Description
Took Him By The Hand
If any of you have ever wondered if the Lord has time for you—I mean you, personally, individually—then please consider this story.
Jesus came to Bethsaida on the northeastern shore above the Sea of Galilee. As He came into town, they brought to Him a man that was blind and asked Him to touch him, meaning that they wanted this man to receive a blessing under the Master’s hand.
What Jesus does next is both puzzling and revealing. He took the man by the hand and led him out of town. He then stopped, spit upon the man’s eyes, “put His hands upon” and “asked Him if he saw aught.”
The man responded by saying he saw “men as trees walking,” meaning that he saw blurry images. Jesus put His hands upon him again and “made Him look up, and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”
Jesus then sent the man away to his own house “saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell what is done to any in the town.”
Why did Jesus lead the man out of town and away from the public eye? Why did He spit upon his eyes? Why was it needful to bless him twice? There may be many answers, but I offer one. None of these actions were for Jesus’s sake. His concern was only for the blind man and his need.
Before Jesus could help this man—who seems not to have come of his own accord or requested a miracle for himself—the Master had to kindle faith. Perhaps he was starting with very little faith, if any. Spit or saliva symbolized healing. Once alone and undisturbed, Jesus spit on the man’s eyes to communicate a message or intent of healing. Faith as a grain of mustard seed sprouted.
When the man opened his eyes and saw light—faith and hope exploded within Him and was now sufficient for the miracle to be completed. He looked up from a downward gaze and saw every man clearly.
That blind man is me—He is you! It is as though the Lord Jesus has taken us one by one by the hand and led us into still and quiet places where He then ministered to us in every needful and individual way and awakened our faith, line upon line, here a little, there a little, until our eyes were opened. We then looked up above the plain of this earth and its mists of darkness and saw the Light of Heaven. It is fitting that likely the first thing the blind man saw clearly was Jesus!
And once our miracle of conversion was received, He bids us to remember it and hold our experience as sacred. Conversion is an intimate experience with the Almighty. It is just you and Him. Don’t betray your gift.
Source: Mark 8:22-26
