Clarity of Vision
HITTING THE MARK WITH JESUS wk. 39
June 7, 2026
CLARITY OF VISION
Mark 8:22-33
TEXT:
Mark 8:22-33 (NIV) 22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 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.”
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
THREE THINGS ABOUT SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS
1. US ALL
Mark 8:17b-18, 21 (NIV) Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Mark 8:12b (NIV) “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.”
Mark 8:22a (NIV) They came to Bethsaida…
Luke 10:13-14 (NIV) 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
Galatians 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Mark 8:27a-29 (NIV) On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
All of us have a little bit of Mr. Magoo in us.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV) The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Mike Ratliff“Hard preaching may hurt the feelings or offend those who refuse to hear, but it is what shatters those hard hearts and through that, God makes into soft hearts intent on His glory.”
2. CAN ONLY BE
Mark 8:22b-23 (NIV) …some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Mark 8:26 (NIV) “Don’t even go into the village.”
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) [God] called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
John 3:19-20 (NIV) 9 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
1 John 1:6 (NIV) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
3. SIGHT IS A
Mark 8:25 (NIV) 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.
Mark 8:24 (NIV) “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT) Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Mark 8:34 (NLT) Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
CONCLUSION:
PRAYER:
MY COMMITTMENT:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you as you’ve listened to God’s Word?
What do you need to do as a result of what you’ve just heard from God’s Word?
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