20/20 Vision for 2020

Pastor Melinda Song
19 January 2020

Welcome to the New Year! It’s 2020 and I think it is appropriate to share with you a message on “20/20 Vision for 2020.”

Good eye-sight is such a blessing. Those of us who suffer from short-sightedness (distant objects appear blurry. Close-up vision, on the other hand, is not affected) or long-sightedness (close objects appear to be out of focus, while distant objects remain clear. But high amounts of hyperopia may cause objects at all distances to be blurry) will know the inconvenience involved in having to wear spectacles or contact lenses.

In my case, the problem is compounded by astigmatism – a condition in which your eye isn’t completely round. Almost all of us have it to some degree.

Ideally, an eyeball is shaped like a perfectly round ball. Light comes into it and bends evenly, which gives you a clear view. But if your eye is shaped more like a rugby football, light gets bent more in one direction than another. That means only part of an object is in focus. Things at a distance may look blurry and wavy.

What Does 20/20 Vision Mean?

Visual acuity is usually measured with a Snellen chart. Snellen charts display letters of progressively smaller size. “Normal” vision is 20/20. This means that the test subject sees the same line of letters at 20 feet that person with normal vision sees at 20 feet.

20/40 vision means that the test subject sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 40 feet.

It is a persistent urban legend that 20/20 represents normal, average or even perfect vision. This is not so.  Snellen deliberately chose his reference standard (5 min of arc) as a size that is “easily recognized by normal eyes.” Thus, almost all normal eyes will equal or exceed the reference standard. If 20/20 equals average acuity, half of the population would fall short of 20/20, since that is the definition of average.

Today we are going to look at a passage in Mark Chapter 8 that tells of the healing of a blind man. Let us turn to…

Mark 8:22-26 (NIV84)
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 go into the village.”

Blindness was endemic to ancient culture. The lack of understanding regarding hygiene, the unavailability of effective medicine, and exposure to the elements and domestic trauma left many blind. Clouded, staring, fly-swarmed eyes were common wherever one went.

The miracle of the healing of the blind man in Mark 8 is unique because…

1. It is recorded only in Mark’s gospel.
2. It is the only time Jesus actually SPIT on anyone.

• In Mark 7:31-37 Jesus healed a deaf man with a speech impediment by putting his fingers into the man’s ears, then spitting on his fingers and touching the man’s tongue.
• When Jesus healed the man born blind in John 9, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and then put the mud on the man’s eyes and they were healed.

3. It is the only time in Gospel records where healing was not instantaneous, where Jesus healed someone in stages (a two-step process that most commentators remarked on). Usually, Jesus either touched them or spoke to them and they were healed.

Everything Jesus did, he did for a purpose. Therefore there must be some purpose in the two-stage healing of this blind man but the text merely relates the story. So, “What’s going on here?” We have to investigate further but first let us unpack the story.

²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

Bethsaida was not on Jesus’ list of top 10 favourite towns and Jesus compared it’s faithlessness to that of Tyre and Sidon, two ancient wicked cities that had been destroyed by God for their evil and wickedness.

Matthew 11:21–22 (NIV84)
²¹ “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Jesus had done many miracles in Bethsaida but the people of Bethsaida are spiritually blind to who he really is.

Having abandoned Bethsaida to judgment, He would neither heal in that village, nor permit further testimony to be borne there Mk 8:26. However, Jesus would still show mercy to individuals. Cf Rev 3:20.

 ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

Touch demonstrates a connection between people. For example, a handshake is something many of us experience on a daily basis that says, “Hello, it’s good to see you.” And holding someone’s hand for a long period of time can be a very intimate experience. Holding someone’s hand says, “I care!”

So Jesus takes this man by the hand and leads him from a place of no faith (Bethsaida)  to the place where his miracle will take place. And that’s how the Lord leads lost, blind sinners and brings them to the place of salvation. We don’t recognize His touch but even when we don’t see it or don’t feel it, God is working and leading us to bring us to the place of saving faith.

In every event, every circumstance, every tragedy and every blessing, the Lord is taking your hand and bringing you to Himself. Can you remember how He lead you and worked in the events of your life to bring you to that place of faith and repentance? What a blessing it is!

Twice the Bible describes the man as a “blind man”.

BLINDNESS

We live in a wonderful world full of colours, sights and sound. The human senses are our contact to the environment and we would never want to give up or lose any one of our senses.

By far our eyes are one of our most important, if not the most important of our sensory organs. We are a visual society and we perceive up to 80% of all impressions by means of our sight.

Blindness is an infirmity that prevents you from seeing what is right in front of you. If you are blind, you are unable to be affected by what is there.

Lamentations 3:51 (NIV84)
⁵¹ What I see brings grief to my [Jeremiah’s] soul
because of all the women of my city.

It is hard to be moved by what you cannot see. One of the problems that Jesus had with the church of Laodicea was that they were blind.

Revelation 3:15–18 (NIV84)
¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Many Christians today are simply blind. They tend to start their statements with…

1. I don’t see why Pastor is always asking us to fast and pray.
2. I don’t see why we need so many ministries.
3. I don’t see why we have to tithe.
4. I don’t see why we have to attend Care Groups.
5. I don’t see why we have to give to Harvest Mission.
6. I don’t see why we have to do this or that.

Guess what? If your statements all start with I DON’T SEE… you might just be suffering from BLINDNESS!

Singer Ray Stevens is generally given credit for writing the phrase “There is none so blind as he who will not see,” a line from the song “Everything Is Beautiful.” Have you ever tried talking to someone who doesn’t see things your way? It is worse than not knowing the language in a foreign land.

May we not be blind to what God is doing in the midst of us.

So this man was blind. Now let’s see how the healing goes.

^23b When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

The first thing Jesus does is to spit in the man’s eyes. To us that sounds disgusting. If someone were to spit in your eyes, you would be very offended and angry. In ancient times, people thought differently than we do now. They believed there was healing power in human saliva.

What is the first thing most people do when they hurt their finger? They stick it in their mouth. Why? Because saliva has soothing qualities.

The spitting is immediately followed by the Lord’s tender touch. This man can’t see, but he can feel. Jesus was saying to the man, by His actions, “I am about to do something for these eyes of yours.” The Lord is working in a way that makes no sense to us, but it was understood by the blind man.

Then, Jesus asks him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

In his answer, the blind man is essentially saying, “Yes, but not clearly” (v.24). He was experiencing… 

BLURRED VISION

It is obvious that:

1. the man had probably not been born blind or else he would not have been able to identify trees as trees and
2. the return of his sight was gradual.

But Jesus did not leave him in that condition.

²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.

The second laying on of hands is unique in the healing ministry of Jesus.

What could we learn from this?

DON’T PUT GOD IN A BOX! God works with individuals differently.

Jesus raised three people from the dead over the course of His earthly ministry. Each one was different.

• He touched the daughter of Jairus.
• He touched the stretcher on which men were carrying the body of the widow of Nain’s son.
• He spoke to Lazarus.

His healing miracles were also different.

• He healed one leper by touching him.
• He healed a group of ten lepers by speaking to them.
• Sometimes Jesus would go where the sick individual was, other times; they would bring the sick to Him.
• Sometimes Jesus went and touched the sick person, other times; Jesus would heal from a great distance.

How God worked in my life is not how He will work in your life. We cannot put God in a box and say, “That’s how He does it every time.”

Don’t believe the preacher who tells you that God heals or delivers instantaneously every time. There are times when God takes you through the fire. Who are we to tell God what to do?

Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Jesus touches him again, and this time, everything becomes crystal clear. His healing is complete. His eyesight is restored.

“And he saw everything clearly,” uses a rare word which means literally to see clearly from afar. In other words, he had 20/20 vision! It’s like people with cataract who see a whole new world after their operation. Or seeing clear skies again after a bout of haze.

BEST EYESIGHT EVER

The song “I can see clearly now” originally by Johnny Nash expresses it so well.

I can see clearly now, the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way=
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day

 I think I can make it now, the pain has gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is that rainbow I’ve been praying for
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day

Look all around, there’s nothing but blue sky
Look straight ahead, nothing but blue sky

I can see clearly now, the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone’re the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day
Gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day
Gonna be a bright, bright, bright sun-shining day

APPLICATION BY JESUS

Jesus had a purpose for healing this man in this fashion. As we look at the passages before and after this miracle it becomes very clear what the healing of the blind man teaches us.

Sight was a widely used metaphor for understanding. In Ephesians 4:18 Paul speaks of “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.”

This blind man is a living illustration of the spiritual condition of the disciples. In a sense, Jesus had been “spitting in their eyes” showing them through one miraculous event after another to teach them that He was the Messiah, the very Son of God. But, they still couldn’t get it!

The beginning of Mark 8, records the miracle of the feeding of the 4000 (vv. 1-10). Immediately afterwards the Pharisees came to argue with Jesus (vv. 11-12). After Jesus and the disciples got into a boat, he warned them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (v. 15). Leaven in this case it refers to the false teaching of the Pharisees. But the disciples thought he was talking about literal bread. Jesus then rebuked the disciples by saying,

Mark 8:17-18 (NIV84)
¹⁷ …“Why are you talking about having no bread? 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?

Or we could paraphrase it this way: “How can you be so blind after having been with me so long? Don’t you understand anything I’m saying?”

Every parent has said something similar. You try to teach your children how to do something the right way, and they keep on messing it up. Finally in exasperation we say, “Didn’t you hear what I said? Have you forgotten everything I told you?”

He had “spit in their eyes and touched them”, but they never would fully comprehend just Who Jesus was until after He died and rose from the dead. Jesus had to lead His disciples from a place of total spiritual blindness to a place where they could see Him clearly.

In the following passage Peter by revelation had a clear glimpse of Jesus.

Mark 8:27–29 (NIV84)
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 Christ.”

NOTE: Clarity does not mean God reveals all his plans to us. “The just shall live by faith” and we walk by faith not by sight. Clarity means we see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, more clearly.

May we see Jesus more clearly this year!

APPLICATION TODAY

There are thee types of vision that people have in regard to Christ: blindness, blurriness, or clarity.

The first type of vision, or lack thereof, is blindness. Blindness is where we all begin and it is simply the fact that we cannot even see the good news of Jesus Christ. We cannot know Him in fact, we don’t desire to know Him, unless and until the Spirit of God draws us toward Him.

The second type is blurriness. We see some times, but we do not see clearly. Like Paul said in 1 Cor. 13:12, “…see but a poor reflection as in a mirror…”

As we spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer, our spiritual sight is developed as we “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…,” 2 Pet. 3:18.

None of us have arrived spiritually, but we should all be gaining ground in Jesus. When we aren’t, something is terribly wrong!

Lastly, this brings us to the vision of clarity. Seeing clearly means that we know, love, and see Jesus for who he really is.

In a sense we can only see Jesus clearly when he returns.

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV84)
¹² Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

The question you must ask yourself is…how clearly do you see Jesus now? You may have never trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You are waiting until you can figure this Christianity thing out. Friend, you should not wait to come to Jesus until you have all the answers. It is very likely that you will never have all the answers.

If He is dealing with your heart; if you sense that He has taken you by the hand and is leading to you Him; let Him take you from where you are and lead you to where He wants you to be. You don’t have to know everything to be saved; you just have to know Him!

Or are we like the disciples? The Lord has proven His power and His glory to us in more ways than we can name, and sometimes we still don’t get it. We have seen Him do the impossible, the incredible and the astounding time after time and we still doubt. May the Lord help us to “stop doubting and believe”, John 20:27.

Are you growing in the things of God? Is He leading you along, one step at a time? Are you making progress in Jesus?

20/20 is considered to be the best eyesight possible. I believe the Lord wants to release to us 20/20 vision for the year 2020. To see Him more clearly than ever before.