Christ's Healings

First, why do you think Christ, on several occasions made more of a show of healing?  i.e. the deaf and dumb Mark 7: 32-37 and blind man Mark 8:22-25

Second, if you read the account of Christ's healing of the blind man, Mark 8:22-25, Christ seems to have to heal him twice.  The first healing, the man could see but his vision was distorted and the second time his vision restored.  What do you make of that?

--J

My thought would be that it a) of course didn’t have anything to do with Jesus and b) didn’t have anything to do with the blind man.  I find it interesting that it mentions that he was taken out of town – didn’t need to go to any water or river or anything – just had to be taken away.

I think the reason would be that the THE DISCIPLES/APOSTLES needed to be taught a lesson.  In the previous verses it talks about how the disciples were lacking in faith and didn’t know what they were going to do because they didn’t have any bread.  Poor Jesus, he was so patient.    Verses 18 and 21 stick out especially….”having eyes, see ye not”  “how is it that ye do not understand?”

So, my thought would be, here is a problem with someone’s “eyes” that he is going to heal, to help them understand – it’s beyond the physical…verse 25 says:

25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw ^aevery man clearly.

“he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

This might be pushing it, but “he was restored”, kind of like the leper who came back to Christ (and I believed was healed on the inside as well as the outside), this brother was “restored” – not only physically, but spiritually, which is even more important.

So my take would be the first healing was symbolic of physical and the second was spiritual – and at the same time he was trying to reiterate to the disciples, “please see with your spiritual eyes and UNDERSTAND”.

Thanks so much for sending this – very uplifting!!!!!

--C

I thought the same thing about doing it for the benefit of the witnesses.  Reading these verses just dumbfounds me on how dense the disciples were.  Regarding their comments, Christ was like, "Guys.  Are you kidding me?  How are you still not getting this?"

About the double healing, I'm glad you put it that way.  Because I kept feeling it was more of a foreshadowing or analogy, sending some message, but I was feeling it more in terms of the church itself -- the early church and the restored church, but nothing was really hitting the mark in my mind.

--J