Ryle on Mark 8:22-26

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 8:22-26.

Source Text

22 And he cometh to Bethsai- 1 unto him, and besought him to touch da; and they bring a blind man | him. 23 And he took the hlind 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 bade 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. We do not know the reason of the peculiar means em- ployed by our Lord Jesus Chirst, in working the miracle recorded in these verses.

We see a blind man miracu- lously healed. We know that a word from our Lord's mouth, or a touch of His hand would have been suf- ficient to effect a cure. But we see Jesus taking this blind man by the hand - leading him out of the town - spitting on his eyes - putting His hands on him, and then, and not till then, restoring his sight. And the meaning of all these actions, the passage before us leaves entirely unexplained. But it is well to remember, in reading passages of this kind, that the Lord is not tied to the use of any one means. In the conversion of men's souls there are diversities of operation, but it is the same Spirit which converts. So also in the healing of men's bodies there were varieties of agency employed by our Lord, but it was the same divine power that effected the cure. In all His works God is a sovereign. He giveth not ac- count of any of His matters. One thing in the passage demands our special obser- vation. That thing is the gradual nature of the cure which our Lord performed on this blind man. He did not deliver him from his blindness at once, but by de- grees. He might have done it in a moment, but He chose to do it step by step. First the blind man said that he only saw " men as trees walking." Afterwards his eyesight was restored completely, and he " saw every man clearly." In this respect the miracle stands entirely alone. We need hardly doubt that this gradual cure was meant to be an emblem of spiritual things.

We may be sure that there was a deep meaning in every word and work of our Lord's earthly ministry, and here, as in other places, we shall find a useful lesson.

Let us see then in this gradual restoration to sight, a vivid illustration of the manner in which the Spirit fre- quently ivories in the conversion of souls. We are all naturally blind and ignorant in the matters which con- cern our souls. Conversion is an illumination, a change from darkness to light, from blindness to seeing the king- dom of God. Yet few converted people see things dis- tinctly at first. The nature and proportion of doctrines, practices, and ordinances of the Gospel are dimly seen by them, and imperfectly understood. They are like the man before us, who at first saw men as trees walking. Their vision is dazzled and unaccustomed to the new world into which they have been introduced. It is not till the work of the Spirit has become deeper and their experience been somewhat matured, that they see all things clearly, and give to each part of religion its proper place. This is the history of thousands of God's children. They begin with seeing men as trees walking - they end with seeing all clearly. Happy is he who has learned this lesson well, and is humble and distrustful of his own judgment.

Finally, let us see in the gradual cure of this blind man, a striking picture of the present position of Christ's believing people in the world, compared with that which is to come.

We see in part and know in part in the present dispensation. We are like those that travel by night. We know not the meaning of much that is passing around us. In the providential dealings of God with His children, and in the conduct of many of God's saints, we see much that we cannot understand - and cannot alter. In short, we are like him that saw " men as trees walking." But let us look forward and take comfort. The time comes when we shall see all " clearly." The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us be content to wait, and watch, and work, and pray. When the day of the Lord comes, our spiritual eyesight will be perfected. We shall see as we have been seen, and know as we have been known.