Second attempt
10 Nov '14 04:432 edits23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
(Mark 8:23-25)
Some points I find interesting:
In verse 22 the locals begged Jesus for a miracle but he took the blind man outside of his usual environment to heal him. He took him outside of the village and subsequently told him not to go back. Once we can see and understand it is impossible to back.
Jesus had two attempts to heal the blind man; the initial attempt seemed to fail but he got there in the end. There are numerous explanations on this by Christian commentators, mostly considering it as parabolic or as a spiritual metaphor. Many years ago I was reading this double effort by Jesus and struggling to understand why it took two attempts; the truth I believe is that it is two separate healings.
As you may know the human eye is actually part of the brain, connected to the visual cortex (at the rear of the brain) by the optic nerves. Blindness can be caused by a single or compound malfunctions in any part of this visual pathway including the optic nerve or visual cortex.
Interpretation and perception of what the eye sees is a complex process involving the visual cortex and memory. If a person has been blind for all or most of their life their visual perception will not have developed during childhood and suddenly having their sight restored would result in them seeing their environment but not perceiving or understanding it.
Jesus healed the man twice; first his visual pathway, then his perception. In fact he didn't "heal" his visual perception, he gave him it because the man simply didn't understand what he was looking at, he had little or no visual memory records to compare.
This miracle of Jesus is probably the one that means most to me.
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
(Mark 8:23-25)
Some points I find interesting:
In verse 22 the locals begged Jesus for a miracle but he took the blind man outside of his usual environment to heal him. He took him outside of the village and subsequently told him not to go back. Once we can see and understand it is impossible to back.
Jesus had two attempts to heal the blind man; the initial attempt seemed to fail but he got there in the end. There are numerous explanations on this by Christian commentators, mostly considering it as parabolic or as a spiritual metaphor. Many years ago I was reading this double effort by Jesus and struggling to understand why it took two attempts; the truth I believe is that it is two separate healings.
As you may know the human eye is actually part of the brain, connected to the visual cortex (at the rear of the brain) by the optic nerves. Blindness can be caused by a single or compound malfunctions in any part of this visual pathway including the optic nerve or visual cortex.
Interpretation and perception of what the eye sees is a complex process involving the visual cortex and memory. If a person has been blind for all or most of their life their visual perception will not have developed during childhood and suddenly having their sight restored would result in them seeing their environment but not perceiving or understanding it.
Jesus healed the man twice; first his visual pathway, then his perception. In fact he didn't "heal" his visual perception, he gave him it because the man simply didn't understand what he was looking at, he had little or no visual memory records to compare.
This miracle of Jesus is probably the one that means most to me.
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