Mark Chapter 8 Verse 22

• Why did they bring him a blind man? Simple, because the blind man couldn’t find his way on his own! Isn’t that just silly? Just so obvious that we zerbert the air, “pfpfpfpfpf!” But at the same time, so profoundly important.
• I was blind. And here is the definition of blindness. Being ok with something God calls sin. Wasting my days wandering in circles, getting nowhere and all the while without a clue as to where I was. Left to my own devices man…to figure out this life. What to do, what to focus on, what to invest in…I was my own GPS, always recalculating…turn left now…dead end…turn right now…dead end…and the sadistic part of it all, the tragic fact of any person’s life that is being manipulated by the enemy and navigated by the flesh…you never know you’re headed towards a dead end until there is death…relationships, jobs, efforts, investments, school, marriages…
• But then someone brought me to Jesus. Simple and trite yes but the Bible says in Romans 10 and this is so very true to life, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” You ever dial the wrong number? Doesn’t happen that much nowadays with caller ID and voice dialing and texting but back in the day, “ring ring, hello?” “What up Joe?” “Um this is Sally, you must have the wrong number?” “Whoa you sound like a dude!” CLICK! HA!
• But just like that, folks that call upon self or the gods of false doctrines for salvation, for wisdom, for help…Jesus the brother of Lucifer, WRONG NUMBER! Jesus the angel Michael dressed up in Arc Angel robes…WRONG NUMBER! Jesus the commoditized Savior who is here to ensure your fleshly prosperity and your best life now! WRONG NUMBER! Mohammad, Buddha, Chrishna, Mary! WRONG NUMBER!
• “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God!” Why did they bring this blind man to Jesus? Because he couldn’t see to bring himself…so simple yet let that be a call to service for each of us that can see, a call to serve those who cannot…and bring them to Jesus…
• Now I hope you’re good with some crazy stuff though…what Jesus is about to do is unique, individually personal and actually kinda weird…

Mark Chapter 8 Verse 23

•  Awkward!Can you imagine? Obviously the disciples came with…(I kinda hate that…sounds so valley girlish to me…”Hey do you wanna come with?”) Anyway, Jesus takes this blind man by the hand and leads him out of the familiar elements. A change of scenery. Brings him to a place of peace is the picture I see in my mind’s eye and then as the disciples are watching with great anticipation, for Jesus to touch him, to heal him, to wow him, to astonish them…He spits right on the dude!
• Can you imagine the gasp of the disciples? I can imagine John chuckling a little bit! “Did you see that?” But the truth is never had they seen THAT. Jesus hadn’t ever healed in this fashion before. He had spit on the ground, made mud and used it…He had spit on His hands and placed His fingers in the ears of the deaf…He had simply spoken healing…but never before had He done this! But that is precisely His MO man! What He will do for you, with you and through you is something that has NEVER been seen or done before…are you ready for it!?
• Jesus says to this man, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up…wait that’s the next verse…

Mark Chapter 8 Verse 24

• Ok, that’s not really right. Men do not look like trees…

Mark Chapter 8 Verses 25 - 26

• So then Jesus touched this man again! I love that! No half jobs here…no mistake here…”Well was Jesus not able to heal him completely the first time?” Not at all. This is all planned. It’s all a pattern to encourage us and to teach us that man just like this dude we so often need a second touch! One isn’t enough! Not a second salvation…no no no, once we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit then man we are upright but that doesn’t mean we are walking straightly!
• One subtle difference in these two touches…look at verse 25 again, “He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up!” You see when I got saved man I got saved! I was a ridiculous sin factory man just manufacturing every kind of evil…you heard of the seven deadly sins right? Well I had 8! I pushed the boundaries of evil, man! But when someone cared enough to take pity on me and lead me to Jesus, man He touched me and for the first time, light peeked into my soul. I could see!
• But for years I pursued perfection, personal achievement, religious superiority! I would learn and learn and learn and apply and apply and apply…apply all that I was learning…to others! HA! So concentrated on the specs in the eyes of others man! Alive spiritually for sure! Surging forward for sure man but harming and hurting and not serving and really seeing everything wrong…and then one morning, early, dark…me, Jesus, my Bible, coffee…and anger…
• God why? Why is all of this so difficult? Why do I have so much hate still? So much wrath? Why isn’t everyone perfect like me? HA! Then He touched me again and said to me, “Quit looking at you son, look at Me…look up!” And I saw clearly…man I believe we all need a second touch…a daily touch to see clearly…what a beautiful pattern we have here…
• Next scene…

Mark Chapter 8 Verses 27 – 30

• Very interesting scene of personal interaction between Jesus and His closest. Those that are closest to Him…He ensures that they know…He ensures that they are prepared for what lies ahead…and yet He says this knowledge, this truth, this empowering revelation…is for you (He then strictly warns them to tell no one about Him), why? The crowds yes…He’s concerned about folks thronging Him yes…put that canned commentary aside for a moment…why? Because you are the ones that are near to Me. And the same goes for us. The revelational stuff about reality, what’s really going on, what does this or that really mean…the closer you are to Jesus, simply this, the more you will understand…

Mark Chapter 8 Verse 31

• Notice it’s now that Jesus began to teach them of the cross…after He had spent time working out with them who He was…You see their concept of the Messiah was according to their traditions, not the Word of God. Isaiah clearly prophesied “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed”…David clearly prophesied in Psalm 22, “The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; They look and stare at Me, They divide My garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots.”
• Yet their traditions had taken over…”Oh the Messiah, He will come and free us of our Roman oppression! He will come and place us in a position of worldly prominence! He will exalt US!” Ultimately that is where tradition will get you and so when Jesus came, the Messiah, God with us, the Ancient of Days among them…guess what!? They missed it!!! The Jews that is…
• And man we miss it! We develop our own idea of who Jesus is! What He should be doing for me and how He’s concerned with my worldliness…no He’s not! He’s suffering through it! While His awesome plan for you goes unexecuted!! As Jesus becomes a means to how you get your way with folks and a means by how you justify your cruelty…calling it religion or holiness or righteousness! The Jews missed Jesus because they had their own ideas…don’t you do it too. Read the Word and follow it!
• Jesus says here, “don’t you miss it too…” And so He tells them the hardship that lies before Him AFTER He has firmly settled with them who He is…
• Ah but Peter…the lover of Jesus, the friend, the leader, the practical…

Mark Chapter 8 Verses 32 – 33

• Peter just solidified his prominence as the most weightiest prophet in the history of prophets…face to face with the Savior, representing the homies he was with…”You are the Christ!” And yet the same calorie set, the same scene, the same group, the same place…Peter rebukes Jesus! And in the Greek the idea is a continual rebuke…”Come on Jesus!   Cut this talk out about rejection and crucifixion. Let’s talk about health and wealth, prosperity and the kingdom…” But Peter!!! Without the cross, there is no crown…
• You’ve got it all wrong Peter…men are concerned about the material, God is concerned about the eternal. Men are concerned about prosperity. God is concerned about sanctity. Men are concerned about power. God is concerned about purity…A sharp and sudden rebuke from God upon Peter but in the midst of it all, I am sharply encouraged.
• Why? Do you think Jesus thought in that moment, “Oh no! If I had known that Peter would say that, I would never have revealed to him who I was! I would have allowed James or John to give the greatest proclamation ever given!” No…He knew Peter but God wasn’t taken aback by Peter’s mistake…He knew it was coming and yet He still chose to use him. There have been times where I said something or taught something so entirely powerful and then in the next moment, the next hour the next study, I say something I wish I hadn’t…I repent, I move on, God is pleased. This encourages me…because that’s exactly what Jesus does here…He corrects Peter and then He moves on…

Mark Chapter 8 Verses 34 – 38

• We could spend weeks here examining what Jesus just said but let me sum it up…if you’re after your own, if you’re making your momentary decisions concerning how you will react, what you will do next, what you will say, what you will get into, where you will go and what you will do…if you’re making those decisions based on what would work for you, what would fit into the convenience of your life, what you’d like to do…rather than what would God have you to do, what will most serve Him and others, what will lead to glorifying God through humility, service, love, mercy, gentleness, kindness, patience…then a believer you may be, Joe ‘merican Christian you may be, but a disciple you are not…
• Jesus says here, the three things required of all disciples, if you desire to come after Him…deny your fleshly moment to moment self, take up your cross…in other words, embrace inequality…embrace sacrificial giving of yourself…and only when you’ve done those two things can you move on to number three…follow. Sounds like a short deal but it’s the only way to life…you desire to save yours, walk after your own needs, wants, desires, emotions, feelings, whatever…you’ll lose man…and it won’t be worth it…
• Jesus is man…after all this…He is the Christ. He is the Savior and His method…love…that’s how and why He came…that’s how and why He saved me…He embraced inequality…nothing in me deserved saving…and we see the culmination here…He comes in the glory of His Father and the holy angels…and according to Revelation 19...the saints will come with Him…to storm this world man and to take it once and for ever…