Seeing Again
Signs & Wonders: Part 4
February 8, 2026
Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch and heal him. Taking the blind man’s hand, Jesus led him out of the village. After spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on the man, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”
The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees, only they are walking around.”
Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again. He looked with his eyes wide open, his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village!”
~ Mark 8:22-26
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Last week we saw Jesus heal a woman who touched only the hem of his robe and raise a young girl from the dead with a single word. So why, in today’s story, does he seem to be struggling with the simple act of giving sight to the blind? After all, this is exactly what he said he came for: to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed (Luke 4:18).
Yet when the blind man begins to see, his vision is still not clear. He sees people, but they look like trees. Some wonder whether Jesus failed or whether this man lacked the faith needed to experience full healing. Others see it as a metaphor for the spiritual life and the ways that our eyes are slowly opened to God’s work in our lives.
The spiritual explanation certainly feels more reasonable, especially as this passage is sandwiched between the disciple’s lack of understanding about the yeast of the Pharisees and Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah followed immediately by a significant misunderstanding about what this truth actually implied.
But if we’re willing to take a honest look at ourselves, the truth may be even more practical. We live in a world where seeing clearly is increasingly difficult. Images and videos are easily faked or manipulated to present us with an alternate version of reality, to effectually make us see certain people as something less than human – to see trees instead of people. Much of this artificially generated propaganda is designed with the purpose of dehumanizing others, making them easier to dismiss, to control, or to fear.
The problem is that so many of us stop there. We take in the image of these “tree people” and assume this is just the way things are, especially if the image reinforces how we already see the world. Taking a second look might be as simple as flipping to a different channel or seeing another camera angle, but we don’t dare consider this option for fear of being alienated from our tribe who sees things the same way we have been taught to see them. It is unsettling when the reality we see does not align with the reality we are taught to accept.
Perhaps this story is less about Jesus’ power to heal and more about our willingness to stay engaged with Jesus long enough to receive a second touch, and to take a second look and what once seemed so clear.
What is one way this week you can open yourself to a second healing, to look more carefully and ask God for clearer sight?