Mark 8:22-26 “They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 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, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" NIV
24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village." ‘
For every activity there is a right place, a right time and a right way, but can you tell what those are? This passage from Mark 8 is a complete paradox in the context of conventional thinking. Even the Lord’s own brothers had a philosophy the common wisdom of the day. John 7:3-4 “Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." This exchange reveals something very simple but very powerful. It was not Jesus who was seeking to become a public figure. It was the Father who was determined to make Him one.
What this passage demonstrates is that when your heart is free from self-centered agendas you can obey God and let Him worry about the consequences. Because Jesus’ primary motive was to please the Father, not to build His ministry, He was able to step outside of the realms of human reasoning and minister from a place of consecrated obedience. He embraced the concept that if it was the Father’s will for Him to become well known this would take care of itself provided He remained in a place of obedience. We never see Jesus striving for prominence. The prominence followed after Him and sought Him out everywhere He went. As a result we never see Jesus striving or becoming manipulative to reach the goal of being known.
In the case of Jesus the fruit of a life committed to obedience was a variety of choices that did not reflect logic but rather inspiration. Jesus’ own words were that He only did what He saw His Father doing, Jn. 5:19. In Mark Chapter 8 Jesus is visited by a crowd seeking a miracle of healing for a blind man. Jesus’ first decision is to remove Him from their midst so that the miracle is a personal exchange between He and the blind man. He doesn’t turn this opportunity into a show before the crowd. Instead He takes the man outside of the village. He knew the right place to reach His goal. Once He has found the right location for a more discreet encounter Jesus then does the unusual. Can you do the unusual if God asks you to? Jesus turns to the man and begins this time of ministry by spitting on Him! Now that is a sure way to win someone’s heart! If you are going to spit on somebody in a time of personal ministry, you had better be hearing God!
Jesus spits and then lays hands on the man. This is a great starting place for a conversation and it is interesting to note that Jesus steps into a different ministry model than most other occasions. Many of the Lord’s miracles flowed out of a powerful command where there was only the expectation of the person’s body immediately obeying. In this case Jesus chooses a different approach. The Lord chose to interview the person during His time of ministry. “Can you see anything?” Never before do we see the Lord asking the person if there has been any change in their condition. But here a new ministry model is established for inquiring of the recipient as to the progress of their healing. It is important to note that this interview also reflects the fact that this person’s healing was neither immediate nor initially complete. It was only after a process of ministry that this person was brought to complete healing! Through this Jesus exposes us to the reality that God may choose diverse means to reach similar goals and therefore we must keep our hearts open to the Lord’s voice. Many people fall into patterns of routine method in doing the work of the Lord. These patterns rob the ministry of a sense of relationship and the possibility of inspired direction that could bring about a supernatural encounter. Jesus didn’t assume a method He listened and did what the Father showed Him to do! And in this case it was strange but effective.
In the conclusion of this unusual exchange there is an additional feature that provokes thought. Jesus brings this blind man to complete healing and then instructs him not to go back into the village but to go straight home. Jesus has a goal of quietly slipping away to another village to minister rather than a goal of using that miracle to draw a crowd. For most ministers today one miracle of healing from blindness would be enough for us to set up a tent and take an offering! Immediately the question would be, “how can we turn this event into something more?” “How can we capitalize on this healing to build something big?” “Should we write a book, or maybe start a talk show!” Jesus was simply focused on quietly moving on to touch the next town. He was not after hype and publicity. He was on His Father’s mission. May we possess this same heart as the Lord directs us into seasons of favor and fruitfulness!
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