I've become dissatisfied with my vision, as of late. No, nothing is seriously wrong with my eyes. It's just that my eyesight has become increasingly blurry at a distance and close-up. More than anything, the inability to see clearly has caused eye strain, head-weariness, and fatigue.
My eyes have always been problematic. If you speak to my optometrist, she'd tell you that I have an astigmatism (common), that I am nearsighted (very common), and that I have presbyopia, or difficulty reading because I'm getting older (can I get a witness?). To address this, I must wear contact lens and reading glasses.
Why do I go to so much trouble? I want to see clearly.
The blind man that we learn about in Mark 8 wanted to see. Period. When he is brought to Jesus, he is escorted out of the village to be healed. Giving sight to the blind is, of course, what the Messiah does. The prophet, Isaiah, once proclaimed, "The deaf shall hear…and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see."
Jesus lays his hands upon the man and then asks him, "Can you see anything?"
The blind man is receiving a consult from the Divine Optometrist, and Jesus sounds genuinely curious if the man can see clearly after the first intervention.
"And the man looked up and said, "I can see people, but they look like trees, walking."
The verdict? Almost, but not quite.
It's a strange Bible story that warrants a second look. What should we make of the man's partial vision? Why doesn't Jesus' first attempt to heal the man not bring about 20/20 vision?
Curiously, the story may have less to do with the man's eyesight than we think. The story that immediately precedes this one contains a warning from Jesus to his disciples. He says, "Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." The disciples said to one another, "It is because we have no bread." And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? …Then he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
It's not about bread.
"Do you still not get it?" Jesus asks them.
The Gospels teach us that this is a reoccurring problem. Jesus's disciples have a vision problem. They are not able to see clearly. As we learn, the disciples' partial understanding is going to get them into trouble. Just ask Peter, who in one moment can recognize Jesus as Lord, but then in another cannot grasp what that means.
"And the man looked up and said, "I can see people, but they look like trees, walking."
An exasperated Jesus replies to our inability to see clearly, "Do you not yet understand?"
Mark tells us that because his first touch didn't bring perfect vision "Jesus laid his hands on the man's eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly."
Conclusion? It takes multiple touches from Jesus to see clearly.
The disciples would find this to be true. They were in the very presence of the Almighty and still couldn't see things clearly. Faith development, it would seem, is not 'one-stop' shopping. Perfect vision doesn't come as a parting gift at our baptisms. Improved vision requires tweaks and adjustments along the way.
Ultimately, our goal is to see the world as Jesus sees it and to have Jesus's Kingdom vision. To do this, we mustn't normalize our own flawed, imperfect take on things. Jesus equates our partial understanding, and our hazy vision, to a heart condition…a hardened heart that is calloused and unmovable.
It's worth asking: What are your blind spots?
As modern-day disciples striving to grow in our likeness of Jesus, we must be on guard that we do not live in blindness caused by cataracts of the soul. A cataract is a condition where the lens on our eyes becomes progressively opaque, cloudy, obscured, and blurry. Those who have had their cataracts surgically removed will tell you how remarkable their new sight is, and how they didn't know that they had become accustomed to poor vision.
The Bible teaches us that our vision is suspect and cannot be trusted. Only Jesus can repair it.
Even if it does take Him more than one touch.