February 2nd, 2025 - "Epiphany Scripture Surprises: When We See Trees Walking" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Matt Nelson: Welcome to the Sermon podcast from First United Methodist

Church in downtown Bentonville.

If you have questions related to what you hear today or just want to find

out more about the ministries at First United Methodist Church, please visit us

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Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler: I want to add my welcome to Pastor Michelle's

and say I'm so grateful you're here in worship with us this morning

and that you've chosen to be here.

God is here and we are here.

Let's.

worship God in spirit and truth this morning.

The title of my sermon is, When We See Trees Walking.

Now, you can tell, you know, we were having our staff meeting

and Ken turned to me and said, Can you give me something else?

Uh, you know, how am I gonna pick a song for this?

But, uh, I think all will be clear, hopefully, by the time we get to the end.

My scripture lesson this morning is Mark 8, verses 22 through 26, and I invite

Mark 8:22–26

you to listen for the word of God that's contained in these holy scriptures.

Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida.

Some people brought him a blind man to Jesus, and they begged

him to touch him and heal him.

Taking the blind man's hand, Jesus led them out of the village.

After spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on the man, he

asked him, Do you see anything?

The man looked up and said, I see people.

They look like trees, only they are walking around.

When Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, he

looked with his eyes wide open.

His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly.

Then Jesus sent him home saying, Don't go into the village.

This is the word of God for us, the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Would you join me for a word of prayer this morning?

Holy God, I ask that you open our eyes today, oh Lord, that your Holy

Spirit be here and be a word to every person who needs this word

in Christ's name we pray, Amen.

So this story has always puzzled me.

This is the end of our series about surprising and puzzling scriptures, and

this scripture has always puzzled me.

I remember when I first read it, I was like, oh.

A near miss for Jesus.

Since when does Jesus take two tries to heal someone?

Well, what was going on?

Do you have low blood sugar, not sleep very well the night before?

What's happening?

And then I thought, well, maybe it is a lack of faith on the part

of the blind man from Beth Sadia.

Or was it a lack of faith from the townspeople who brought

the blind man to Jesus?

So what's the story here?

This, admittedly, is a kind of messy story, and that may be the reason that

neither Matthew nor Luke thought to put that in their gospel narratives.

It's only in Mark.

It's actually the only story where Jesus takes two tries.

Now, we can know that in the Gospel of Mark, there is more of the humanity

of Jesus shown in the Gospel of Mark.

But then we remember that Christ healed the Sisyphoenician

woman's demon possessed daughter.

Remember, that's the, that's the Gentile woman who said, I

don't give the food to the dogs.

Remember that story?

He healed her from a distance in chapter seven.

That's just one chapter before this.

And he spoke the word and her daughter was healed.

And as far as we know, Jesus never laid eyes on this daughter.

She was healed from a distance.

So the writer of Mark makes it clear, Christ can perform miraculous

healings with a minimal effort.

So I believe, this morning, the two touch description of healing,

far from being a failing on the part of Jesus, is the very point.

And it has some significance for us as Christians today.

The first thing we notice in this brief text is that the people of the village

bring the blind man to Jesus and they beg Jesus to touch him, to heal him.

And then Jesus takes the man's hand and leads him out of the village.

Jesus wants to stay out of the spotlight.

And I can imagine that Jesus said, No, no, you all wait here.

And he takes the man outside of the village because after he heals a man,

he says, don't go back into the village.

Now, most scholars believe that that's Christ's way of saying, don't

tell anyone about your healing.

Can you imagine?

You're blind and you can see, don't tell anybody.

Jesus in Mark's telling is always attempting to go incognito.

He almost always orders those he heals.

He says, don't tell anyone.

And they almost always fail.

Then Jesus spits in the blind man's eye.

Now, okay, that seems a little gross to us.

But saliva was a common home remedy, and it was often used

in Hellenistic miracle stories.

So then Jesus lays his hands on the afflicted man, and instead

of giving a healing command, as Jesus normally does, he asked the

blind man, Do you see anything?

And this gives the blind man the opportunity to attest

to this partial healing.

Then Jesus gives the man a second touch.

And the Greek here might be translated, The man saw properly.

His sight is fully restored.

And the interesting thing too is there's no astonishment in this story.

The whole story focuses on this second touch of Jesus.

So what can that mean for us today?

I believe seeing in this passage can move at two levels of meaning.

So on the one hand, it's certainly focused on physical healing, physical vision.

This passage tells us that Jesus has the power to heal the blind man.

And we remember those passages in Isaiah that specify the opening of the blind

eye as a feature of the coming Messiah.

We may also view this healing at a symbolic level in which

seeing might refer to an inner perception or an understanding.

The writer of the Gospel of Mark is very skillful and he ties stories together

that reflect on one another symbolically.

So, what has happened just before this double tap healing that we've witnessed?

At the beginning of chapter 8, Jesus feeds 4, 000 with seven

loaves and a few fish, and they have seven baskets full of leftovers.

And then when they get in the boat to go across to the village, the

disciples start to worry because they've only packed one loaf of bread.

What are we going to eat?

And in his aspiration, Jesus says in verse 17, Why are you talking about

the fact that you don't have any bread?

Don't you grasp what is happening?

Don't you understand?

Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing?

Don't you have eyes?

Why can't you see?

The disciples need a double touch.

So what's the story that directly follows this healing of the blind man?

Jesus asks his disciples, gathers them together, he says,

Who do people say that I am?

And they say, well, some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and

still others say one of the prophets.

And he asks them, and what about you?

Who do you say that I am?

Of course, Peter immediately says, you are the Christ.

And Mark doesn't record that Jesus gave Peter any of the props.

The Gospel of Matthew does.

Peter gets props, but not here.

But we can say, good job, Peter.

You are seeing Jesus for who he is.

You are seeing clearly, but wait.

The scripture goes on to say, Then Jesus began to teach them that he must suffer

many things and be killed, and then after three days rise from the dead.

He says this plainly.

But Peter takes hold of Jesus and says, No!

Jesus, this can't be right!

And Jesus says to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan!

You are not thinking God's thoughts, but human thoughts!

Peter had it half right.

Peter needed the double touch to see clearly.

Beloved, I believe we need a double touch this morning to truly see,

and we may need Jesus to spit in our eyes so that we see more clearly.

Maybe we need a double touch to see Jesus, to understand who Christ is and

what the message of Jesus really means.

Following Jesus means discipleships, which takes us not from power and glory.

But to lowly service.

The way of Christ leads to a cross.

The goal of the second touch is to see things clearly.

God, and ourself, and other persons in the world.

We need a second touch to see people around us more fully.

To see them in their full humanity.

Sometimes people are cast as wooden representations, not

human flesh and bone and soul.

Sometimes we may see people we don't know well as stereotypes.

We may see them as trees walking.

A double touch from Jesus may take us from a comfortable place and

ask us to stand against voices that call for mindless hate and division.

Recently, a flyer was circulated locally here in our area that used

scriptures to promote anti Semitic hate.

Pastor Michelle has written an open letter of support for our neighbors,

and I'm quoting from that letter.

Our neighbors who are Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian, immigrant or

native, or any of the other identities of this world that seek to divide us.

God is for all and loves all.

And we affirm that truth and commit to loving you, our neighbors.

End of quote.

Beloved, I don't have all the answers for what's happening in our world, but I do

pray for honest and open conversations.

And I pray this morning for a second touch from the Holy Spirit will help

us all see clearly the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Matt Nelson: Thanks for listening to the Sermon Podcast from First United

Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.

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Grace and peace.