Daily Scripture:
Mark 8:23 Taking the blind man’s hand, he led him outside the town. He spit in his eyes, put his hands on him and asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 He looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like walking trees.” 25 Then he put his hands on the blind man’s eyes again. He peered intently, and his eyesight was restored, so that he could see everything distinctly. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
After this story, Mark recorded Jesus predicting his death four times (8:31-33, 9:12-13, 9:30-32, 10:33-34). Each time, the disciples were confused and distraught. Scholar Kelly Iverson wrote, “[the disciples’] confusion about the mission and identity of Jesus, as well as their own role within the kingdom, indicates that, like the blind man, their vision is still partial… the disciples are in need of a second touch.”* In Wonder, Mr. Tushman urged Auggie’s fellow students to look again, saying: “Auggie can’t change the way he looks. Maybe we can change the way we see.” At times, if our life looks confusing or full of pointless suffering, we may need to look again, asking Jesus to change the way we see.
- The blind man no doubt wondered why Jesus did not fully heal him on the first touch. Later he was overjoyed to find his sight restored. Some things are all bad, and it is important to name those things. But sometimes we decide too early that something is all bad, and do not allow ourselves to hope that it will get better or have some good result. How can you practice hope in times of frustration or pain? Ask: is this situation or feeling temporary? Is there another way I can view this situation and its effects before I classify it as bad?
- Mr. Tushman offered his students a second chance to form caring relationships with Auggie by asking them to “change the way they see” him. Who in your life do you need a second chance with? Have you been guilty of wanting them to change the way they look (or act)? How can you instead try to change the way you see?
* Iverson, Kelly. “Healing of a Blind Man (Mark 8:22-26),” BibleOdyssey.
Jennifer Creagar is the Financial Care Program Director in Congregational Care at Resurrection Leawood. She is married and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys writing and photography.
The story in today’s GPS guide makes me wonder how often I really see what God wants me to see, and how often I need to ask God for better vision and look again. When Jesus first touched the blind man in Mark 8:23-25, the man could see, but he only saw the outside shape of the people walking by, and he tried to place them in a context he recognized – he thought they looked like walking trees!
Who do I see and identify by some outward shape or context?
I wish I could say I never see only the outside shape of those around me, but then I think of bumper stickers. Yes, I have been known to make assumptions about the personality, politics, and general character of the complete stranger driving the car front of me, based totally on bumper stickers and car decals. We can certainly gain information about a person’s opinions, sports loyalties, sense of humor, or where they like to spend their vacations from the back of their cars, but what does that tell us about who they really are and how we can love them the way Jesus asks us to?
What about that biggest “bumper” of them all – social media? Do you know someone whose social media postings make them look like a big walking tree, and make you absolutely certain that you don’t want to talk to them or be around their terribly wrong opinions? In today’s atmosphere of strong opinions and loud voices, it is probably hard for any of us to say this has never happened to us.
What are we going to do if we run into that walking tree at the coffee shop? What if we see them every day at work? What if we look up and find that person sitting next to us in church? Will we just look at them in the context of what we have seen on the outside of their cars or Facebook page? Will they just look like walking trees or symbols of opinions we hate?
What if we see them crying during the prayer, or look down and realize that the wedding ring they’ve worn for 20 years is not on their finger? What if they wear a scarf to cover the head that used to be covered with hair? What if they come alone and leave alone and no one talks to them – not even us? What if they have been struggling with the issue they posted about and have been praying for someone to talk to who wouldn’t judge them in their struggle to understand? What if they have deep reasons to feel that way and are not likely to change their minds? What if we miss a chance to love our neighbor because of a 40-character message, even if we strongly disagree with what it said?
It’s hard to ask God for that second eye-opening. It must have been a bit scary for the blind man to suddenly be able to see that those walking trees were all different and some were confusing and unexpected. But what if we do ask God to help us see, and, like the blind man in today’s Scripture, we can say we “looked with (our) eyes wide open, (our) sight was restored, and (we) could see everything clearly?”
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You might also like:
- “My Son, whom I dearly love”
- Kindness: a fruit of the Spirit
- Prayer Tip: What do you see?
- “The fields are already ripe for the harvest”
- The first evangelists
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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