Discipleship Dynamics: Jesus’ Gradual Healing of Our Spiritual Blindness
Mark 8:22-33
Introduction
Today we begin a new section of Mark which most basically asks this question: What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?
· The “christian Christian” story
· The world’s view of discipleship is inadequate
o Learning new skills
o Addressing specific problems
o Going through a pre-scripted program
o Being very informed or up to date on something (“following”)
· Christ’s view of discipleship was much more radical: it has to do with our spiritual sight.
· In light of Mark, we might define discipleship this way: True discipleship is when Jesus gradually heals our spiritual blindness.
· Our spiritual condition is vividly illustrated by blindness.
o Israel was and is blind—Isaiah 42:19, “Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?”
o Some in the church are blind—Revelation 3:17
o 2 Cor 4:1-6
§ V3 – the gospel is veiled by sin
§ V4 – Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers.
§ The gospel overpowers our spiritual blindness and liberates us to see Jesus for who he really is
· When we are saved we see, and yet we still have remaining blindness/partial sight.
o 2 Peter 1:9—Some in the church lack virtues so much that it begins to make them blind to their own salvation
o 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
o 2 Corinthians 3:18 – The process of sanctification, beholding him with unveiled face, becoming progressively transformed to look like him. The face is unveiled—sin and the law have been removed—but we still need to behold him—implying that we don’t yet fully, perfectly, completely behold him yet.
· In other words, discipleship is, most basically, Jesus healing our spiritual blindness. It is learning to see Jesus. It is having our eyes opened, then he asks, “What do you see?” Then we answer, and then he heals us further: “what do you see?” So on and so forth.
· So, this section is chalk full of lessons on discipleship.
o The “road” — another character like the house or the boat
o To be a disciple means to know him as the Christ, to die to yourself, to see his glory, to rely on his power. It is to be a humble child, the last of all, unwilling to fight, unwilling to tempt. It means forsaking all we have and all we are, all we identify ourselves to be. It means becoming a servant of all and a servant of God.
· Our text draws out five dynamics of discipleship that show us how to walk with Jesus. We will talk about all five today, but likely we will breeze over the last two and circle back next week to dive in more depth.
I. Discipleship Is Imperfect and Gradual (Mark 8:22-26)
The first dynamic of discipleship is that it is imperfect and gradual. The point of this healing is to illustrate what is happening to the disciples, and in the process Jesus shows us that the process of discipleship is imperfect and gradual. It is imperfect in the sense that we are still marked by imperfection in our understanding of Jesus in this life. It is gradual in the sense that it unfolds over time as Jesus gradually heals us.
· Some indications that this healing was intended to be an illustration:
o Jesus never heals in stages, except here. Why?
o Inclusio with 10:46-52
o Never in other places does Jesus ask the one being healed a question while healing him.
§ The question itself is instructive: “Do you see anything?” (cf 8:18) — remember: the disciples are right there.
o Pairs up with the deaf-mute of chapter 7 (cf 8:18)
· Why does Jesus take so long to heal us? Why not just snap his fingers? He certain can heal instantly—in fact, in Chapter 10 he will heal a blind man instantly. So, this must be a choice, and we must ask the question why does Jesus make that choice? I believe it is because he is dramatically illustrating the process that is happening in real time in the disciples.
· First, he takes him by the hand and leads him out of the village.
o What a beautiful illustration of salvation! Received by Jesus. Guided by the hand. Led away from the crowds to a private place, away from his beggarly life in the city.
· Second, he spits in his eyes and lays his hands on him—communicating that he will heal him. This power comes from Jesus.
· Third, he asks a question.
o Never in any other healing does he do this.
o Aimed at the man in compassion, but also the disciples who are watching.
o His answer indicates that he only sees partially.
o We need to make a distinction between seeing truly and seeing clearly. Many Christians have true spiritual sight, but their true sight is clouded over by remaining blindness. But they confuse the cloudiness of their vision with total blindness. But this is not true.
o In the parallel, this is about to be Peter—he sees! But only as though trees are walking around. His vision is still blurry.
· Fourth, Jesus lays his hands on his eyes a second time.
o His sight is then perfect.
o “opened his eyes” —literally gazed, eyes wide open,
o “his sight was restored”—brought back, rectified
o “he saw everything clearly”—far-sighted. He could see things far away.
· Fifth, Jesus tells him not to go back into the village.
o Probably parallel to his other sayings about keeping secret—didn’t want to attract undue attention.
o But it also is a call to go home, away from his life of begging and back to the place he belonged.
o It was also a call to stay away from the crowd but to obey Jesus instead.
· Application: but you see here that sanctification is a long and gradual process. We don’t immediately begin to see. It takes several “touches”—myriad, in fact—from Jesus to restore us to perfect sight. And we are never promised that we will see perfectly clearly in this life.
o This is enormously comforting! We belong to Jesus, and we don’t need to see him perfectly to know it.
o It is also an admonition. Sometimes (in fact, usually) what we think is sight is actually blindness. We confuse our yet-muddled vision for the clear-eyed gazing at Christ. Let us be skeptical of ourselves when we begin to believe and live as though we see all things clearly now.
II. Discipleship Begins with Seeing Who Jesus Really Is (8:27-30)
Not only is discipleship imperfect and gradual; it also begins with seeing who Jesus really is. What we have known since the beginning of the story, Peter now says openly and explicitly.
· The geography is important: Caesarea Philippi. Expanded by Herod Philip, named after Caesar to ingratiate himself with Rome. But it was in the far north of Israel—a remote place. And from here, Jesus is now beginning his march toward Jerusalem and toward his crucifixion.
o This is highly important, as we shall see, because discipleship only unfolds upon the path to the cross.
· “On the road” he asks the disciples what the people are saying.
o This is not because Jesus doesn’t know. Of course he knows.
o This is because Jesus is making a multifaceted point to his disciples.
· The first point is that the crowds really don’t get who he is.
o John the Baptist—Herod’s mistake.
o Elijah, the Prophets—probably more from the Pharisees (cf John 1)
o But the disciples as they tell him this are starting to see something—the crowds aren’t quite right are they? While all these figures exuded power, and while Jesus certainly did come as the perfect and ultimate prophet, none of these names could quite capture who he was.
· The second point is that they must decide for themselves who he was.
o “Who do you say that I am?” “You” in emphatic position.
o Jesus is not asking for generic confessions in accord with popular views of who he is. He is looking for personal identification. The question is not who do people say that I am. You must answer who you say he is.
o So, who is he? Is he a religious figure? A powerful miracle worker? A sham? A liar? A crazy person? A demon-possessed man? A moral teacher? Is he a prophet (like Islam would say)? You must answer this question for yourself.
· The third point is that he is in fact the Christ.
o As the disciples think through Jesus’ question, Peter has a flash of heavenly insight—Jesus is Messiah!
o And here is the hinge upon which the whole gospel turns. Jesus has not been explicitly identified as “Christ” since 1:1—we have known, and we have seen, but the disciples have not. But now, they see. They have had the first “stage” of healing. Peter makes a true confession!
· The fourth point, which we will expand on under our next heading, is that even when we see who he really is, sometimes we don’t really understand it at first.
o He “strictly charged” is better “he censured” them to tell no one.
o Same as the Leper. Same as the men who brought the Deaf-mute to him. In fact, it is the same word the refers to demons and to the sea (which was often seen as the abode of Satan).
o In other words, Jesus asked “Who do you say I am?” Peter rightly answers, “You’re the Messiah!” And Jesus says, “Correct. Now can it.” Why? Because they only see partially. There is something about Messiah that they have yet to understand—that he must suffer.
· But before go on to that point, we must pause and consider:
o The importance of this point cannot be overstated. You cannot be a disciple if you have never seen him personally—if you have only ever heard a description of him but never seen him. Job: “I have heard of him with the hearing of the ears, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5)
o To follow him is to be in a real relationship with him—a living, true, actual relationship, pulsating with life. And that is a real relationship that is now and present and experienced.
§ Illustration of knowing black is black. How do you know Jesus is the Christ? Look at him!
o You know what this is like—I cannot adequately capture its reality except by saying that discipleship is sight. You see him.
o Seeing him is a miracle.
§ If you haven’t seen him, it’s easy to be like…what are you talking about?
III. Discipleship Continues by Correcting Our Misunderstandings About Him (8:31-33)
Not only is discipleship gradual and imperfect; nor does it just begin with seeing Jesus; it also continues through the messy process and correcting our wrong beliefs about Jesus.
Even though Peter sees, he doesn’t really see. At least not clearly. “Seeing, they see! Sort of…” So, Jesus, knowing this, tells his disciples to keep quiet because they still don’t really understand who he is. He must teach them further: To truly see him is not just to see him as Messiah, but as crucified Messiah.
· He “began”—this is a new phase of his ministry. He is starting to say something that, to this point, he has not yet said.
· Son of Man:
o Daniel 7:13
· Must suffer many things
o Isaiah 53
· And be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes
o Psalm 118:22
· And after three days rise again
o Hosea 6:1-3
· When Jesus says this, he is saying something absolutely revolutionary—the Messiah, the one who will reign in glory and come on the clouds of heaven and rule over a world-wide kingdom and establish God’s reign over all the earth—that one has to suffer and die and be killed and rise again.
· The first of three revelations of the necessity of his death on the way to Jerusalem.
· Notice that just as the blind man saw clearly, now Jesus speaks to the disciples clearly or plainly. This is in contrast to the parables. He is not speaking in riddles but speaking directly, clearly, and without any veil.
o This reinforces what we have seen all the way along: it is not until we know who Jesus is that his word becomes plain to us.
o Before we know him, his word is as though behind a veil.
o Once we see him, his word becomes plain to us. Relevant. Understandable. Powerful. Perfect.
· And evidently Peter understood him—and showed his own ignorance.
· Just as Jesus had “censured” the disciples to remain quiet, now Peter “censures” Jesus to remain quiet.
o Mark does not report exactly what Peter said.
o Matthew 16:22 reports that he said, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!”
o Peter was not stumbled by the fact that Jesus was the Christ. He was stumbled by the idea that the Christ could ever die—at the hands of the evil Pharisees no less.
· The common conception in the Jewish mind at the time was that both suffering and exaltation were associated with the coming of the Messiah, but the Messiah did not suffer and die—he was always victorious. His people would suffer, but their king would be victorious.
· Jesus has put the record straight. “Yes, I will be victorious, but the path to victory is defeat—the road to glory is paved with suffering—the cross comes before the crown.”
· What they saw as two separate people in the OT, Jesus now reveals to all refer to himself. He had to suffer.
· Peter could not stomach this—so he rebukes Jesus.
· But his words were Satanicly inspired.
o The snake was again tempting—“You will surely not die.”
· But to view Christ this way—all victory and no defeat—is to think in a merely human way. “You are not minding the things of God but the things of man.”
o “Peter, you’re only thinking about earthly things, not about heavenly things. You’re about your own business, not mine. You’re not mindful of what God is doing, only what you want to do.”
· Jesus is too loving to let us go on believing such nonsense
o “turning and seeing his disciples”
o Peter has leaven, and the corruption will spread if he does not cleanse it out of Peter.
o Our bad words, bad actions, bad view of the world has a corrupting effect on one another. Do not be offended when Jesus or he people correct you on these things—he is only stopping the leaven from corrupting the whole lump.
· Do we not frequently attempt to rebuke Jesus when he tells us that glory and rest and victory waits until after we have been crucified with him? “No! It must be now! I deserve to rule, reign, and conquer! This must unfold according to my expectations!”
· Martin Luther’s Theology of Glory vs. Theology of the Cross.
o Theology of Glory—live it up! We are victorious! We should expect God to be victorious through us! Through human reason and achievement, through our minds and wills, we should overcome sin and suffering, and all suffering is therefore a sign of our lack of faith and God’s disfavor.
o Theology of the Cross—Your best life is not now, but later. You are promised glory, but the road to glory stops at the cross. Just as Jesus Christ suffered and died, so also you must suffer and die with him. You cannot achieve or do anything, but your life is found in dying to yourself. Therefore, victory is through suffering rather than in spite of it.
· Yet, in luxurious America, how often are we prone to believe in a kind of theology of Glory?
o We are surprised when our fellow citizens want to persecute true faith.
o We are scandalized when we realize that our belief and life will cost us health, money, and comfort.
o We are discouraged when we run aground on major health problems.
o We lose heart when the stock market dips.
o We assume that the church should experience constant victory and expansion and domination in the world.
o We believe that all that we do as a church will be a success and will not meet resistance.
o We set about solving our soulish problems at the hands of humanly-applauded secular pastors whom we call “psychologists” and leaving off the far better and more effective solutions which God offers.
· All of it is theology of glory.
o Set your minds on God’s things, not your own.
We will look at the next two points next week. We will see further that discipleship unfolds on the path to Crucifixion—that the Christian walk is a walk of dying and the call of Christ is to die that we might live. And, we will see that there is a glorious hope—seeing the kingdom come in power.
But let us conclude with a few closing applications:
Concluding Applications
· Are you a true disciple? There is no more important question than that.
o What does your heart answer?
o Do you see the initial, even if not the perfect, work of grace in your heart? Do you see, however imperfectly?
o Who do you say that Jesus is? Does it match what our culture says? Does your view of Jesus have more in common with the world than the Bible? You must answer that question for yourself.
o Is Jesus correcting your misunderstandings of him? Are you growing? Is he patiently teaching you about himself?
· Do not be discouraged that you are not as far along as you would like to be.
o We’re all right there! Peter was! That’s part of why he’s in the Bible!
o Peter, for all the headache and heartache he caused Jesus, was not loved any less for it.
o Jesus is patient. He doesn’t disown us the second we get it wrong. He doesn’t sigh, shake his head, and roll his eyes in a kind of relational punishment. Rather, he patiently instructs us in the right way.
o “Christians don’t do that.” Yes they do!
o To be a disciple is not to be perfect—it is to learn from our mistakes. So, do you learn? Or are you repeating the same old mistakes and sins? Let Jesus teach you to grow.
· Let us curb our pride, lest we be found to be rebuking Jesus in heart, in attitude, in life, or in word.
o Peter had consistent “foot-in-mouth” syndrome. Are you equally as impetuous? Do you stop and think before you speak to him about your circumstances? About what he calls you to? About the kind of discipleship he requires of you?
o When you see the call to come and die, does it rub you the wrong way?
o We can rebuke Jesus many different ways.
§ Sometimes it is in our prayers—we frame as petitions what are actually rebukes.
§ Sometimes it is in a bitter spirit—his providence has led you to a hard place, and we foster a bitter attitude toward God.
§ Sometimes, it is in our words to others—all our complaining to our brothers and sisters is an implied rebuke against Jesus. Be careful how you represent him!
§ Sometimes it is in a stubborn pathway in life—refusing to leave off certain pursuits, or to address the motives behind our decisions is a kind of rebuke toward Jesus.
· Let us remember that we are called to a life of dying.
o 2 Cor 4:11 – “We who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
o If you want to live now, you will be unwilling to die each day for Christ.
o If you are willing to die each day for Christ, you will live one day.