ARE YOU SPIRITUALLY BLIND? (Mark 8:11-26)
INTRODUCTION:
When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God had forbidden them to eat from, they plunged the world into spiritual blindness. Every person born into the world since that time has been born spiritually blind. Our sin nature, sin, and Satan clouds and darkens the eyes of our hearts. Because of this we naturally love the darkness and hate the light. This makes us unable to comprehend truth, and we stumble through life looking for answers which we cannot discern in our sinful, spiritually blind state.
For some people spiritual blindness is only temporary. God in His grace illumines some minds by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit causes some to see the light of the gospel and they come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. To receive spiritual sight requires a supernatural act of God. When God opens our spiritually blind eyes through the miracle of salvation, we are given the mind of Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we can understand and apply spiritual truth. And this is only possible because our blind eyes have been made whole.
For others, their spiritual blindness is permanent and eternal. Rejecting the Lord Jesus and the salvation that He offers, means that a person remains in the total darkness of sinful rebellion and unbelief. On the outside they may be extremely religious, but in reality, they are spiritually ignorant and self-deceived. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day are a prime example of those who considered themselves to be the most enlightened of all people, yet they were blind. Their spiritual blindness was so severe that they refused to receive their own Messiah. For those who persist in rejecting the truth, there comes a point when God gives them over to the consequences of their unbelief. Our passage this morning shows us the difference between those who are spiritually blind permanently and those whose spiritual blindness is only temporary. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 8:11-26, our passage for today. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God and follow along as I read.
Mark 8:11-26,
“The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, ‘Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side. And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?” And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?’ They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?’ And they said to Him, ‘Seven.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’ And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, ‘Do you see anything?’ And he looked up and said, ‘I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.’ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, ‘Do not even enter the village.’ ” (Mark 8:11–26, NASB95)[1]
PERMANENT SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS (Mark 8:11-13)
Remember that Jesus and His disciples had just left the Decapolis and sailed across the lake to the district of Dalmanutha, somewhere along the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee between Magdala and Capernaum. We are not told how long they were there before Jesus was approached by the Pharisees. These Pharisees are still seething from their last encounter with Jesus when He called them hypocrites. This group did not come to Jesus to welcome Him back to Galilee, they had only one intent in coming to Him, to discredit Him once and for all. The attitude of these religious leaders is very different from the attitudes of the Gentiles that Jesus had just left who had welcomed Jesus and praised the God of Israel because of Him.
Within this confrontation with Jesus by the Pharisees we will see three characteristics of those who have permanent spiritual blindness. The first characteristic was that they found common ground with others in their hatred of the light. In the parallel passage to this one in Matthew 16:1 we are told that it was not only the Pharisees that came out to confront Jesus, but they brought with them a group of Sadducees. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were fierce rivals when it came to matters of religion. I have already spoken of the self-righteous legalism of the Pharisees, this religious group worked hard at separating themselves from any form of moral or cultural defilement (external defilement). They elevated rabbinic traditions to a place of equal authority with Scripture if not giving them more authority than Scripture. The Sadducees, on the other hand, had no regard for the oral rabbinic traditions of the Pharisees. Though they paid lip-service to the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, they denied key doctrines like the existence of angels, the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul. Many Sadducees were priests. The Sadducees were the guardians of temple policies and operations, including the very lucrative and very corrupt practice of money changing and the sale of sacrificial animals. Even though these two religious groups were so different and that there existed a significant amount of animosity toward each other, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were willing to put their differences aside and unite in their common hatred and rejection of Jesus Christ.
Driven by this mutual hatred for Jesus, a group consisting of Pharisees and Sadducees approached Him. They began to argue with Him, seeking a sign from heaven. Jewish superstition said that demons could mimic earthly miracles, but only God could work wonders in the sky. These religious leaders could not deny that Jesus performed miracles on earth, and they had attributed that power to Satan. They reasoned, if Jesus was not able to perform some sign in the heavens, then it would prove their claim that He was not empowered by God. This demand was nothing more than a trap, intended to test Jesus with the hopes that He would fail and then they could discredit Him. Jesus had already provided ample evidence to prove He was empowered by God, including heavenly signs, like when God the Father spoke from heaven at His baptism, and when He calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees refused to believe in Him and acknowledge that His power was from God. These religious leaders needed no more proof, even if Jesus would have performed a sign in the heavens, their unbelief in Him would not change. They also failed to realize that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God standing in their midst, was Himself the ultimate sign from heaven.
The second characteristic of those who are permanently spiritually blind is that they respond to additional light with more intense rejection. The Pharisees and Sadducees were no different than the Pharoah of Moses day, who with each sign that Moses performed, hardened his heart even more. Instead of responding in faith to the light of the Savior, they retreated even farther into the darkness. Jesus responded to their faithless rejection by sighing deeply in His spirit. This phrase describes a very strong emotion. The willful blindness of the religious leaders broke the Lord’s heart.
Jesus responded to this delegation of Pharisees and Sadducees with a rebuke in the form of a question. “He said, ‘Why does this generation seek for a sign?’ ” (Mark 8:12b, NASB95)[2] This question looked beyond the delegation that stood before Him and condemned the whole generation of Israelites who followed the apostate teaching of the religious leaders. Just as their ancestors had fallen into apostasy and persecuted the prophets that God sent to warn them, the Jews of Jesus’ day proved to be just as faithless and apostate as their ancestors. No sign, no matter how spectacular would convince them to believe When confronted with the light, they retreated into the darkness of their self-righteous traditions. There was no reason that Jesus should perform another miracle, it would just compound their guilt. This permanent spiritual blindness resulted in Jesus issuing a final verdict: “’Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ ” (Mark 8:12c, NASB95)[3] The parallel passage in Matthew 16:1-4 expands on Mark’s account by giving us the full response of Jesus to the Pharisees and Sadducees, Matthew writes, “The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” ’And in the morning, “There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.” Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.’ And He left them and went away.” (Matthew 16:1–4, NASB95)[4] Asking for a sign in the heavens, Jesus used an illustration to expose their folly. Their method of predicting weather was to look at the color of the sky at certain times of the day. To say the least, though this may be a primitive way to predict weather, they were better meteorologists than theologians. They could recognize a coming storm or nice weather by something as subtle as the color of the sky, but they failed to recognize the coming Messiah in spite of the abundant evidence that was right in front of them. If the countless miracles that Jesus had already performed did not convince them, nothing that He did would convince them. Jesus reference to the ‘sign of Jonah” referred to His death and resurrection, the ultimate sign or testimony to His power and His victory over sin, death, and Satan. Sadly, the religious leaders would reject this as well and bribe the Roman soldiers to say someone stole the body of Jesus instead of telling the truth of what they saw.
The third characteristic of permanent spiritual blindness is that persistent rejection of the light will bring inescapable eternal darkness. In verse 13 we see these consequences begin to be played out as we read that Jesus left them. Knowing that the Pharisees and the Sadducees would not believe, Jesus abandoned them to their own self-righteous delusions. They were blind men and blind guides leading their followers to hell by knowingly refusing the believe. The consequences of their permanent spiritual blindness are forever irreversible. They had long since rejected their Messiah, and now He has rejected them. The Bible refers to hell as “outer darkness” which is appropriate because it is a place of everlasting spiritual blindness. Tragically, the world is full of people, who like the apostate religious leaders of Jesus’ day, have rejected the light. Because they love the darkness of their sin, they will one day be cast into the outer darkness of everlasting punishment.
Jesus leaving the Pharisees and Sadducees indicated more than just a temporary separation. His leaving concluded His final conflict with the religious leaders in Galilee. Once again, they had tried to trap Him in a test that they hoped He would fail. And once again, they failed, and He rebuked them for their hard-hearted unbelief. From this point forward the Lord’s miracles, like the parables, would be primarily for His disciples, and not for the religious leaders or even for the crowds. His public ministry in Galilee has ended as He heads across the lake. The people of Galilee had been given more than enough time and opportunity to repent and believe, but most had not. Having been rejected by them, Jesus changed His focus to Judea and Jerusalem.
TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS (Mark 8:14-21)
Jesus left the rebuked Pharisees and Sadducees and got into a boat with His disciples, and they sailed to the other side, the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. Remember that this was out of the territory of Galilee. Jesus departure from Galilee and the religious leaders symbolized a tragic reality. The religious leaders had rejected the light, and darkness settled in because the light was gone. With Jesus in the boat were His disciples, those who had believed in Him and put their faith in Him for salvation. They, too, had once been spiritually blind like the Pharisees, but the veil over their blind hearts had been lifted by God’s work of regeneration so that they could believe. As new believers, there were still times that the disciples failed to understand the things that Jesus taught them. But unlike the religious leaders, the disciples lack of clarity about spiritual matters was only temporary.
As they went across the lake this is one of the occasions that they showed their lack of understanding. Jesus wanted to teach them spiritual truth and they are preoccupied with the fact that no had gotten bread for their supper. They only had one loaf with them in the boat. Where they were heading was less populated and remote and they were worried that they would not get enough to eat. Though they had been with Jesus for some time, their thinking still operated primarily on a physical level.
Jesus wanted to teach them some important truth concerning the religious leaders, truth that the disciples would need once Jesus departed from them. Mark writes that Jesus was giving orders to them, this was important information and Jesus was commanding them. His message was: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” The parallel passage in Matthew 16 also adds the leaven of the Sadducees. Leaven or what we more commonly call yeast is used in Scripture to illustrate influence. Because it only takes a small amount of yeast to permeate a large amount of dough and cause it to rise, so leaven or yeast served as a fitting illustration of spiritual influence that produces dramatic effects, whether positive or negative, as in this passage.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians comprised three influential groups in first century Israel. We have already seen the difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians were more of a political group than a religious group. So, all three were very different except for one thing, they all hated Jesus. The influence of each of these groups posed a serious spiritual threat to the disciples. The leaven of the Pharisees included both doctrinal errors and personal hypocrisy. Their system of works-righteousness and superficial externalism produced spiritual frauds, they looked good on the outside but inside they were full of death, corruption, and uncleanness. The leaven of the Sadducees was their denial of key doctrinal truths like the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul, and their willingness to use the temple to exploit people financially, made their teachings as dangerous as those of the Pharisees. The leaven of Herod referred to the depraved, immoral behavior that characterized Herod Antipas and all who sought to imitate him. The Herodians were secularists who openly welcomed the immoral influences of Roman culture. But that kind of worldliness had no place among the followers of Christ. Jesus was admonishing His disciples to avoid and resist the ever-present temptations of legalism, hypocrisy, rationalism, materialism, immorality, and worldliness.
The disciples responded by thinking that Jesus was talking about the fact that they had forgot to bring bread with them. Instead of understanding that Jesus was using yeast figuratively, they thought He meant actual yeast. Because of this they completely missed the spiritual significance of the Lord’s instruction. As on other occasions their response showed the weakness of their faith. Mark tells us that Jesus was aware that they had not understood, and He patiently and gently admonished His disciples lack of understanding. He said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?” Earlier when Jesus began to teach in parables, He told the disciples , “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11–12, NASB95)[5] Jesus now takes those statements and uses them as rhetorical questions that formed a mild rebuke for the disciples. “Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? ‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ ” (Mark 8:17–18, NASB95)[6] The disciples were not like the unbelieving crowds. They had been given spiritual understanding and their hearts were not hard. Jesus was saying that they had no excuse for their lack of perception. Jesus’ point was the last thing they needed to worry about was where to find food. Twice they had witnessed Him create food to feed thousands, and because of that they had no need to worry or be anxious about what they would eat. Jesus reminded them of this truth by saying, “And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’ “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, ‘Seven.’ ” (Mark 8:18–20, NASB95)[7] The fact that they were in the presence of the Creator, they had no need to be anxious about a lack of food. Their focus needed to be on the important spiritual truths that Jesus was teaching. Patiently and gently and with grace Jesus moved His disciples toward divine truth. After making clear that He was not talking about literal leaven, “And He was saying to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’ ” (Mark 8:21, NASB95)[8] Matthew 16:12, the parallel passage makes clear that the disciples finally did understand what Jesus was teaching them.
Though the disciples at times did not fully understand what Jesus was teaching them, their lack of spiritual understanding was not permanent like the Pharisees and Sadducees. There is a clear contrast between these two groups. The religious leaders found common ground in the hatred for Jesus; the disciples were united in their love for Him. The Pharisees and Sadducees reacted to additional light with greater rejection; the disciples responded to additional light with a desire to learn more. The religious leaders’ darkness deepened; the disciples’ darkness dissipated. By persisting in their rejection of Him the Pharisees and Sadducees were abandoned by Jesus and condemned to everlasting punishment in the outer darkness of hell. By trusting in the Lord Jesus in saving faith, the disciples were embraced by the Lord and ultimately welcomed into eternal heaven. Jesus also promised that when He ascended to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit as our helper to indwell us and to teach us all truth. It is the Holy Spirit who initially opened the disciples’ eyes to the truth of the gospel and the person of Christ, and it is the Spirit who continues to illumine the truth of God’s Word in their hearts. For each of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, any confusion that we might have in this world concerning spiritual truth is only temporary. One day we will enter the eternal light of heaven. Paul explained it this way in 1st Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NASB95)[9]
TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS ILLUSTRATED (Mark 8:22-26)
Arriving on the other side of the lake, the disciples and Jesus came to the town of Bethsaida. This was the hometown of Andrew, Peter, Philip, and possibly Nathanael. Andrew and Peter had been born and raised here, but now had a home in Capernaum where their fishing business was located. This town was also near to the place where Jesus fed the 5000 men plus women and children.
Mark tells us that upon arriving a group of friends or family brought a blind man to Jesus. Blindness was widespread in the ancient world and Jesus healed a number of blind people. Those who suffered from blindness were helpless and reduced to begging to support themselves.
The friends or relatives who brought this blind man to Jesus implored Him to touch him. In other words, they begged Jesus to heal him and restore his sight. Jesus often touched people or laid His hands on them when He healed them. Many would have been considered untouchable by the religious people of the day, but that did not stop Jesus from touching them. By doing so He showed the compassion and the merciful tenderheartedness of God to those He healed. Jesus responded to this man in the same way. Mark writes, “Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village…” (Mark 8:23a, NASB95)[10] Jesus escorted this man to a place where they could have some privacy. As He had done for the deaf man in the Decapolis, Jesus used saliva to communicate with the blind man that He was going to heal His eyes. Now the saliva was not some sort of magic potion, the Lord Jesus did not need any props to accomplish His miracles, but it symbolized His healing power to the blind man who could feel the spittle on His eyes. “And after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, ‘Do you see anything?’ And he looked up and said, ‘I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.’ ” (Mark 8:23b-24, NASB95)[11] The man said that he saw men, like trees indicates for us that the things he saw were badly out of focus. He understood he could see people, probably the disciples, but they were indistinguishable from trees. “Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.” (Mark 8:25, NASB95)[12] For a second time Jesus touched the man’s eyes and when he looked intently the fog and fuzziness was gone and he was able to see everything with sharp clarity. This is the only miracle of Jesus that He did in two steps, giving the man partial sight, and then full 20/20 vision. Because Jesus wanted this miracle to be an illustration to His disciples of temporary blindness, an illustration of what took place in the boat on the way across the lake. Jesus then sent the man to his home and instructed him not to enter the village. This was often the case when Jesus healed someone, He instructed them not to tell others about what happened. In this case, the Lord telling the man to not enter Bethsaida served as a confirmation of divine judgment. Like the religious leaders, the residents of Bethsaida had no excuse for their unbelief. They had witnessed many miracles, yet they did not repent, they rejected Jesus. As a result, the Lord had issued a strong rebuke against them. Luke records this rebuke in Luke 10:13-14, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.” (Luke 10:13–14, NASB95)[13] By escorting the man outside the village and then telling him not to go back into the village and proclaim what happened, Jesus confirmed the permanence of Bethsaida’s unbelief and His own judgment. The residents of Bethsaida were like the religious leaders that had confronted Jesus earlier, sentenced to eternal spiritual blindness.
Like I said, this miracle served as an illustration for the disciples of temporary spiritual blindness. Spiritually speaking they had been just like the blind man. Having been raised in traditional Judaism, they had been taught to follow the guidance of blind Pharisees and scribes. Even the light of the Old Testament Scripture and the advantages that come with being part of God’s chosen nation, their understanding of spiritual truth had been hopelessly blurred by centuries of rabbinic tradition and religious hypocrisy. All that changed when they met the Savior. His saving touch removed the veil of darkness that once shrouded their unbelieving hearts. First, they understood the truth of the gospel and believed it, but further truth was a bit fuzzy and blurry. But as they sat under the teaching of Jesus and later were indwelt by the Holy Spirit God gave them sharp clarity as the Holy Spirit revealed more and more truth to them. In an act of infinite compassion, the Lord Jesus miraculously gave the disciples eyes of faith, as He does for every sinner whom He saves, so that we, like the disciples, can clearly understand truth for the first time. John described Jesus, in the first chapter of his Gospel, as, “…the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” (John 1:9, NASB95)[14]
CONCLUSION:
As I close this morning, and I know this was a long message, but this passage could not be broken up because it all goes together. The setting in which this miracle is placed gives it significant meaning. It is no coincidence that the healing of the physically blind man immediately follows the demonstration of permanent spiritual blindness by the religious leaders and temporary spiritual blindness by the disciples.
This private miracle was performed by Jesus for His disciples, and it underscored a number of important truths for them. First, it served as a confirmation of Jesus’ deity, since only God’s power could open the eyes of the blind. Second, it provided the disciples with a glimpse of the future messianic kingdom when Christ will reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years. During that time, death and disease will be greatly reduced, including disabilities like blindness. Third, it marked a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. The Lord’s public ministry in Galilee was over, and His focus was on training His disciples. From this point forward, with the cross only months away, Jesus began to speak plainly to the Twelve about His coming death.
What about you? We are all born spiritually blind, but you can go to Jesus for healing. If you have already had your spiritual blindness healed through the saving work of Jesus, rejoice as you will one day enter into your eternal reward in heaven. If you have not had your spiritually blind eyes opened, you can today by repenting, which is acknowledging before God that you are a sinner and believing that Jesus Christ died for you, paid the penalty required for your sin, and that He rose from the dead on the third day victorious over death, sin, and Satan. When you believe this Jesus will open your spiritually blind eyes and you will understand the Scriptures like you never have before.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.