Tree Vision

"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.

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?'

And he looked up and said, 'I see people, but they look like trees, walking.'

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." Mark 8:22-25 ESV

I was thinking today about the stages of seeing things when we are healed.

Compassion was around the blind man. He could perceive it but not see it. Then Grace touched him. Truth like light came pouring in. He saw men as trees. They had a productive shape. Trees give shade and fruit and construction materials to build things. You burn the wood to cook and heat yourself in the cold. As a blind man you lean on them and feel their shape. People were now like that. Things of structure and shape.

Grace asks us if we see. We truthfully say we see strangely. Eyes show us what people can do but that is not truly seeing the whole picture.

Then Christ kindly blinded him again with His hands. He blinded him for a moment to production and form. Grace went farther and verified that the first perspective was incomplete but a temporary return of darkness coupled with the warmth of intimacy would fix the problem. Jesus' touch must have been warm on his eyes this time. Before it was spittle and Christ hands on his person. Now Jesus touched his eyes directly. He was healing this man's mind so that he could use his eyes correctly.

God must blind us again to cure us from 'tree vision'. Seeing people by their shape and what they produce is not the full healing. Freedom temporarily makes us think we can perform something and that others should also. Being established in grace is having 'eyes that see' because they have been closed and opened again by Jesus' touch.

God blinded the Apostle Paul to open his eyes to grace. He crippled Jacob so that He could walk humbly with God.

God strengthens us and at first, we rely on that strength but that is only part of the story. God must reorient us to Himself. When we are fixed on Him that is where the real full healing lies. People are not just objects that do things. People have value because of who God has made them to be.

All the Glory belongs to God and we will see that if our perception is touched and healed by the God of all grace.