Why twice?

visionary said:

Mark 8;22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

It has always puzzled me that the Lord had to put his hands on this mans eyes twice. Why? What was He missing that it didn't work the first time? Why did He have to lead him out of town, and spit on his eyes? Was there something in the "looking up" that restored his eyes? It is a curious activity.

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Interesting. Perhaps Jesus led him to the countryside so that he would see the beauty of nature when he first regained his sight. Also to make it a private and personal matter, not a spectacle for the crowded city.

Saliva might have been needed as a lubricant or moistening agent for man's eyelids to open. Jesus may have protracted the healing of the man to make it appear like a physical process, not a miracle healing.

Seeing things blurry might have discouraged the man causing his head to drop in despair or disappointment. Jesus may have simply told him to raise his head up from bowing, not look up at the sky.

It's another thing to ask him about when he returns.

Maybe the blind man's faith was lacking? Performing the miracle outside the town was an expression of Christ's modesty and avoidance of the praise of men. He was also setting an example for us to seek the heeling of our spiritual blindness in quietness and by distancing ourselves from worldly (earthly) concerns and focusing our attention to heavenly ones, hence the looking up.

My CEV Challenge Bible has a detailed study note on this, asking if we too need a 2nd touch by Jesus and that we should pray for 20/20 spiritual vision but our vision of God will be clearer over time.

v 24 says that seeing people as trees is physical site, void of spiritual insight. Specifically, we see people as obstacles - at first. After the 2nd touch, the man saw spiritually, saw people as the images of God that they are.

Hope this helps.

visionary said:

Mark 8;22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

It has always puzzled me that the Lord had to put his hands on this mans eyes twice. Why? What was He missing that it didn't work the first time? Why did He have to lead him out of town, and spit on his eyes? Was there something in the "looking up" that restored his eyes? It is a curious activity.

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It seems it had to do with the town.
26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

The town they were in was Bethsaida (House of Fruits, if that is correct meaning). Since at first the man saw the people as trees walking, I wonder if it had something to do with the town's name? Jesus did do a miracle, so His fruit came to this man and healed him physically and I think Spiritually as well.

The same can be said for those that follow Christ. I think God gives us enough insight at first, but waits to see if we are ready to see further concerning Him. He does remind us to ask - and that is exactly what we see here with the blind man.

visionary said:

Why twice?

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I don't claim to know for sure, but, as a tech, I suspect that the man had two problems. Jesus had to heal one before He could heal the other.

Why not twice?

How many times was yona instructed to observe the tree and gourd.

visionary said:

This is our Lord, whom makes no mistakes.

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Been there and seen worse.
After hearing The Lord Call.

My doubt was destroyed.

It is a mysterious encounter. The part about taking the man out of town was cleared up for me a while back. Here are my notes:


TGC says that the condemnation of Bethsaida came before this episode. Jesus had done mighty miracles in the area, providing a great witness, yet still He found little faith there. So consequently He rebukes the cities of the area. Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum were all at the northern end of the lake, only about 6 miles apart. He then refuses to do more miracles in their presence, lest He become mere entertainment for them (He does a similar thing at another point, where He preaches at a distance from a boat, only using the "dark sayings" of unexplained parables to address the crowd). This also explains His reason for telling the healed blind man not to go back into the town or tell anyone from the town of the healing.

As for the use of spit, and the need to do the healing twice, it seems that in this case Jesus chooses to use a more therapeutic form of healing than one of sheer power. We know he can cure the worst conditions, even death itself, with a word, and even at a distance. So His ability is not at issue. But here He chooses to use spit as a healing mechanism, plus the laying on of hands (probably applied directly on the man's eyes, perhaps in a massaging motion), in a progressive process that takes two passes.

It's interesting that the man "looked up" to see the men "walking as trees". Likely the man was downcast due to his condition and lot in life, and was used to literally looking down. Perhaps the use of the progressive "hands-on" approach was to draw the man actively into the process, so it would address and exercise his faith at the level it was (note that it was the man's friends who brought him to Jesus, and it was they, not the man himself, who were begging Him to heal the man. So his faith doesn't seem to have been gung-ho). Thus Jesus, as always, was looking to heal the whole man spiritually and not just the immediate physical ailment, and this interactive process was the best way to do that.

As post #3 pointed out, it was probably a faith issue or lack of faith on the part of the blind man.

Was Christ insufficient in power to heal the blind man? I would say no.

When Christ asked the man ''Do you see anything?'' is truly asking whether he had belief that Christ could heal or not.

Swan7 said:

The town they were in was Bethsaida (House of Fruits, if that is correct meaning)... I think God gives us enough insight at first, but waits to see if we are ready to see further concerning Him. He does remind us to ask - and that is exactly what we see here with the blind man.

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I like this.

Before perfect knowledge (vision) of God, it is necessary first to walk in righteousness (Psalms 92:12) and bear the fruit of it (the virtues). This order is clearly stated in Hosea 10:12* "Sow to yourselves for righteousness, gather in for the fruit of life: light ye for yourselves the light of knowledge;"

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* Septuagint version

icxn said:

I like this.

Before perfect knowledge (vision) of God, it is necessary first to walk in righteousness (Psalm 92:12) and bear the fruit of it (the virtues). This order is clearly stated in Hosea 10:12* "Sow to yourselves for righteousness, gather in for the fruit of life: light ye for yourselves the light of knowledge;"

_______
* Septuagint version

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Wow! Just wow! This is absolutely amazing!

visionary said:

Mark 8;22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

It has always puzzled me that the Lord had to put his hands on this mans eyes twice. Why? What was He missing that it didn't work the first time? Why did He have to lead him out of town, and spit on his eyes? Was there something in the "looking up" that restored his eyes? It is a curious activity.

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When I was a child, I woke up one morning with both of my eyes sealed shut, my nanna took me to the doctor, and he place a warm damp cloth on my eyes to remove the gelatin based sugar that seeped out of my eye ducts over night.

Not to negate any other spiritual implications, but I believe the dual application was a matter of sufficient warm moisture, besides twice was nicer than spitting a sufficient amount directly on the guys eyes:

As far as the method over an instantaneous healing, I think it was to show how we suffer from the ignorance of sin, when a simple remedy is right under our own nose.

As for the spitting and placing it on the eyes, I am sure that it is because the sin of this individual was comprable to him spitting in the eyes of Alôhâyîm.

Laureate said:

When I was a child, I woke up one morning with both of my eyes sealed shut, my nanna took me to the doctor, and he place a warm damp cloth on my eyes to remove the gelatin based sugar that seeped out of my eye ducts over night.

Not to negate any other spiritual implications, but I believe the dual application was a matter of sufficient warm moisture, besides twice was nicer than spitting a sufficient amount directly on the guys eyes:

As far as the method over an instantaneous healing, I think it was to show how we suffer from the ignorance of sin, when a simple remedy is right under our own nose.

As for the spitting and placing it on the eyes, I am sure that it is because the sin of this individual was comprable to him spitting in the eyes of Alôhâyîm.

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visionary said:

Mark 8;22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

It has always puzzled me that the Lord had to put his hands on this mans eyes twice. Why? What was He missing that it didn't work the first time? Why did He have to lead him out of town, and spit on his eyes? Was there something in the "looking up" that restored his eyes? It is a curious activity.

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If one is worthy to conquer a thousand. Two mends ten thousands.

Imagine if two are gathered?

pinacled said:

If one is worthy to conquer a thousand. Two mends ten thousands.

Imagine if two are gathered?

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I concur, that is undoubtedly why he took him outside of camp.

Also note how there was redemption for one established by two or three, even after judgement was pronounced.❤