April 09, 2010
Blurred Vision
Two blind men called out to Jesus, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” Jesus did show mercy by touching their eyes, but He added a disclaimer to their healing, "According to your faith will it be done to you…" (Matt 9:27-29). Thankfully their faith measured up, but what if one of them had weak faith, partial faith or even borrowed faith. Might he have then been half-healed with blurry vision? It’s a good day when Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Oh you of little faith…’
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Gail;
-----Mark 8:22-26 tells a story of a blind man healed to just blurry vision. Of course Jesus healed his vision completely once the blind man told him he could only see men like trees walking. It is interesting that Jesus did not first ask this man if he had faith as He usually did when healing. Furthermore, it is interesting that the blind man’s friends brought him to Jesus. This may simply mean that he needed someone to lead him there. But it may also mean that his friends initiated his going to Jesus more than he did, possibly because he did not fully have faith. We can neither know for sure nor surmise about whether or not the man had faith, but we certainly may note it as an interesting point.
-----Several times Jesus used a mustard seed to analogize faith. Although He said the seed was tiny but grew into a great tree, He said, “...if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:20) The father of the boy Jesus’ disciples were not able to free from the evil spirit indicated less than certain belief that Jesus could do it either. He cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And Jesus freed the boy. I think what was more important to Jesus was that faith was in place rather than how much faith was there. I can see two possible ideas He may have had in likening faith to a mustard seed. First, regardless of its size, it definitely is still there. Yes, its inclination to grow into a great tree must be recognized, especially since Jesus noted it. But if that were the point of importance I kind of think Jesus might have said, “...if you have faith as a mustard tree...” Second, it has in it the spark of life. Even as a seed it represents the tree, because the tree is in its inclination. And when placed in its proper conditions, it will grow into the tree. So maybe Jesus is saying that if you truly have this faith in just a small bit, you may as well be counted as having it in a large way, because that is to where the life of it will eventually lead.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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