I Can See Clearly Now

I Can See Clearly Now
Mark: Who is this Man?
Mark 8:22-8:38
September 29, 2024

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

This seems a little strange at first glance – and this account doesn’t appear in the other gospel accounts so we need to ask why is it here?  Well, one thing we need to do is look at the surrounding text...

Mark 8:17-21- And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

When you look at the surrounding text, Jesus is trying to teach His disciples something through this miracle – they could see, but not very clearly… 

Main Idea:  Clear vision allows us to see Jesus for who He really is, and better understand our lives in relation to eternity.

I: The crowd wasn’t seeing what they thought they were seeing.

Mark 8:27-28 - And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

A. The prophets did some incredible things too…
Elijah raised a boy back to life: 1 Kings 17:21-24 - Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

• He prayed for rain and it rained - 1 Kings 18:45
• He called fire down from heaven onto an alter - 1 Kings 18:38
• He called fire down from heaven – two more times on 100 enemy troops – 2 Kings 1:10 and 12

B. So, you can see why some thought Jesus was Elijah having come back…
C. However, the people didn’t see clearly enough to realize that He was more than a prophet – they missed it because they, like the man Jesus healed, were blind.
D. Are you missing the identity of the real Jesus because of spiritual blindness?
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Main Idea:  Clear vision allows us to see Jesus for who He really is, and better understand our lives in relation to eternity. 

II: Peter could see who he was talking to.  

At this point, Peter had seen enough to know who Jesus was…

Mark 8:29-30 - And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

A. Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ is more than just a little significant…
B. Matthew 16:15-21 - He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
C. The Father had revealed this to Peter.
D. On this “rock” – Peter’s confession is what Jesus is talking about here, not Peter himself…
E. While Peter got this right, and his confession was applauded, he still got the distance wrong… 

Main Idea:  Clear vision allows us to see Jesus for who He really is, and better understand our lives in relation to eternity.

III: There is a danger in only seeing what we want to see.

Peter saw the Jesus was the Christ, but he missed the application of that badly…

Mark 8:31-33 - And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

A. For the first time of what will be several times, Jesus outlines what must happen to Him.
B. Peter got who Jesus is, but only saw what he wanted to see…
C. When we see only what we want to see, we can miss out on important facts – “three days rise again. And he said this plainly.”
D. Why is Peter so harshly rebuked? Because he was guilty of doing what so many others do – attempt to follow Christ on his terms… John 4:34 - Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
E. Jesus isn’t our Genie to help us have everything we could ever want.  He demonstrated that we must all surrender to the will of the Father in our lives. Matthew 7:21 - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
F. Like Jesus demonstrated, we must surrender to the will of the Father – our lives aren’t about us, they are to be used for Him.

Main Idea:  Clear vision allows us to see Jesus for who He really is, and better understand our lives in relation to eternity.

Conclusion: Clearly seeing Jesus orients us with an eternal view of life.

Mark 8:34-38 - And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

A. Everyone wanted a conquering hero - they wanted God to do their bidding.
B. Jesus taught something different- that there would be a cost to following Him. - “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,”
C. But the payoff would come in eternity - but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
D. Seeing clearly also means that we watch for the return of Jesus - "when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
 

Challenge: Romans 12:1-8 – Read – Reflect – Respond in prayer – Rest in the Word.