The Narrow Path Ministries

Mark 7:31-37
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 8:22-26
22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 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?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

In regards to the above stories, does anyone have any insight or information regarding the actions of Jesus? The poking and spitting seems superstitious, akin to a witch doctor's methods.

Also, I've heard it said that when Jesus or the apostles healed, the healing was instantaneous and complete. The story in Mark 8 seems to contradict that. Thoughts?

Excellent question--

In John 9, Jesus similarly healed a blind man by spitting on the ground and making mud, and then anointing the blind man's eyes with the mud.

I am not sure what the significance is of the different ways Jesus healed. I was in a prayer meeting on Saturday morning and one of the gentlemen present made the comment that Jesus was always relying on leading from the Father, and perhaps Jesus himself did not know exactly how he was going to heal someone until that very moment. The lesson, i suppose, is that we too must be in tune with the Spirit to know how to deal with a particular situation. Perhaps the "procedures" used by Jesus was more for the benefit of the person being healed-- some "visible" demonstration that he was actually doing something. Of course, this wasnt always required, as with the centurion's servant, but Jesus remarked that the centurion had faith like that which was not seen among the jews he was ministering to.

I too have often wondered about the healing "in stages" of the blind man who initially had unclear vision. this may represent the blind man's gradual increase in faith. i don't know. i am interested to see what everyone else has to say.

TK

Is spitting being practice by faith healers today such as Benny Hinn.

i have not heard of benny hinn spitting on or around people to allegedly heal them, but thankfully i am no benny hinn expert.

TK

It just occurred to me that this should have been in the Gospels category.

D'oh!!

schoel wrote:
In regards to the above stories, does anyone have any insight or information regarding the actions of Jesus? The poking and spitting seems superstitious, akin to a witch doctor's methods.

Jesus healed in many different ways; I don't think any two were exactly alike. I've heard it said that the reason (or at least part of it) is that if he did it the same way, people through the ages would be trying to reproduce his miracles by applying the formula.

Dave,

I was watching an interview on the internet this week and this particular verse came up. The person was saying that the making of mud on a Sabbath was forbidden in the Jewish Mishnah (A second century written record of the oral tradition that would have existed at the time of John 9). Notice in vs. 14 it makes a point that Jesus not only healed but made mud on the Sabbath.

Joh 9:14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

This person theorized that Jesus made the mud on the Sabbath in order to make a point about the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of a New Covenant, which would not be based on ceremonial laws. He pointed out that Jesus did a similar thing with his first miracle when he intentionally put wine in vessels set aside for ceremonial washing.

Joh 2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Hence, Jesus was a subversive scandalon. Yikes! But obviously for our own good

His explanation seemed like a realistic possibility to me.

If you would like to watch the entire interview (I found the whole thing very interesting) here’s the link

http://www.newday.org/guests/?date=2008-06-20

Look for the interview with Bruxy Cavey part 2….if you’ve got the time, I’d recommend both parts.

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As far as the “Seeing men as trees” verse. I remember reading one time (possibly Matthew Henry) that he thought Jesus was trying to illustrate the spiritual vision of the people under the Old Covenant. Without Christ they only “saw men as trees” but with Christ they see clearly.

This explanation is certainly speculative but doesn’t seem out of the question to me.

Steve F