22Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23So 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.
24And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
25Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."
There are some unique references to this town in this verse: Jesus led the blind man out of the town before healing him, and after healing him, Jesus told him to never go into the town nor tell anyone in the town. Why such specific references to this town?
Out of curiosity, I just did a quick check to see if the town of Bethsaida had been mentioned anywhere else previously in the book of Mark. It is mentioned in Mark 6:45 where after the feeding of the 5000 Jesus sent the disciples to Bethsaida on the other side of the sea then joined them later, walking on the sea. Once they got to the other side, many touched Jesus and were healed. I felt sad when I read this because I got the impression that Jesus was being taken advantage of. They kept bringing him people to be healed. There was no mention of preaching.
Now once again, Jesus enters Bethsaida and someone is brought to him to be healed. Why does Jesus remove this man from this town? It appears that this town hasn't learned there is more to Jesus than his ability to heal the sick. Our last lesson dealt with a warning about the influence of others. I wonder if Jesus removes this man from the town because the town would continue to be a bad influence on the man.
Why did Jesus heal this man in two stages? I don't believe it is because Jesus just wasn't fully successful the first time. I think Jesus did it intentionally. Why?
I think he did it to demonstrate how we receive many of His gifts. Jesus gave this man some sight and he saw men like trees, walking. Jesus healed many people in Bethsaida, and they saw someone to heal all their sick and afflicted. Jesus gives us many gifts and the words to live by and we are still confused. Are we content with "seeing men like trees, walking"? It is preferrable to being blind. Do we take that as the truth and look no further? If only Jesus would give us the gift to see everything clearly!