Blind Man Healed

Mark 8:22-26 Blind Man Healed

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


I. The methodology for healing varies

    A. Jesus took the man outside the city.

      1. Note the tenderness - "took him by the hand"

      2. But why outside the town?

      a. To avoid a spectacle, getting undue attention. Jesus was not trying to bring attention to Himself Asked him not to go back

      b. Perhaps to be more personal, provide some privacy

    B. They asked Him to "touch", He "spit" and "touched"

II. Prayer requires persistence

    A. Jesus looked for results - questioned the man about his ability to see.

    B. Wholeness doesn't always happen immediately - and remember, this was Jesus, and the work wasn't done all at once!

III. Friends bring friends to Jesus, and intercede on their behalf.

    A. They "bring' their friend - of course they have the advantage of his being dependent on them due to his blindness. Most people we might be concerned about are reluctant to "come", partly due the fact that they don't admit to their blindness.

    B. How does that happen now? How do we bring friends to Jesus?

      1. Prayer

      a. Prayer for people - notice they "begged". There's something intense about their request, they were passionate, they cared. (They hadn't heard that all one had to do was "claim it"!)

      b. Telling them they are being prayed for

      c. Prayer with people - actually praying for them in their presence.

      2. Bringing people to church

      a. In a major study of the Un-churched. (The Glenmary Research Center, Washington, D.C. "61% do not attend religious worship in a typical week.")

      b. The North Central region is second only to the West in it's percentage of unchurched. And within this region, Michigan is second to Indiana in it's proportion of unchurched.

      c. Why many people don't come to church:

        (1) "I don't have to go to church to be a Christian" - 8 of 10 unchurched feel that a person can be a good Christian without going to church. In spite of this, however, 75% of unchurched say they want their children to receive religious training. Just another evidence of what one author called the "Me Generation".

        (2) "I disagree with what's going on there" Often the "hypocrisy" claim.

        (3) The burned out.

        (4) The drop-outs, apathetic.

        (5) The Happy Hedonists.

        (6) Those who feel they're not wanted.

        (7) The Nomads and Seekers.

        (8) But the bottom line is, there are many who do not think when coming to church they will meet Jesus. And the reality is, for many, the church has not addressed their spiritual needs. Every church, even our church constantly is in danger of merely providing an answer to a social need, rather than the spiritual one. (Evesdrop on hallway conversations - how many include talk about the Lord? "Let's talk about Jesus" sign on my dorm room door.)

      d. However, we need to make a more positive assumption connected with inviting people to church.

      A few years ago the Princeton Religion Research Center conducted an extensive study of the "unchurched"

        (1) When church attenders were asked why they went ot church, their answer was, "I was invited to this church by a member."

        (2) Over 50% of the unchurched said they "would be open to an invitation from the church community."

        (3) "One of the key reasons given by those who joined a church is that someone invited them to do so."

        (4) "What is the reason you do not attend church?" "I've never been invited!"

      Let's get busy inviting people to church, to meet Jesus! If the "Body of Christ" means anything at all, it means that gathered together, we represent Christ, we are His Body.

Conclusion: Focus on the words "he saw everything clearly"

    A. Jesus was not willing to leave this man with the condition of "seeing men looking like trees walking"

    B. Perhaps we have submitted to a relativistic mind-set, we're content with accepting what we see as the real things.

      "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

      "What's good for me is good for me"

      "Objective reality is no longer obtainable"

      "Truth is whatever you believe it to be."

      AA, for all the good they've done, have compromised here - "Believe in the 'Higher Power' whatever that might be for you."

      These statements are true only because we are partially blind.

      Like blind men describing an elephant.

      "Perception is reality", we say, but truly, men are not "walking trees".

      "My ways higher than yours; My thoughts higher than yours", and He wants our thoughts to be elevated.

    C. For this blind man, before Christ, there is blindness; then partial sight, then ability to see clearly.

    D. Granted, this is a universal human condition of blindness - some don't see at all, the rest of us see imperfectly. Even after we have been brought to Christ, we may still see imperfectly. "We see through a glass darkly"

    E. Jesus wants us to see well. He doesn't want us to go through life confused, bewildered, "in the dark".

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