Wiping the Spit from His Eyes

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands onhim, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. - Mark 8:22-25

There was a fun interaction during the message yesterday about this passage as Judy Kim and Brenna Rubio took insights from the congregation about it. One of them was that perhaps the reason Jesus had to heal the man twice - and in particular it mentions that used his hands on the man’s eyes - is that they were blurry from Jesus’s spit in them.

There was a lot of laughter at that, but then Brenna pointed out something like this: “There are some people who think the Bible is simple and easy, but it’s a weird book, isn’t it? We should have lots of questions when we come to it.”

And it’s true. Even something as straightforward as one of Jesus’s healings is actually fun of possible ways to see it, which reminds us that God speaks in lots of different ways through this sacred source.