“Sir, I would see again”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Mark 8:11-26 (Forward, p. 60) CEV p. 1037
Of all the five physical senses (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell), I’m not sure whether I would willingly part with any of them. However, because I am an avid reader and writer and enjoy people and the out-of-doors, I would particularly feel amiss and bereft if I lost the gift of sight. It is of interest therefore that this gift has an especially important place in today’s passage.
The religious elite of Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, have come to Jesus wanting to pick a fight and wanting to test Him by demanding a sign from Him. Supposedly, they want something that they ‘can see’, but Jesus labels this demand as hypocrisy because there is evidence of who Jesus is and what He does all around them. They see, but don’t see. That is, they see with outward eyes, but don’t pick up on the inner significance or meaning of what they see. As the old saying says, ‘there is none so blind as those who will not see.’ To me, this is a telling indictment of many people in our world today. They choose not to see.
Then there is the blind beggar at Bethsaida, where the man’s friends begged Jesus to come and touch the man, presumably to bring about the healing of his eyes. Jesus does just that, but here we encounter something most unusual, and perhaps odd, in the history of Jesus’ miracles. The man’s sight is restored, yes, but it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in stages. To me, this too has a present application. Many people do wish to see, or to see more clearly or accurately, and indeed this does happen, but only in stages or gradually. And, just as the man had to stick with Jesus for this to happen, so do we have to stay close to Him and allow Him and His word to gradually transform the way we see Him, our world and ourselves. Surely, this is a good thing to ask of Him during this Lenten season. Amen.
Forward notes: “Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember?” (verse 18).
“My friend’s son complained about seeing double, so she took him to the doctor. The doctor asked him, ‘How can you hit the baseball if you see two balls coming at you?’ The boy replied, ‘I’ve got two bats!’
“In Mark 8, Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding four thousand. The Pharisees were demanding a sign—as if Jesus had not just given one. The disciples complained about having no bread. They saw only what they did not have. They saw what they wanted to see.
“Jesus asked simple questions. Can you see? Can you hear? Do you remember? When we are out and about in our daily lives, do we see our siblings in need? Do we hear their cries of anguish? Do we remember that Jesus welcomed the marginalized? Do we remember how he ate with the outcast?
“Our vision can be self-serving sometimes. We see only what we want to see. Can we look at the world through the eyes of Jesus and bring peace, love, and sustenance?”
Moving Forward: “How can you be the hands of Jesus in your community?