Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida

Illustration of Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida
The only miracle Jesus performed in two stages - 'I see men as trees, walking' - a healing that mirrored the disciples' own slowly clearing sight.

At Bethsaida, friends brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. Jesus led the man by the hand out of the town, spat on his eyes, laid hands on him, and asked if he saw anything - and the man answered with one of Scripture's most vivid lines: 'I see men as trees, walking.' Jesus laid hands on his eyes a second time, and he was restored and 'saw every man clearly.' It is the only two-stage miracle in the Gospels, and Mark places it deliberately: immediately afterward, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ yet still sees the mission blurrily, resisting the cross. The gradual healing becomes a living parable of the disciples themselves - sight that comes by stages, from blurred to clear.

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Details

Category
Healing
Testament
New Testament
Performed by
Jesus

Key Chapters

Mark 8 Peter's Confession of Christ 5 min read

Key Passages

The Two-Stage Healing

Mark 8:22-26

A22nd 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. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

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Characters

Jesus Jesus is portrayed in the Bible as the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah whose coming fulfilled Oldโ€ฆ Peter Peter, originally a fisherman named Simon, was called by Jesus along the Sea of Galilee to become one ofโ€ฆ

Places

Bethsaida Home to Peter, Andrew, and Philip, Bethsaida witnessed more of Jesus' miracles than almost any other town -โ€ฆ

Themes

Faith Without faith it is impossible to please God. From Abraham leaving everything for an unknown land to aโ€ฆ Mercy Mercy in the Bible is not weakness - it is the deliberate choice of the all-powerful to spare the guilty.โ€ฆ Hope Hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking - it is confident expectation anchored in the character of God.โ€ฆ

Did You Know?

1

This is the only miracle in all four Gospels that happened in two stages - and Mark, the briefest Gospel, is the only one that records it.

2

Jesus led the man outside Bethsaida before healing him - the town had seen mighty works and repented not, and Jesus pronounced woe on it in Matthew 11.

3

'I see men as trees, walking' sits deliberately between the disciples' 'do ye not yet understand?' and Peter's confession of Christ - blurred sight clearing in stages is the chapter's whole theme.