Healing of the Blind Man at Bethsaida

Text and Content

The account appears only in Mark 8:22–26; there is no parallel passage in Matthew or Luke.

When people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him, Jesus took him by the hand and led him out of the town. He spat on the man's eyes, laid his hands on him, and asked whether he saw anything. The man replied, "I see men as trees, walking" (8:24). Jesus laid his hands on the man's eyes again, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus then sent him home, telling him not to go into the town.

Background

Bethsaida was a town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Its name is commonly interpreted as "house of the fisherman" or "place of fishing." According to John 1:44, it was the hometown of Philip, Andrew, and Peter. It was also one of the towns Jesus rebuked for failing to repent (Matthew 11:21). Scholars disagree about its exact location.

The use of saliva in healing is known to have been practiced in the ancient world. Jesus also uses saliva in Mark 7:33 (the deaf man with a speech impediment) and John 9:6 (the healing of the man born blind).

Significance Within Mark's Gospel

Immediately before this miracle, following the feeding of the four thousand, the disciples fail to understand Jesus' words, and he rebukes them: "Having eyes, see ye not?" (8:18). Immediately after it comes the scene in which Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ yet cannot accept the way of suffering (8:27–33). Many interpreters pay close attention to this arrangement, reading the image of the blind man who first sees partially and then fully as illustrating the disciples' slow understanding. Some also see this miracle and the healing of Bartimaeus (10:46–52) as framing the section in which Jesus repeatedly predicts his passion.

The restoration of sight to the blind connects with Old Testament promises of restoration such as Isaiah 35:5. Jesus himself pointed to it as a sign of his messianic ministry (Luke 7:22).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• The reason for the two-stage healing: The text gives no reason. Besides the symbolic interpretation described above, some hold that the account shows that Jesus' method of healing was not fixed to a single pattern. Sermons sometimes attribute it to a lack of faith on the blind man's part, but the text says nothing of the kind.
• The blind man's recognition of trees: Because he knew what trees looked like, some interpreters infer that he was probably not blind from birth. The text does not say so directly.
• The command not to enter the town: Scholars generally connect this with Mark's distinctive pattern of Jesus preventing his identity and miracles from becoming widely known.