Eyes to See & Ears to Hear

Introduction

Good morning. It’s good to be with you. I’m so thankful for the invitation from the elders to come and give this gospel meeting. But honestly, the thanks probably goes to Tony because Tony put me on the schedule to come and preach a meeting last fall and didn’t tell me. Not sure how that happened. But the elders were like, so are you ready? And I was like, what are you talking about? I had no idea. And so we ended up rescheduling for this fall. And so glad that it worked out regardless. And just so thankful to be here and excited to be back with you. And of course, for those of you that don’t know me, I was a member here from kind of 2014 to 2016.

And wasn’t preaching full-time then at the time, but was still kind of filling in here and there and filling in here from time to time as well. But there are a lot of new faces. And this church has grown and changed a lot in the last eight years. And so I’m excited to get to know many of you that I haven’t known before, and those of you that we do know already, we’re just excited to get to see your faces again and be with you this week. Thankful to Scott for his good songs this morning. Always does a good job. And as we just sang, we’re excited to preach the word this morning and let it speak to us and let the truth be known and have its power over unbelief.

That really is the theme of my lessons this week. We’re gonna be talking this week about miracles in the book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark. And my purpose for this series of lessons is for us to help to help us to have a better understanding of just exactly who Jesus was and who he claimed to be. We want to confirm Jesus as the Messiah. We want to see Jesus for exactly who he is and thereby deepen our faith in him. This morning’s lesson is going to be kind of an overview of several miracles that occur in chapter 7 and 8 of Mark and kind of give us a preview of the rest of the things that we’re going to be talking about in that context over the next few lessons.

And so this morning, I hope that we don’t move too fast. I will try not to do that, but we are going to cover a lot of ground, sort of as a bird’s eye view as to kind of the main points that I’m trying to get across this week. The other thing that I would ask is please be patient with me. I haven’t preached since July. And as Craig mentioned, I’m kind of in a career transition right now, and so I have not preached since July. I might be a little bit rusty, might be a little bit nervous, but please bear with me. And you know, as Craig said, we have a lot in common. And we recently moved to college station, and mostly to be five minutes away from Jenna and Jacob Campbell, who is Jenna’s my cousin, and they have three boys that are my kids’ age, and we just really wanted to be close to them.

That was a big draw there for us to go there and be near them. But I am I am flying airplanes, that is what I’m doing right now, working towards some other ratings and things that I need. But it’s not that I don’t want to preach. I still have that desire. It’s hard for me every Sunday morning to go to church and just to sit down. it’s still a little bit weird, it’s a little bit strange. And so, you know, it’s it’s just that I felt it was time for me to step away from full-time work so that I can pursue something that will allow me down the road to be able to preach and help out in congregations that may not be able to afford a preacher or things like that, and to be able to kind of be financially free to do that as time goes on.

And so that’s kind of what we’re what we’re attempting to do with this career change. But I am thankful and always grateful and open to the opportunity, any opportunity that I have to get up and to preach the gospel. I just love doing it, and I’m thankful to be here with you this morning. If you would open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11, I know I said Mark. Matthew chapter 11 is gonna be the first scripture that we look at this morning in just a few moments. But as we begin, I want you to think about your eyes. Your eyes, just as the rest of the human body are incredibly complex. It’s really an amazing part of the body that God has designed.

And when our eyes are healthy, they detect and they convert light into electrochemical impulses, they translate these signals to the brain, and of course, the brain, if you may know, receives it upside down and has to flip it and turn it right side up and correct vision results. That’s the way God designed it. It’s amazing. But to lose your sight is devastating. I think I look out and I see a lot of people wearing glasses this morning. I wear glasses. Obviously, a lot of you probably wearing contacts. We most of us know what that’s like to not have great vision. There are a lot of things you can’t do. And when you completely can’t see it all, there’s a lot of things that are just impossible.

For most of human history, it’s not, you haven’t been able to fix even a little bit of vision impairment, right? So that’s what when we look at these cases in the Bible of people who were blind, there was no hope for them. They couldn’t work, they couldn’t really do much of anything. In the Greco-Roman world.

Everybody knew somebody, probably that couldn’t see. Some people were blind from birth, like the man that Jesus healed in John chapter 9, which is another text I really wish we could have looked at this week. We just didn’t have time. But it’s a big passage that I would encourage you to study on your own that really plays into the things that we’re going to talk about this week, as far as Jesus confirming his messiahship through the healing of the blind. But some people lost their sight through disease or injury or inadequate hygiene or just advanced age, but once it was gone, there was no coming back. Having your vision was such a serious thing that in the Mosaic law and also in the code of Hammurabi, blind, those who lost their sight due to someone injuring them was such a serious violation that we have this eye for an eye maxim that is promoted.

1. The Signs of the Messiah in Isaiah

That was the law. And did you know that the Old Testament does not contain a single example of a miraculous healing of permanently blind eyes? Resurrection, yes. But blindness, no. And that all changed with the coming of Jesus. And it was that ability that Jesus used to prove his identity. And so there are some signs of the Messiah that people knew that they should be looking for. And it’s those signs that we’re going to look at this morning. Opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. Making the lame to walk again. In other words, setting the captive free.

But the book of Isaiah is full of messianic prophecies and metaphors. More so probably than any other Old Testament book. And in Isaiah chapter 29 and verse 18, we read, in that day, of course, it’s talking about the day of the coming of the Messiah. It says the deaf shall hear the words of a book. And out of their gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. What is someone who is blind? What is their condition? It says they are in darkness. It is a gloomy darkness. And of course, as we look at this, it is a perfect metaphor for what happens when someone is lost in sin, right? They are in darkness, not in light. What do we our next passage? Isaiah chapter 35, verses 5 and 6.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy, for waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. These literal occurrences were spiritual metaphors for what was going to come in the days of the Messiah. Isaiah 42, verses 6 and 7. I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in what? In darkness. That’s where they are.

We’re opening the eyes of the blind. And it’s combined with this idea of the release of printers, right? Being bound, being contained and kept by sin. Isaiah chapter 49, verses 9 and 10. Saying to the prisoners, come out. To those who are in darkness, appear. They shall feed along the ways. On all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. The idea here again of prisoners, those who are in darkness, and also the idea of the Messiah being this compassionate shepherd, who is going to feed his people, who is going to take care of them.

And of course, Jesus comes along and he does that, both literally and figuratively. Jesus shows that he is the bread of life, that he is the giver of living water. Look at the passage with the woman at the well. And then Isaiah chapter 52, and the end of 52 and into 53. Not a passage we usually kind of think about when it comes to this. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them, they see.

Whom it is revealed and who wish to see. And finally, Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 and 2. And of course, you might recognize this as the passage that Jesus reads from when he opens the scroll in the synagogue and reads from it.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives in the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, and to comfort all who mourn. And so, in addition to all this, the Messiah would be preaching to the poor and setting the captive free, showing the way to salvation. And so when Jesus comes along, what is he doing?

2. Go and Tell John What You Hear and See

He’s healing, he’s working miracles. And of course, John the Baptist is sent before him. And John the Baptist knows, hey, you know, I’m not the Messiah. And he looks around at the things that Jesus is doing, and he wonders, well, is this the Messiah? And so John the Baptist asks the right question in Matthew chapter 11. I told you we would read from there. Matthew chapter 11, verses 2 through 5. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, Are you the one who is to come? Or shall we look for another? And Jesus answered, Go and tell John what? What you hear and see. He’s connecting these things. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk.

Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And others, he’s saying, I am fulfilling and working all these signs that are the sole purview of the Messiah. We look at this question and we wonder, well, shouldn’t John have, of all people, known that Jesus was the Messiah. But it seems for whatever reason he is beset by doubt or some sort of misunderstanding, and maybe his imprisonment kind of muttered muddied the waters of his mind, but at least he did see the signs that Jesus was doing and knew enough to ask the question Are you the one? And Jesus responds to him as perfect. Go and tell John what you hear and see. What have you heard and seen?

That the blind see, the deaf hear, the lepers walk, and the dead are raised. These physical miracles speak to having one’s eyes opened spiritually. Jesus’ ministry is in line with these prophetic promises about the time of salvation. As seen especially in these descriptions that recall the words of Isaiah.

Very important. But the idea here of Jesus being light to the world is extremely important when you connect that to the idea of bringing sight to the blind, right? Someone who is in complete darkness, light is brought into their life.

That’s that’s why this is such a perfect miracle to confirm his Messiahship. Jesus is the light of the world because he brings light to the blind. He brings enlightenment to those who are seeking knowledge. He brings goodness to a dark and evil world. He brings the message of salvation to the lost.

No one had ever done it before. And that confirms what I said earlier about there being no examples of this in the Old Testament. Jesus tells the blind man in John 9 39, for judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.

3. Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Stating that scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. And that his mission as anointed by the Spirit is to proclaim the recovering of sight to the blind. And so he offers much the same evidence that he offered to John in Matthew chapter 11. And so now we finally get to the book of Mark and chapter 7. How does Jesus prove this?

If you would like to turn there. As Jesus heals a deaf man.

So then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. And they begged him to lay his hands on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue and looked up into heaven, and he sighed and said to him, Ephatha, that is, be opened. And his ears were opened, and his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, He has done all things well.

And so as we’re going to go through this text in chapter 7 and 8, we’re going to see all these examples, one after the other after the other, of how Jesus acts out these things, in order to show that he was the fulfillment of them and thus the Messiah.

And so, again, that Jesus is bringing light to the whole world, not just to the Jewish world. And they bring to him a man who is deaf and has the speech impediment, which of course he has a speech impediment, because he can’t hear.

Number two, he uses physical means, right? He puts his fingers in his ears, he spits and touches his tongue. And so instead of just saying the words, he uses these physical means to heal the man. And I think that’s going to come into play again in the next healing of blind man in chapter eight. But I think just as we pass through this text, the idea here being that sometimes we need to come into contact with Jesus. And then he sighs here, I think, because of the spiritual blindness and darkness of the world. And the people’s response is to be amazed, noting the fact that he makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak. Then we get to Mark chapter 8, in verses 1 through 10.

4. Having Eyes Do You Not See?

It says, In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away. And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people here in this desolate place? And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? They said, seven. And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and they took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they set them before the crowd.

And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them, he said these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full, and there were about four thousand people, and he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. This instance of the feeding of this multitude occurs in nearly the same way as the previous feeding of the five thousand. And the only difference, of course, being the numbers of people and the amount of food, right? Here they have seven loaves and a few small fish, and they wind up with seven baskets full. But again, we note the disciples’ hard hearts.

Their inability to comprehend how Jesus could possibly feed this crowd, even though he had literally just done it in chapter 6. And we look, we look at this and we wonder, how can they not know at this point? How did they not see? And yet, how many times do we fail to see Jesus for who he really is? How many times do we see the Lord’s work in our lives and still find ourselves anxious about whether he will provide? What do we see Jesus does here in verse 8? We notice that Jesus they ate and they were satisfied, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I see here that Jesus can make full out of the broken pieces in our lives.

That’s what he’s showing us. He will feed, he will provide. That’s what the shepherd does. That’s what the Messiah does. Moving on.

Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. Now, why? Why did they want a sign? What did they mean by this? They wanted some specific sign from heaven, not just a miracle, but some sort of conclusive sign directly from God. Think fire coming down from heaven or something like that to confirm that Jesus was the Messiah. But their desire was not accompanied by proper motives. They didn’t seek to change their hearts. They only set to test Jesus. And of course, the ironic thing is that he had already given them signs, right? A voice had literally already come down from heaven saying, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

He had already worked these signs of performing miracles that were confirming who he was. What more do you need? And note Jesus’ frustration as again he sighs deeply within his spirit. As he refused to acquiesce. Why? Because he had already given them the ultimate signs. There should have been no question the healing of the lame and the blind and the deaf. Again, we look at that and we say, how can the Pharisees be so hard hearted? And again, we have to ask ourselves the question why do I also have to be so hard hearted? Why do I also tend to demand that God prove himself? God has already proven himself. And yet, how often do we demand that he do it again? And so Jesus warns them about this hard heartedness.

He warns them about the influences of the world. In the coming verses of verse 14 through 21, he warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. And again, just see the irony here and see how all these stories connect. It’s all about bread, it’s all about light. Now they had forgotten to bring bread. And they only had one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they began discussing with one another what Jesus meant by this? No. They don’t discuss what Jesus says at all. They began discussing the fact that they had no bread. Again, we see their hard hardeness, their inability to see. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet perceive? See? Or understand? Here. Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see? 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 did you take up? And they said to him, twelve. And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full? And they said to him, seven. And he said to them, Do you not yet understand? It’s the same thing over and over and over. Why is this written down for us like this? One after the other after the other. Because we struggle with the very same things. Because we fail to see Jesus for who he is and for what he can do in our lives.

So they’ve forgotten to bring bread. They had a very serious problem with this, apparently. And Jesus makes this obvious metaphorical statement to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. And they don’t understand. They don’t get what he’s saying. And what does he mean by this? I think he’s talking about being influenced by them, having the same kind of hard-heartedness as they had. They’re self-centeredness, their self-reliance, not relying upon God. And the disciples are going to demonstrate that they indeed struggle with just that. Seriously, you’ve seen Jesus feed multitudes twice now, and you’re worried that you only have one loaf of bread in the boat. So they begin talking about this. And Jesus, I think he just can’t, he’s getting frustrated, right? How are they even worried about this right now?

They cannot get their minds off of the physical. And they display vividly here the ongoing inability to grasp spiritual truths and to rely on Jesus. And Jesus responds, Why are you even talking about this? Do you not see? Do you not hear? Do you not remember? The disciples’ hearts are still at least partially closed to the depth of Jesus’ teaching and person. Because he asked them, Do you not yet perceive or understand? And you think of all the people that should have gotten this, it was the disciples. They are seeing every single one of these miracles that Jesus works. They should have understood these prophecies from Isaiah that we looked at and knew that Jesus working these miracles was proving that he was the Messiah. That this is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and no one else would do these works.

And although Jesus doesn’t rebuke them as being as hard hearted as the Pharisees and scribes, he doesn’t say that they are hypocrites, but they still lack understanding of who Jesus is. While the Pharisees reject him outright, the disciples are slow to appreciate it. And this figurative reference to eyes and ears echoes the healings of the deaf man in chapter 7 and verses 31 through 35 and the blind man in chapter 22, chapter 8, verses 22 through 26 that we’re going to get here in a second. Jesus wants to open the eyes and ears of the disciples’ hearts. And he concludes by saying, Do you not yet understand? Do you not understand the significance of the miracles of what they display? That the one who stood before them was none other than the eternal creator and giver of life.

5. Jesus Heals a Blind Man in Bethsaida

That he is the Messiah. And the miracles he worked were chosen specifically to prove just that. And so our last miracle this morning is exactly that. Jesus heals a blind man in Bethsaidom. He says, They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, and he asked him, Do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again. Again he spits, he uses his hands physical means as he did with the deaf man earlier.

And he opened his eyes, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village. Jesus concludes this section of miracles and teaching with this ultimate sign. And this particular miracle is unique to Mark. This is one of several instances of the healing of the blind. And Jesus likely performed more healings of blind people than any other miracle. They’re just not all written down for us, right? Because it was such a specific indicator of his messiahship. And what’s interesting about this is the way that he goes about it, right? Like the deaf and mute man, he took him privately out of the village, out of the sight of everyone, right? Because he only wants people to see who are going to see.

And he uses these physical means. He spits, he lays his hands on him. But this miracle was different, and indeed than even other healings of those who are blind, and that it wasn’t immediate.

It’s kind of kind of odd. Well, may I suggest to you that Jesus never does anything without a purpose? It wasn’t because he couldn’t do it, certainly. I think he was trying to make a very specific point to his disciples. This two staged healing likely indicated that while the disciples saw Jesus vaguely, with blurred vision. They did not yet see him for who he truly was. He wasn’t really trying to teach a lesson to the blind man here. He’s trying to teach a lesson to his disciples. He says, You’re not getting it. Do you not yet see? The ESV study Bible says, in this context that we’ve been looking at this morning, especially in light of Jesus’ focus on the disciples’ lack of understanding, the man’s answer may be analogous to their limited apprehension of Jesus.

6. Peter Finally Gets It: You Are the Christ

They see him vaguely, just as the blind man now sees people merely like trees walking. Jesus’ healing of the man in two stages may have been intended to emphasize this fact. This interpretation is supported by the fact that verses 22 through 26 contain no less than nine terms related to seeing. The disciples will soon understand that Jesus is the Messiah, but they will not yet fully grasp that he is to be a suffering Messiah. And so that’s where we conclude this morning. Peter does at this point finally confess Jesus as the Christ. Beginning in verse 27, Jesus went on with the disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets.

And he asked them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered him, You are the Christ. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about them. Now, would Jesus have accepted this term if it were not true? Of course not. But there are many times throughout the Gospels where Jesus accepts these titles, accepts praise. When throughout the Bible, anyone else who ever accepts praise as a God, when they are not, usually winds up dead. And yet Jesus accepts this. That should tell us something about who he is. You are the Christ. He said, Yeah, don’t tell anybody yet. Peter finally gets it. Upon seeing all these things, Peter finally comes to the correct conclusion. And what’s amazing to me is he didn’t get it after he calmed the sea.

He said, What sort of man is this? Well, he’s not a man. They didn’t get it after feeding the multitudes. They didn’t get it after the casting out of demons. They didn’t get it after the healing of the woman with the flow of blood. They didn’t get it after the healing of the death. It didn’t even seem to get it after the raising of the dead. It wasn’t until after performing this miracle that the light bulb seems to go off for Peter. Wait a second, only the Messiah is going to heal the blind. He is more than just a prophet. He is more than just a teacher. He is the Christ. Now he still doesn’t understand exactly what that means, because as we see in the next few verses here, as soon as he does that, in the end of chapter 8 and end of chapter 9, then you know he’s going to end up trying to tell Jesus, hey, you can’t you can’t be the suffering Messiah.

You can’t do that. I’m not going to let you.

Conclusion

Does that matter? I don’t think that it does. It shouldn’t. Right? Because our faith is not hinging upon seeing these things with our own eyes, so to speak. That’s where faith comes in. Faith means that when I read these stories and I believe in them, I accept them, it is the same as seeing them with my own eyes. That’s the level of faith that we are called to believe in the written testimony.

From different standpoints and viewpoints, exactly who Jesus was. I mean, obviously John does it, goes about it in a very different way than the other gospel writers. He picks out seven specific miracles. But even John says towards the end of his gospel in John chapter 20, that these things are written. There’s a lot of other stuff Jesus did, but these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. And that by believing in him you will have life in his name. And it’s this understanding, this confession that Peter makes here at the end of chapter 8, verses 27 through 30, that we all must ultimately come to. It is this confession that we must make. But in order to do so, we have to have a willingness to see and hear what so many throughout history, either through ignorance or sheer stubbornness, refuse to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

To see him for who he truly was, the creator and the redeemer. Most refuse to hear his teaching and the teaching of the scriptures about him, and therefore they refuse to accept him and submit to him. And so my invitation to you here this morning is will you look into Scripture with open hearts and eyes and ears that are willing to understand, that are willing to see, that are willing to perceive, that are willing to submit and believe what the scriptures are trying to get us to see and believe. Accept him. Submit to him. Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? Do you not yet understand that Jesus is Lord of all?