Don’t Go Back

Mark 8:22–9:1

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³ And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

²⁷ And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. ³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” ³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” ^9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

This is an interesting half-way point in the Gospel of Mark. In the same passage, we find Jesus healing a blind man and dealing with the Disciples’ complete lack of understanding. Across the passage, I’m seeing the same message – don’t go back.

Mark first tells us of Jesus healing a blind man. It seems that this man may have been blind from birth, for when he first sees the people around him, he calls them “walking trees”. That is pure supposition on my part but it makes sense that if you had never seen people or trees, but knew both of them only by touch, it would be an apt description. We find that Jesus removes the man from the village, just as He had the deaf/mute in chapter 7.

In this incident/instance the man is also brought outside the village, which reminds us of Heb 13:13 and its exhortation “let us actually come out to him [Jesus] outside the camp”, a passage easily understood to denote extracting oneself from Judaism. Perhaps this additional thought is also in play: coming outside the village results in reproach on account of Jesus, because now one is cut off from one’s prior faith and personal relations and is no longer under the contours of the old covenant, which is now declared to be surpassed. The notion of being “outside” the normal habitation area of the people of Israel was a metaphor for being outside the orbit of their laws, customs, and beliefs, and it was likely a commonly understood linguistic usage.

Voelz, J. W. ©2013. Concordia Commentary: Mark 1:1–8:26. (pp. 520–521). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

Jesus heals the man in two stages, first opening his eyes and then bringing clarity. (An entire devotion could be written on that idea too, I guess.)

Note Jesus’ reaction. It suggests that the man’s reply is not simply a false description (walking trees) of a true perception, because our Lord takes further action in the next verse. In other words, the man’s sight really is not fully correct. This corresponds to contemporary medical understanding. There is evidence that a change in brain activity on the part of those formerly blind is (also) necessary for true sight to be obtained. The receipt of perceived images, occasioned by the retina of the eye, must be accompanied by the brain’s ability to process those perceptions and to interpret the images. But even if this is the case, the conundrum of this passage still remains, namely, Jesus’ first action solves only half the problem.

Voelz, J. W. ©2013. Concordia Commentary: Mark 1:1–8:26. (pp. 522). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

Finally, Jesus tells the man “do not even enter the village”. Don’t go back. And for once, Jesus seems to be obeyed. Following this healing, Jesus challenges His disciples with the question “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter brilliantly responds with “You are the Christ.” But only a short time later, Jesus is forced to rebuke Peter for his declaration that the death of Jesus would never occur. Peter goes from hero to zero in one brief comment. You see, he had gone back to the old ways of thinking. Then comes Jesus’ words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it." Don’t go back. Peter was attempting to maintain the status quo, because he truly did love Jesus and most certainly did not want to see Jesus die. But in that moment, he took a step backward from his previous confession. He was headed in the opposite direction of the Savior.

One of my best friends on the planet hearkens back to a time 15 years ago when we lived in a different house and had a different dining room table. It is a running joke that he wants us to get that table back because we had many fun card games and wonderful conversations around that table, as well as countless meals with our families together. He wants to “go back” to a great time. But that table is gone and we cannot go back. Jesus would never want us to go back to our lives stained with sin, but instead embrace the grace that we find in His death and resurrection. He has removed us from our old lives and the new one is of His choosing – and it is brilliant.