Sermon – “Can You See?”

22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, [d]“Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

14 Now [a]the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the [b]leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” 17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart [c]still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” 21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

12 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

27 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” 28 So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

The messes are titled Can you see going to be reading from Mark Chapter 8 verses 22 through 26 to begin with hear the word of the Lord then he came to the Seda and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him so he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him he asked him if he saw anything and he looked up and said I see men like trees walking as I’ve read that often Well apparently this man had been blind from birth because he knew what men were supposed to look like how else would he have known I see men walking that looked like trees so apparently he had had sight at one time and went blind then he put his hands on him again and made him look up and he was restored and saw every one clearly then he sent him away to his house saying neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town don’t tell anyone what just happened don’t tell anyone that you received your sight let’s go to Lord for Grace is more we do thank you and praise you for your word we thank you Lord Jesus that you are the mighty physician we thank you that you can heal our diseased bodies did you can heal blindness that you can make the lame to walk nor We thank you for that and we know that you are all powerful that you are God and we just thank you for your presence and our allies thank you for your Holy Spirit and we invite your presence today were dismayed your peace permeate this place may rest upon each one here and what I just pray that you would be glorified through the words spoken and open our ears that we might hear in our eyes that we might see for your glory in Jesus’ name amen every word Jesus went he was doing amazing things what an e he was teaching them of the Kingdom of God. He was feeding the multitude healing the sick delivering those that were demon possessed always taken an opportunity to bless people he wanted to bless people but as you read this passage of Scripture you may notice there are some things that are a little bit abnormal with you we’ll act if you will it’s a little bit strange I find it a little strange that he took the blind man by the hand in letting out of the town before he healed him why did he do that why did he take him by the hand of course he needed led But why did he lead him out of the town before he would healing you know there are occasions where they would take a person to Jesus and he would just feel him right there there’s times when they would come for Jesus and take him to the sick person if you remember they came and got Jesus and took him to Peter’s mother in law he would her she raised up got up and began to serve them they took Jesus to a young girl that they all knew she was dead they put everybody out except for the disciples and the pair he touched her and she raised from the dead so there was times where they took him to the sick person or the even the dead person but why why did they he take him by the hand and lead him out of the town I know I’m not supposed to just keep asking questions was answered some right. You are disposed to keep asking questions right you know Jesus spoke in Matthew of the unbelief in his hometown and he said because of their unbelief I was not able to do many good many works there because of their unbelief could it have been the lack of faith in both saida could have been the lack of faith that he took him out of town to be able to heal and. Well I really don’t think that’s the answer so I’ll give you what I believe to be the answer in this found in Matthew 11 verses 2322 I remember his embassy Seita Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent he rebuked them because they refused to be repent he had done many mighty sons there but they still did not repent so if you think that if a god send the miracles and wonders are going to cause people to repent you’re wrong not necessarily it made but it’s not going to bring reaping the revival he says whoa to you chorus and will go to you but saida for if the mighty works which were done and you had been done in Tire and Sidon they would have repented long ago and sackcloth and ashes but I say to you it will be more tolerable for tire and sot on in the day of judgment then for you I believe in Mark 8 that Jesus is making a statement against but Satan he’s making a statement against the city because he had previously done many miracles there they so 1st hand the Son of God healed of the name open the eyes of the blind he saw they saw them him deliver the demon possessed he they saw many things they were visited by the Son of God God was in their presence and yet they refused to repent he warned them that they would be judged more harshly than Tire and Sidon that they would be better off in the judgment Tire and Sidon would then be a Seder you know I found a illustration I always like to have illustrations of share and I found one did its about stubbornness now they it sounds true so I hope it is and I know that it is an old story you’re going to see why. Many years ago a newspaper editorial commended most truck drivers for using their C.B. radios in a very constructive way however the story concluded with a warning to those who misuse this means of communication children are no you might not even know what a C.B. radio is truck drivers and many other people in those days they had this little ready record and had a microphone and you could pick it up and you pushed a button and you could say anybody got their ears on out there is what they would say and you know they would communicate truck drivers and say hey watch down their bomb outpost $71.00 there’s a smokey there meaning there’s an officer there so these kids are clueless like what he’s talking about they’ve got him on the buses OK so they might know I know today it’s these things they’ve got them everywhere right you pull them out of your pocket or your pocket book and that’s how you communicate so but anyway back to my story the writer gave this unforgettable example and Colorado he said several people begged a trucker to free the channel so they could put through an emergency call but he refused to cooperate they wanted to direct a doctor to scene of a serious accident an automobile automobile had driven into the rear of a flatbed trailer carrying metal to being a piece of pipe had gone through the car’s windshield and pinned the woman in the wreckage supply point they were the trucker continued to tie up the channel frustrating all attempts to attain help finally he came upon the scene of the accident himself to his utter dismay he discovered that the critically injured person was his own wife and by the time the doctor finally got there he said if I got here 10 minutes sooner I probably could have saved her life his stubbornness cost his own wife her life people must say to were stubborn and they refused to repent. The Greek meaning of repent as its use in Matthew means to think differently to reconsider that’s what it is to think differently we don’t think the way we used to we used to have evil wicked thoughts we don’t go there anymore it’s to reconsider our ways I wonder if that truck driver knew it was his wife if he would have thought differently wouldn’t have been so stubborn and I’m sure he would of how many people today in their own stubbornness refused to believe the truth of the Word of God we’re well beyond those C.B. radio days as I said we’ve got days we can bring up a barbel on these sayings in learn of the wonderful ways of God we could studies were great year right before several day we have so many resources we have churches that we can attend without fear of the government for a bit in us we have church every town you go in if it’s got more than a dozen houses it’s probably got a church and it doesn’t there’s churches everywhere we have resources right at our fingertips and in our communities how many in their stubbornness reviews to see how many inner Starborn is refused to hear the voice of those are given the morning refused to repent and let their great position heal their souls they refuse to believe in Him Jesus would not even heal man in their city because of their great stubbornness because of their refusal to repent I 2nd question there’s a lot of there’s more than 2 surrounding the healing of this blind man Jesus spit in his eyes and then touched him and then he said Can you see what didn’t he know. Didn’t he already know that demand one going to be able to see Didn’t he know that he wasn’t going to be healed the 1st time if he didn’t then if he didn’t see what was it was Jesus having a bad day was is power a little lacking that day just not quite up to par I mean come on we’ve all had bad days good in Jesus have been having one was that healing in some way harder than others that it took 2 attempts I mean we know that he raised the dead he rose Lazarus out of the out of the group tomb and it was a never for days but friends we always had to dig deeper and find the context as we always have we’ve been learned so much we know the answer though Jesus knew the man wasn’t going to see clearly the 1st time when Jesus was questioning Peter whether he loved him in John Chapter 21 you know it’s before Jesus ascended says Peter do you love me as Lord I love you he says 10 my sheep Peter do you love me says take care of my flock more annoying Peter was grieved when Jesus asked him the 3rd time 3 times he said you love me Peter says you family says you know we’re all thing it’s you know that I love you Jesus knew and Jesus knew that this man wasn’t going to be healed the 1st time nor was he having a bad day as I said nor was his having a lack of power G.’s revealed revealed to the apostles that all of the already on heaven and earth have been given to him he is equal with God friends the answer that question no is found in Mark chapter 8 verses 14 through 21 the passage of precedes this 14 through 21 now disciples have forgotten to take bread and they do not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. You know I’ve as I was thinking about this preparedness think and you know he was always so surrounded by people he ended disciples the multitude just was always pressing against them wanting something it’s kind of like when they got into the boat it was the only time they had to relax a little bit and maybe grab a bite to eat so here they are they’ve gotten into the boat and all the disciples had was one love they forgot to grab more bread right so after they realized they had not taken bread then he charged them saying Take heed the where of the leaven of the fair seeds and the leaven of haired and they reason among themselves say it is because we have no bread but Jesus being aware of it said to them Why do you reason because you have their bread do you not yet perceive nor understand is your heart still Harden having eyes to see do you not see having ears do you not hear and do you not remember when I broke the 5 lows for the 5000 how many baskets fools of fragments did you pick up they said to him 12 Also when I broke the 7 for the 4000 how many large baskets full fragments did you take up and they said 7 so he said to them how is it that you do not understand Jesus had plenty of power. But there was a purpose behind this to stage healing it was that it was a teaching moment it was a teaching moment for the disciples He knew that they didn’t fully yet understand his purpose for coming they didn’t fully yet understand that his kingdom was not to be right then they didn’t fully understand his ministry or his mission their vision was clouded their their understanding of Jesus’ ministry was like the blind man seeing the church the men walking around looking like trees that’s what their vision of Jesus’ ministry was like they couldn’t see what the outcome was to be because they had their own desire to Gee’s would deliver them from the Roman role right then and establish His Kingdom then and his equal 12 works as want and to says now the word of the Lord came to me saying son a man you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house which has eyes to see but does not see and ears to hear but does not hear for they are a rebellious house when Jesus was warning them about the leaven of the fair seas and hared he was warning them not to allow the hard heartedness and rebellious attitude of the fair seas or haired to contaminate their faith leaven What does leaven symbolize I don’t hear sin right it is often used to symbolize sin and corruption because a small of very small portion of fermented does so will cause the whole batch. To rise correct it only takes a little bit we were talking just recently of a brother no big so a lot of bread and he has 5 gallon buckets full dose and you know you can take a little tiny batch of leavened bread out of this batch and throw it in this unleavened bread and it’s going to agitate and stir up the whole batch right one little bit will stir up the whole batch it will feck the whole batch I’m going to hand raised this she put leaven in yeast so it race Yeah so it only if she would take that before she bakes it one little clump of that and throw it in some more unleavened dough it’s going to affect an agitated then it too will raise so it only takes a little bit of sin if we allow a little bit of sin in guess what’s going to happen that’s not so bad and then that a little sin leads to a bigger sin and that sin leads to a even greater sin that’s what he’s talking about here don’t let the sin of the fair seize agitate instore up your lives be holy says for I am holy repent think differently than the Pharisees think Jesus should Jesus warning should be a heed to all believers all believers we do not want to let sin or lies if we are struggling with sin we need to repent and seek His forgiveness Zs is solve this to him in the blind man as amazing opportunity to teach as a possible apostles but it’s also an amazing teaching for even us as His people as believers in Him they were feeling guilty about forgetting bread they only had one love if they would have remembered the 5 lows in the 7 was in the fish. No this entire dog dialog of Jesus is having with the apostles It’s not about bread it’s about their lack of understanding he asked them if their hearts are still hardened if their eyes are still not seeing friends if they would have truly understood who Jesus was they would have said we’ve got one love Jesus could you pray over this so that we may all eat to the full and you know what we can even feed to fish one loaf they could have just kept thinking it out their owner manager had fish come up every if they would have truly understood if their eyes were really open to who he was we’ve got plenty right it could even been a small loaf plenty brothers and sisters with Jesus a little is enough. Don’t ever think you don’t have enough because he can make that little go as far as it needs to go to supply all of your needs I don’t care what we’re talking about money a little can be enough when we have in faith food it can be enough when we believe and have faith all things that he has given us can be enough when we have faith and trust in him with it right I believe the passage that followed the passage of the healing the blind man reveals that the apostles began to see more clearly in Mark 8 again $27.00 through 30 now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns assess Urrea Philip and on the road he asked his disciples saying to them who do man say that I am so they answered John the Baptist’s But some say a lodger others say one of the prophets but he said to them he said to them directly but who do you say that I am Peter answered and said to him You are the Christ. Then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him I think Peter’s response to Jesus’ question Who do you say that I am reveals that his vision has improved I believe he was now clearly seeing who Jesus was you other Christ’s friends this is the greatest question the most important question if you will that everyone must ask themselves who do you believe that Jesus is who is Jesus to you what would you say if Jesus said Who do you say that I am I pray that you would say you are the Christ Christ in the English as in the English is a Greek word Christos which is a transliteration of the Hebrew word meaning an anointed one so Christ is the Anointed One the one from the father anyone who believes that Jesus is just a prophet is not seeing clearly they do not truly know who he is many years ago during the Christmas season in 879 an unbelieving newspaper man in Boston was walking down the street one day and he saw 3 little girls standing in front the store window that was full of toys one of the girls was blind and as a reporter drew near he overheard the other 2 girls trying to describe the contents in the window to their blind friend he said that it had he had never thought about it before but to be very difficult to explain I think to someone that had never seen explain what something look like like all of of window for toys and then try to explain it hard to understand. In fact he was so impressed that the incident became the basis for a news story a news story that appeared in the paper several days later 2 weeks later the same agnostic newspaper man attended an evangelistic meeting conducted by D.L. Moody and believe it or not the reporter’s main reason for attending was try to catch Moody in some inconsistency imagine his surprise when evangelist used the newspaper article that this man had written that evening to illustrate a spiritual truth Mr Moody said jest as that blind girl could not visualize those toys in the window so unsaved men can’t see Christ in all of his glory he went on to say that NG God’s grace he will open spiritually blinded eyes of anyone who acknowledges his sin repents of his sin and receive Jesus Christ in humble faith it is said that the Holy Spirit of grace is work that night and that newspaper reporters life he saw his great need and discovered for him self the truth of Moody’s words God will open the eyes of anybody that is willing to repent of their sins think differently and ask Christ into their hearts that they can see clearly this whole story was about teaching teaching men that they need to repent that they need to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts do you see can you see who is Jesus to you is the question the truth is he is the Anointed One the Son of God that is is he that to you we’re not going to get into heaven because my daddy believed in Jesus Christ or my grandfather believed in Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus directly pointed that question to the disciples it is pointed to each and every one of us everyone here and everyone listening and everyone we know it’s individual it’s personal and we must believe that he is more than a prophet that he is a son of the Living God God in the flesh he is the anointed one a man.