And they (Jesus and the disciples) 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,
Mark 8:22-25.
Dear DeepTruth,
The main purpose of the story is to teach
when an Elect believer's spiritual blindness is healed. The second witness of the story's message is presented by Paul's conversion in Acts chapter 9.
The story begins here:
Mark 8:15 And he charged them, saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, it is because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, how is it that ye do not understand?
In the verses above, Christ is giving His disciples a lesson on the spiritual language of God's Word - His language. At this point in time (before they were converted at Pentecost), the disciples had only received the
Early Rain of the Spirit and had not yet received the
Latter Rain of the Spirit (Baptism of the Holy Spirit). Because of such, the apostles were still
spiritually blind and could not understand what Christ was teaching them.
Christ ends His comments above by asking the apostles this question:
“How is it that ye do not understand”? No response from the Apostles is recorded in scripture. However, Christ answers His own question in the very next four verses.
Mark 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
Since Christ is the Word of God, He teaches His converted Elect not only by parables and analogies but also by the things that He did. These teachings are called "types". In answering the question that He proposed to the disciples in verse 21, Christ goes to Bethsaida and gives us His answer in
type by the healing of a blind man.
In verse 23, Christ leads a blind man out of the city. Once outside the city, Christ places spit on his eyes and touches him with His hands. These actions occur as the blind man is looking down which symbolizes the carnal aspect of His healing. Christ does not have to tell the blind man to look down, the blind man just does it
naturally. The spit (water) Christ places on the man's eyes symbolizes the
Early Rain of the Spirit with its accompanying vision (understanding). This event represents the time when an unbeliever is called out from the world and enters the church.
With the Early Rain of the Spirit, the new believer will no longer be totally blind but will instead be near-sighted. This happens because the Early Rain of the Spirit is only given in
measure (a small amount) and will leave the believer carnally minded. In other words, the new believer will understand the teachings of Christ in a
carnal way which will leave their house empty of the truth of God (Mat 12:43-45).
Because the new believer has almost no ability to understand the spiritual teachings of Christ, Satan will come to them and deceive them with his "another gospel" which mixes works with faith. The believer's deception happens quickly because Satan's false teachings are very pleasing to the believer's carnal nature.
Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
Scripture says that Satan is the crooked serpent (Job 26:13). Satan is called the crooked serpent because he teaches the crooked way of salvation by man's works. As a result, Satan's gospel mixes man's works (religion, Old Covenant) with the works of Christ (faith alone, New Covenant).
This false gospel is very deceptive to carnally minded believers:
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
When a believer accepts Satan's false gospel, they will mix the Old Wine with the New Wine. This will cause the believer to become "lukewarm" (Rev 3:16) and they will fall from grace (Gal 5:4).
Adding "works" to faith is the "sin that leads to death". John mentions that sin in 1John 5:16 and Paul mentions it in Heb 6:1-6.
These verses below apply to mixing the Old Wine with the New Wine:
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Prv 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Next in the story, Christ asks the blind man what he can see. The man looks up and says that he can see men "walking as trees". "Walking as trees" is a spiritual symbol for called out believers who walk by sight rather than by faith. At this point, the blind man is a type for a carnally minded believer. The man’s blindness is not total any longer but he is still very near-sighted and can only see Christ "in the flesh" (carnally).
In the final verse of the story, Christ lays His hands upon the man’s eyes again, but as He does, Christ has the man look up instead of down. This second healing represents the
Latter Rain of the Spirit when clear spiritual vision is given to an Elect believer. The man’s upward gaze represents the spiritual aspect of the healing in contrast to the carnal aspect when the blind man was looking down at the earth.
The man is now shown to be a type for a
called AND chosen believer (the Elect) who receive both the Early and Latter Rains of the Spirit.
James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receives the EARLY and LATTER RAIN. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
It is at this time that the man has been given "eyes that can see". He is now ready for the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb where Christ will feed the believer His truth. After the believer is sufficiently nourished with bread, meat and New Wine, the believer will come out from Satan's deceptions and will begin walking by faith.
Joe