canes and such today to help you- the spiritual aspect of this cant be overstated
• The man was blind and had to trust other people to bring him to where he needed to go because he couldn’t see how to get his healing!
What does it mean to you?
• First- do you care enough about people to bring them to where they can get healed?
• Two- if you are blind, are you willing to allow other people to lead you to the one that can heal?
• Matthew 15:14b And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
• Too many people are spiritually blind, but they are spiritually resistant to the ones who are trying to help them get some sight!
• The blind leading the blind will lead someone into a ditch.
• Why are the spiritually blind so resistant?
• IF you are around people that can see, and want to help you see, why would you be resistant to it? LET THOSE WHO SEE LEAD YOU TO WHERE YOU CAN SEE
• It’s the equivalent of you going to a eye doctor who wants to give you glasses and you refuse to wear them because you don’t believe that what he says is true.
2. You have to let Jesus take you by the hand
• 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village
• Jesus is leading this man at this point- he is doing something in his life and it is dependent on this guy going where Jesus is leading him
• What if this guy was like, “Get off me Jesus, I’ve been blind my whole life I can lead myself”
• Ps 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
• Jesus is savior! Of course he is going to lead this guy to a good place-
• Heres whats interesting about Bethsaida- Jesus cursed this town in Matt 11. It was a city that lacked faith and was unrepentant
• Jesus knew this! He was about to do a mighty work in this mans life, and he couldn’t do it in that city- When he was healed, he didn’t want him to gain sight in a faithless unrepentant city- he wanted him to be healed and delievered into faithfulness and repentance
• Jesus knew that the environment that you are in affects your healing in such a way that often times he has to remove you from a place before you can be healed
• What does it mean to you?
• Trust where Jesus is leading you! Don’t be resistant to it! Embrace it! He isn’t leading you to death, he’s leading you to LIFE
• The promise of the new life is that when you start to live for Jesus- the HS lives inside of you and will LEAD YOU to where you are supposed to go- TRUST HIM AND FOLLOW HIM
• Isaiah 30:21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
• Some of you may struggle with hearing from God or following God’s lead
• The easiest way- Read the Bible and follow its lead- The word of God is Jesus speaking to you-
• Second- Follow the lead of other people who are in Christ that are living correctly
• Do not take financial advice from a broke person, don’t take fitness advice from a sick person and don’t take spiritual advice from a reprobate who doesn’t know the word of God.
• Have you ever been in a situation that you are trying to show someone how to do something, and you’re the subject matter expert and they are reluctant to how you are showing them?
• In your heart you’re like “Just do it like I’m telling you and you’ll be successful”
• Cause here’s the other part of it.
3. You have to let Jesus work how he works
• 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him
• Takes him by the hand, leads him, and then SPITS on him-Biblical healing at its best! The ol’ Holy Ghost loogie!
• But there is more to this- Blindness was seen as sin during this time, and saliva was seen as having healing properties and in this moment Jesus uses his bodily fluids to illustrate a further meaning that they will see in the future when his other fluid- his BLOOD will cleanse their SIN
• Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
• This guy wasn’t fighting the process because he must of known that God was going to happen
• What does it mean to you?
• Quit fighting the process that God is using to bring you to where you need to be!
• So many people suffer spiritual blindness and calamity in their life because they are always fighting God on the process- they don’t want to do what he is asking them to do in the way that he is asking them to do it
• Psalm 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
• Think about how much coercion it takes to get a child of God to follow the scriptures!
• Its pretty sad if you really think about it. We should know better! We’re supposed to be the redeemed! We’re supposed to know better!
• People who don’t know don’t know, but we should know better! TRUST GOD IN THE PROCESS
• God has allowed me to walk through some darkness so I could appreciate the light!
• The Way of Jesus is Perfect! If he’s doing what hes doing let him do it!
4. Be honest with Jesus
• Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” 24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
• In this moment, Jesus has just spit on his eyes to heal him and Jesus asks him if he sees anything
• Of course Jesus knows what this guy can see- hes testing him to see if he’ll be honest and HE IS
• At this moment- this guy could have said many things- ‘I see better than I did” or “ I see for the first time” but no- he’s honest- “I can see but it is blurry” he doesn’t pretend it isn’t what it is
• He tells Jesus- I got to be honest- I’m not where I need to be.
• I can see, but its blurry. The people look like trees
• How awesome that this guy is honest about where he is at an what he needs
• Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.
• Here’s the reality- if he hadn’t been honest with Jesus he may not have received his healing-
• Understand- this isn’t to say that Jesus doesn’t fully heal people- its not that at all- he heals this guy this way right after he said to the disciples- 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
• These disciples- are somewhat where they need to be but not where they should be and he uses this guy as an example (he’ll be fully healed in a minute)
• What does it mean to you?
• BE HONEST ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE- why do people refuse to admit that they are where they are and that they are who they are?
• This is true repentance- being willing to be honest about your spiritual and physical condition
• This guy wasn’t fully healed- he was seeing fuzzy and needed more from Jesus
• If you need more from Jesus be honest with him about it!
• My kids don’t lie to me- they never have. I’m sure they omit some of the full facts, but they’ve always been honest with us-
• When Gabe was younger- like 3 or 4 he lied to Crystal about something- she said him down and showed him what the word of God says about liars
• Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Shared that scripture and now he’s honest!
• Be honest with Jesus- He already knows the answer- but he’s trying to work something in you!
• Because here’s the deal-
5. You have to Embrace progressive healing
• This is a special scripture in the Bible in that its one if not the only occurrence where Jesus progressively heals someone and doesn’t do it instantly
• I don’t believe in progressive revelation- but I have seen in it my own life and others, often times, the process of healing can take many steps- its not always instantaneous!
• Why didn’t Jesus immediately heal him as many others in Mark?
• It wasn’t that Jesus wasn’t powerful enough or this mans blindness was too much for him
• This describes so much of all of our spiritual conditions- none of us see 100% clearly
• 1 cor 13: 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
• This is the truth of our own condition- we are progressively growing we are all beign progressively healed- if you were honest- many of you have had this experience
• What does it mean to you?
• First- Jesus doesn’t treat us all the same way- and praise God he doesn’t
• The doctrine of fairness isn’t found in the Bible. He equally forgives us all, but even then its not the same- Some people have a lot more sin they need to be forgiven of!
• Its impossible to establish fairness in the eyes of God- Let him deal with the individual!
• Two- He treats us according to our needs- this guy needed a healing, so Jesus takes him outside the city to spend some private time with him- its what he needed
• Can we move past arguing with why God is dealing with someone a different way than us?
• There was more than likely a guy with a bum leg somewhere around there wondering why this guy got sight and he didn’t Cant you just be excited for the people that ARE getting healed?
• Three- We don’t all get better the same- Isn’t it interesting that this guy had a two step process to his healing while others were instantaneous?
• It says that we all progress differently. Some get healed, some don’t. Some grow fast and others grow slow
• Don’t put more pressure on yourself or others based on your own unbiblical expectation
• Four- We are all partly blind- don’t beat yourself up about your cloudiness
• Sometimes, people do look like trees to me. I cant see stuff clearly!
We’re on the other side of heaven! We are operating on a limited scope here.
6. Don’t go back
• Notice that the first thing Jesus did was grab the man by his hand and took him out of the town. That town was Bethsaida; a town rebuked with “Woe” by Jesus himself in (not reading this scrip) Matthew 11:21 (A town of lack of faith and unrepenting).
• All throughout Jesus’s healings he usually tells people that THEIR FAITH made them well.
• In (Not reading this scrip) Matthew 17:19-20, Jesus tells his own apostles they couldn’t heal a particular person because of THE APOSTLE’S OWN LACK OF FAITH.
• In (not reading this scrip) Matthew 13:58, it clearly says that Jesus did not do many powerful works in his own home territory because of their lack of FAITH.
• With that said; the HOLY SPIRIT is revealing to them that the man is healed from the UNBELIEF OF THE TOWN & HIS OWN UNBELIEF.
• Notice that Jesus ended with this man the same as he begun – He told the man DO NOT GO BACK TO THE TOWN!!!
• Don’t go back to unbelief- Don’t go back to believing that Jesus doesn’t heal and save!