Mark 8:23-25 ?

Question

Mar 8:23 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, walkin 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.


1.Why did it take 2 tries to heal the blind man
2. how could a blind man receiving sight for the first time know what a tree looked like ?

Answer 1

Is it okay if I answer?

It didn't take two tries to heal him, only for the blind man to understand the healing. As for the second part... I don't know.

And I mean "I don't know" like I'll look into it.

Answer 2

1. Didn't take 2 tries as Jesus has a reason for everything He did. He wanted to show He had the power and that He could do it as He chose to do. I am sure the blind man did not really care what the reason was or the way it was done but only that he could actually see.
2. Very simple. Ask a blind person to tell you what a tree looks like and they can tell you. If you doubt it, go out to something you have never seen before and shut your eyes, even be blindfolded so there is no light whatever that you see. Have someone take you to the item that you have never seen before and then touch it, feel it and see if you can tell what it looks like. Bet with a bit of practice you could get at least a 99% accuracy and never had seen the items you felt with your hands. That is how a blind person sees, with their hands and their ears too. I have personally been with a blind man that could not see a thing but told me there was a truck sitting in front of the doors he was coming out of. He could tell by the sounds that was different than it would be if it were not there. I have seen the blind do many things that a sighted person would swear they could not do but they did them anyway. Like a farm equipment mechanic that could take apart any combine or any other piece of farm equipment and repair it and put it all together and never lose a bolt or nut and even beat a sighted person doing it. So knowing what a tree looks like is a piece of cake.

Answer 3

How could a blind man receiving sight know what a tree looked like?

The Bible doesn't say this man was BORN blind. It seems like he probabally had sight at one time.

I will have to think and study the first question.

One opinion is that the first healing of the eyes restored the vision of the eyes...the second healing was restoring the muscles and focusing of the eyes.

Jesus tells the man to look up, so possibly it does have to do with the muscles in the eyes.

Answer 4

1. Jesus was being loving in how he healed the blind man. No doubt this man had not seen light for some time, so if Jesus had healed him immediately the light would have hurt his eyes. But Jesus healed him gradually, the first time the man could only see shadowy trees and men walking about, the second time he could see clearly. It's kind of like when you wake up in the morning, it takes your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light.

2.The man probably had eyesight at one point in his life and it gradually subsided or something happened to make him lose his sight.

Answer 5

I believe that Jesus' healings were based on faith. Perhaps the healee didn't believe strongly enough. I also believe that Jesus worked through natural laws, he just had a better understanding of them than we do. Perhaps it was a two step process.
As far as the blind man knowing what a tree looked like, does the account say that the guy was blind from birth? Maybe he had really bad cataracts and Jesus only cleared away a few of them the first time to allow the man to adjust to regaining his sight.
The truth is that there isn't enough information to know what really happened. If you don't want to believe, this won't change anything. If you're honestly curious, I hope this gives something to you to think about. if you're already a believer, than it doesn't matter exactly how and why, you just believe it happened.

Answer 6

1. Perhaps the Lord was showing us to continue to pray for total healing, don't take partial when You can have all. Jesus could have healed with a word, or just as the woman reached out for the hem and the power just flowed from His body. So why didn't he this time? To teach something to us. He was always teaching.
2. Perhaps he "saw" the trees with his fingers? Blind people feel things with sensitive fingers.
I also know people that have very little sight, are considered legally blind, but can see shapes.

Answer 7

Much of what Jesus did pictured something else. It did not take two tries. The gradual healing pictures the disciples' slow but progressive spiritual comprehension that Jesus was Messiah. If you read on to v. 29, there is the confessin that Jesus is Messiah.

To the second question---he simply may not have been born blind.

Answer 8

1. Nothing is too difficult for Jesus. He could of been showing his disciples that some healing would be gradual rather than instantaneous or to demonstrate that spiritual truth is not always perceived clearly at first.
2. someone could of described it before when maybe he bumped into in before. Or maybe he heard about trees and that was the first thing that came to his mind to say.

Answer 9

Jesus healed many, many people in many many different ways. Sometimes he simple spoke the word and they were healed, sometimes they simply touched the hem of his garment and were healed.

The point to all this , is that Jesus healed in a way that would be meaningful to the one healed.

Your question about how a blind man could know what a tree looked like. He could have had them described to him and he also could have felt the tree physically to "know" what it looked like to him (not us)

Answer 10

whitehype,

If you study the instances where healing took place around Jesus, you find a curious thing. He almost always gives credit for the healing, to the one healed. "Your faith has made you whole". "Let it be done to you, according to your faith". Do you see it? Without the faith of the one who was suffering, He could do nothing. Interesting, no?
So it is also, in our spiritual suffering. If we have no faith, He can do nothing for us. Saying that you believe, and having great faith, are two different things. However, don't get the idea, that these people get credit for their healing. We also read, that the faith they displayed, is also a gift of the Father. Therefore, let us all ask for great faith, that our eyes may be opened, and we may see the Truth.