The passage is familiar. Maybe too familiar.
And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” (Mar 8.23)
One of the great tragedies of our Christian experience is familiarity with Jesus. We read these miracle accounts and fill in the punch line before we even consider the magnitude piled up in the specifics.
In this incident we know of course that the miracle of restoring the blind man’s sight demonstrates that Jesus is Son of God (Mark 1.1). He has divine power because he is God. But further still, he is the one who gives sight to the blind. And why are they blind in the first place? It is because of the curse of sin. Therefore, Jesus is the great restorer of humanity. He is the one who rescues from sin, Satan, and death. He is the one who means to make his blessings flow, ‘far as the curse is found’ as we like to sing this time of year.
But think with me about these familiar details. Jesus takes his spit and rubs it on the blind man’s eyes. This is a bit odd, don’t you think? Jesus takes spit from his own mouth and applies it to the one who is so severely afflicted by the venom of sin’s curse.
This would not be the last time that fluid from within Jesus would become symbolic for healing of those afflicted by the curse. In due time this same powerfully compassionate Jesus would punctuate his ministry at the end of his death march to Golgotha. There he would suffer the wrath of men as he anticipates the wrath of God. He would soon be slain like a lamb on the altar of the cross. He would stain that wood with crimson as he dies for sinners.
Surely you see the connection now. Jesus would take his own blood and shed it for us. He would apply his blood to us. He would cleanse us, heal us, restore us, make us new. This blood of Christ is sin atoning, enemy reconciling, sight giving, blood. Christ would shed and apply this blood for us that we might, like this blind man, see. He means for us to see.
And thanks be to God we see. All who have been graciously, sovereignly, compassionately touched by the Savior and received the healing blood of his cross, we can see. Yes we all, like this guy from Bethsaida, have some blurriness of sight (Mk. 8.24). But, don’t look away discouraged. See the Savior touch again. See him dip his finger in the great ocean of his blood and reapply. We are seeing better. We are loving more. This is due to the Savior’s powerful and gracious compassion. (Mk. 8.25).
