SEEING AND NOT SEEING—OR, MEN AS TREES WALKING – Charles Spurgeon
SEEING AND NOT SEEING—OR, MEN AS TREES WALKING
“And He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. And 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 upon him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”
—Mark 8:22-25.
Introduction: The Significance of Our Savior’s Healing Methods
Our Savior frequently healed the sick by touch, intending to impress upon us that the infirmities of fallen humanity can only be removed by contact with His own blessed humanity. However, He had other lessons to teach, and therefore, He adopted different methods of healing. It was wise for other reasons to manifest variety in His methods as well. Had our Lord cast all His miracles in one mold, men would have attached undue importance to the manner in which He worked and superstitiously thought more of the method than of the divine power by which the miracle was accomplished. Accordingly, our Master presents us with great variety in the form of miracles. Though they always display the same goodness, wisdom, and power, He is careful to make each one distinct so that we may behold the manifest goodness of God and not imagine that the divine Savior is so short of methods as to need to repeat Himself.
It is the besetting sin of our carnal natures to stay in what is seen and forget the unseen; hence, the Lord Jesus changes the outward modus operandi (or manner of working) to make it clear that He is not bound to any particular method of healing, and that the outward operation is nothing in itself. He would have us understand that if He chose to heal by touch, He could also heal with a word; and if He cured with a word, He could dispense even with the word and work by His mere will. A glance of His eye was as efficacious as a touch of His hand, and even without being visibly present, His invisible presence could work the miracle while He was still at a distance.
In the present case, our Savior deviated not only in the method of healing but also in the character of the cure. In most of the Savior’s miracles, the person healed was restored immediately. We read of the deaf and dumb man, whose mouth was not only opened but who also spoke plainly, receiving the gift of language as well as the power to make articulate sounds. In other cases, the fever left the patient at once, the leprosy was completely healed on the spot, and the issue of blood was stopped. But here, “the beloved physician” went more leisurely to work and only bestowed part of the blessing at first, halting by the way, making His patient consider how much was given and how much was withheld. Then, by a second operation, He perfected the good work.
Perhaps our Lord’s action in this case was directed not only by the desire to make each miracle distinct (lest men should think that like a magician He had but one mode of operating) but also suggested by the particular form of the disease and the spiritual infirmity of which it is a type. Jesus would scarcely have healed some sicknesses by degrees; it seemed necessary to deal a decisive blow and end them. The casting out of a devil, for instance, must be accomplished entirely, or else it is not accomplished at all. A leper is a leper still if but a spot remains. However, it is possible to heal blindness by degrees, giving some glimmer of light at first and then afterwards pouring the full light of day onto the eyeballs. Perhaps it may even be necessary in some cases to make the cure gradual, so that the optic nerve can grow accustomed to the light.
As the eye is the emblem of the understanding, it is very possible, and indeed usual, to heal the human understanding by degrees. The will must be changed at once, the affections must be turned instantly, and most of the powers of human nature must experience a distinct and complete change. But the understanding may be enlightened over a longer course of illumination. The heart of stone cannot be gradually softened but must instantaneously be made into a heart of flesh. This is not necessary with the understanding. The reasoning faculties may be gradually brought into proper balance and order. The soul may receive at first but a slight perception of the truth of God, and there it may rest with comparative safety. Afterwards, it may come to apprehend more clearly the mind of the Spirit, and in that degree of light, it may abide without serious peril, although not without loss. It may be described as seeing but not seeing afar off.
The ultimate restoration of the understanding may be reserved for more mature experience. Probably, spiritual sight will never be in absolute perfection until we enter into the light of God, for which the spiritual state is intended—namely, the glory of that place where they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.
I. To Picture the Case
The miracle before us portrays the progressive healing of a darkened understanding. It is a picture of the darkened soul gradually illuminated by the Holy Spirit and brought by Jesus Christ into the clear light of His kingdom. I would like to begin by picturing this case, which is a wonderfully common one in our times—certainly among the new additions to this congregation. Many are coming to us who, for the previous part of their lives, have been spiritually blind. These individuals have been mere formal churchgoers or stiff outside religionists among dissenters.
Observe carefully the case in hand: it is a person with a darkened understanding. This is not a man who might be pictured as possessed by the devil. A man possessed with the devil raves, rages, is dangerous to society, and must be bound with chains, watched, and guarded, for he will hurt himself and others. But this blind person is perfectly harmless. He has no desire to injure others and is not likely to be violent toward himself. He is sober, steady, honest, kind, and his spiritual malady may excite our pity but not our fear.
If these unenlightened persons associate with the Lord’s people, they do not rave or rage against the saints. They respect them and love their company. They are not haters of the cross of Christ; in their poor, blind way, they are even lovers of it. They are not persecutors, revilers, or scoffers, nor do they run desperately in the way of wickedness. On the contrary, although they cannot see the things of God, they feel their way in the paths of morality in a very admirable manner. In some respects, they might even be examples to those who can see.
This case is not one of a person polluted with a contagious disease like leprosy. The leper must be put away; there must be a place reserved for him because he contaminates all with whom he comes into contact. But not so with this blind man who comes to the Savior. He is blind, but does not make others blind. If he is with other blind persons, he does not increase their blindness. If he is with those who can see, he does not injure their sight in any way. On the contrary, they might even derive some benefit from association with him, for it makes them thankful for the eyesight they possess when they see the darkness in which he is so sorrowfully enveloped.
These unenlightened people are beloved in our families, and very properly so, for they spread no injurious doctrines, set no ill examples, and even when they talk of spiritual things, they make us pity them because they know so little. We are grateful to God that He has opened our eyes to see the wondrous things of His Word. These people are neither raving haters of God nor foul livers, so as to do mischief to their race. They are not even incapable in any respect except the one organ of the mind’s eye; it is the understanding that is darkened. But in all other senses, they are hopeful, if not entirely healthy.
They are not altogether deaf. They hear the gospel with considerable pleasure and earnest heed. It is true they do not clearly understand it; it is very much the letter they receive, and but in a very small degree the spirit. Still, at the same time, they do hear, and they are in the way of getting a greater blessing, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Moreover, they are not dumb either. They pray in a manner—though it is not very spiritual, it still has a kind of earnestness about it that is not to be despised.
They have been to a place of worship from their youth up and have never neglected the outward forms of religion. Alas for them, they are still blind! But they are anxious to hear and to pray, and we trust will yet be able to do both. They are not absolutely deaf or dumb. Moreover, they seem not to be incapable in other respects. Their hands are not withered, as in the case of one whom Christ met in the synagogue, and they are not bowed down by grievous depression of spirit, as was that daughter of Abraham. They are both cheerful and diligent in the ways of the Lord.
II. Our Lord’s Method of Cure
Now, let us consider our Lord’s method of cure. Every part of this miracle is suggestive. The first thing to observe is a friendly intervention—his friends brought the blind man to Jesus. How many there are who do not rightly understand the fundamental doctrine of the gospel of Christ and need the help of believers! They have an affection for religion in the abstract, but they do not fully understand what they must do to be saved. They have a sort of faith, but it brings them little or no benefit. Such people might often be blessed if more advanced Christians would try to bring them to a clearer knowledge of the Savior.
The Spit of His Mouth: A Lesson in Spiritual Sight
You have sneeringly declared that such a man speaks the truth of God in a coarse and vulgar style; you shall one day bless that vulgarity and be glad enough to receive, even after a coarse fashion, the truth as his Master bids him speak it. I think that many of us had to notice this in our conversion, that the Lord chastised our pride by saying to us, “Those poor people of whom you thought so harshly shall be made a blessing to you, and My servant, against whom you were most filled with prejudice, shall be the man to bring you into perfect peace.” It strikes me that much more than that, but all of it, is in the thought of the Savior’s spitting on his eyes. No powders of the merchant, no myrrh and frankincense, no costly drugs, but just a common spit on the lips; and so if you would see, my hearer, the deep things of God, it shall not be by the philosophers, nor by the profound thinkers of the day, but he that said unto you, “Trust Christ and live.” He teaches you better philosophy than the philosophers, and he who tells you that in Him, in the Lord Jesus, dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, tells you in that simple statement more than you could learn though Socrates and Plato should rise from the dead, and you could sit, a scholar, at their feet. Jesus Christ will open your eyes, and it shall be by this ignoble means—the spit of His mouth.
You will further perceive that when He had spit on his eyes, it is added that He put His hands upon him. Did He do that in the form of heavenly benediction? Did He, by the laying on of His hands, bestow upon the man His blessing and bid virtue stream from His own person into the blind man? I think so. So, brothers and sisters, it is not the spit, it is not the leading of the man out of the crowd after all; it is not the ministry, it is not the preaching of the Word, it is not the hearer’s thoughtfulness that shall earn spiritual blessings—it is the benediction of Him who died for sinners which confers all upon us. This man is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sin. He who was despised and rejected of men, it is through Him and through Him only that the priceless gift, such as sight to the blind, shall be given to the sons of men. We must use the means, and neither despise them nor trust them. We must get alone, for retirement is a great blessing; but we must look up, after all, to the Lord and giver of every good gift, or else the spit had need to be wiped away in disgust, and the being alone shall only make the blind man lose his way the more effectively, and wander in the deeper darkness with less of sympathy and help.
The Conversion of the Spiritually Blind
This sketch is the photograph of some here. I believe there are persons here who, from their youth up, have attended places of worship without the slightest perception of spiritual life, and would have continued to do so had not the Lord been pleased to make use of friends—happy, cheerful Christian friends—who said, “Come now, I think I can tell you something which you do not know.” These friends, by prayer and teaching, brought you into contact with Jesus. Jesus touched you, influenced your mind, made you thoughtful, made you see that there was more in religion than just the mere external, made you feel that going to church or going to chapel was not everything, no, was not anything at all, unless you learned the secret, the real secret of everlasting life! It has been through all this that you have begun to feel that there is power in that gospel which once you despised; and that which you sneered at as Methodism and rant, is now to you the gospel of your salvation. Let us thank God for this, for it is by such means that eyes are opened.
A Hopeful Stage of Spiritual Growth
We have now come to the third point, and we will pause a moment at A Hopeful Stage. The Savior had given the man’s eyes the power to see, but He had not completely removed the film that kept out the light. Hear the man. Jesus says to him, “Can you see anything?” He looks up, and the first joyful word is, “I see!” What a blessing! “I see!” Some of you, dear friends, can say that—“Whereas I was once blind, now I see.” Yes, Lord, it is not total darkness now. I do not see as much as I should, nor as much as I hope I shall, but I do see. There are many, many things I knew nothing of, which I do know something about now. The devil himself cannot make me doubt that I do see. I know I do.
I used to be quite satisfied with the outward form; if I got through the hymns and prayers, and so on, I felt satisfied; but now, though I feel I cannot see as I want to see, I can see as much as that. If I cannot see light, there is certainly darkness visible. If I cannot see salvation, I can see my own ruin. I do see my own needs and necessities; if I see nothing more, I do see these. Now, if a man can see anything, it matters not what, he certainly has sight. Whether it is a beautiful object or an ugly thing that he sees does not matter; the mere seeing of anything is proof positive that there is sight in his eyes. So the spiritual perception of anything is proof that you have spiritual life, whether that perception makes you mourn, or whether it makes you rejoice, whether it makes you broken-hearted, or binds up your heart; if you do see it, you must have the power of sight—that is clear enough, is it not?
But hear the man again. He says, “I see men.” That is better still. Of course, the poor fellow had once been able to see, or else he would not have known the shape of a man. “I see men,” he says. Yes, and there are some here who have enough sight to be able to distinguish between one thing and another, so as to know this from that. Though you were as blind as bats once, nobody could make you believe that baptismal regeneration was the same thing as the regeneration of the Word of God; you can see the difference between these two things at any rate. One would think anybody might, but a great many cannot. You can see the difference between mere formal and external worship and spiritual worship—you can see that. You can see enough to know that there is a Savior, that you need a Savior, that the way of salvation is by faith in Christ, that the salvation which Jesus gives really saves us from sinning, and brings those who receive it safe to eternal glory.
Thus it is clear that you can see something, and you know within a little while what that something is. Listen, however, to the blind man, for here comes in the word that spoils it to a great extent—“I see men as trees, walking.” He could not tell whether they were men or trees, except that they were walking, and he knew that trees did not walk, and therefore they could not be trees. Objects were a confused blot before his eyes. He knew from their motion that they must be men, but he could not tell exactly by sight whether they were men or trees.
The Struggles of Spiritual Growth and Clarity
Many precious souls are waiting at this hopeful but uncomfortable stage. They can see. Bless God for that! They will never be thoroughly blind again, for if they can see the Man Jesus, and the tree on which He died, they make but one object of them if they please, for Christ and His cross are one. Eyes which cannot clearly see Jesus may yet dimly see Him, and even a dim sight will save the soul. Observe that this man’s sight was very indistinct—a man or a tree—he could not tell. So it is with the first sight that is given to many spiritually blind persons. They cannot distinguish between doctrine and doctrine. The work of the Spirit and the work of the Savior they frequently confuse in their minds. They possess justification and they possess sanctification, but it is probable they could not tell you which was which. They have received imparted righteousness of heart, and they have also received the imputed righteousness of Christ, but between the imparted righteousness and the imputed righteousness they can scarcely distinguish; they have them both, but they do not know which is which—at least not so as to be able to write down the definitions, or tell them to their fellow men. They can see, but they cannot see as they should see. They see men as trees walking.
Their sight, in addition to being indistinct, is very exaggerating. A man is not as big as a tree, but they magnify the human stature into the towering timber. And so, half-enlightened people exaggerate doctrines. If they receive the doctrine of election they cannot be content to go as far as Scripture goes—they make a tree of the man by dragging in reprobation. If they get a hold of the precept, baptism, or whatever it may be, they exaggerate its proportions, and make it a sort of all-in-all. Some get one impulse and some get another, and it is all through
The Ultimate Completeness of the Cure
So it is with the doctrines; the mere whole of the doctrine, in the gross, is blessed, but it is when we come to take the doctrine to pieces that we gain the purest enjoyment. “Yes,” says the clown, as he looks at a fine painting, such as, for instance, Paul Potter’s famous Bull at the Hague, “It’s certainly a rare picture,” and then he goes away. But the artist sits down and studies its details. There is to him a beauty in every touch and shade which he understands and appreciates. Many believers have light enough to know the faith in its bare outline, but they have not observed the filling up, and the minutiae wherein the sweetest comfort will always be found by the spiritually educated child of God. They can see, but they “see men as trees, walking.”
Although I know that most of you, my brothers and sisters, have traveled far beyond this stage, yet I know there are hundreds of God’s people who are still lingering there, and hence, it is when Satan gets the upper hand that sects, parties, and theories arise. If a number of people with good eyes meet together and look at an object, they will very nearly agree in the description of what they see; but if you select an equal number of men with eyes so weak that they can scarcely tell a man from a tree, they will make no end of confusion and likely enough fall to quarrelling. “It is a man,” cries one; “he walks.” “It is a tree,” cries the second; “it is too tall to be a man!” When half-blind men grow willful and despise their teachers, and will not learn as the Holy Spirit ordains to teach, they set up their ignorance for knowledge, and perhaps lead other half-enlightened ones into the ditch with them.
Even where a holy modesty prevents this mischievous result, this half-sight is still to be lamented, for it leaves men in sorrow when they might rejoice and lets them mourn over truth which, if understood, would fill their mouths with song all the day long. Many are troubled about election; now, if there is a doctrine in this book which ought to make believers sing all day, and all night too, it is just the doctrine of electing love and distinguishing grace of God. Some people are frightened over this and some over that, whereas if they understood the truth, instead of flying from it as from an enemy, they would run into its arms.
The Desire for Ultimate Spiritual Clarity
Having given this sketch of the man in this transition state, we close by noting the Ultimate Completeness of the Cure. Brothers and sisters, be grateful for any sort of light. Without the grace of God, we could not have a ray of it. One ray of light is more than we deserve. If we were shut up in the blackness of darkness forever, how could we complain? Do we not deserve, since we shut our eyes against God, to be doomed to perpetual darkness? Be thankful, then, for the least gleam of light, but do not so prize what you have as not to wish for more. That man is still sadly blind who does not care to see more.
It is a bad sign of unhealthiness when we have no desire to grow. When we are satisfied that we know all the truth of God, and cannot be taught any more, it is probable that we need to begin at the beginning. One of the first lessons in the school of wisdom is to know that we are naturally fools, and that man is growing wise who is growing conscious of his own deficiency and ignorance.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ brings a man to see a little, and to desire to see more, He does not leave him until He has led him into all the truths of God. We find that the Savior, to complete the cure, touched His patient again. A renewal of your contact with the Savior must be the means of your perfection, as it was your first means of enlightenment. Pray for divine grace to be close to Christ, in intimate acquaintance with His blessed person, in sole dependence upon His merit; study His character, desire to commune with Him for yourself, and to see Him with your own eyes by faith and not with the eyes of another—this shall be the means of giving you clearer light. The divine touch does it all.
I suppose that when the man’s eyes were fully opened, the first person He saw was Jesus, for he had been taken away from the crowd, and could only see men at a distance. Blessed vision to drink in the sight of that face; to perceive the beauties of that matchless lover of our souls; oh, the joy! One might be content to be blind forever if He were not to be seen; but when Jesus is seen, oh, the heavenly delight of being rescued from the blindness which concealed Him from our eyes!
Believer, above all things, pray that you may know Him, and understand Him. With all your heart, get an understanding of Him. Count a doctrine precious, only because it is a throne on which He sits. Think much of the precept, but make it not to be a legal stone to hide Him in the sepulcher; think only of it as it is illustrated and set forth in His life; and even your own experience, care little for it if it does not point as with a finger to Christ. Consider that you only grow when you grow up in Him. “Grow in grace,” says the apostle, but he adds, “and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” “Grow up,” he says, but what does he add? “Grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ Jesus.”
Ask to see, but put the prayer in this form—“Sir, we would see Jesus.” Pray for sight, but let it be a sight of the King in His beauty, that you may one day see the land that is very far off. You are nearing clearness of vision when you can see only Jesus; you are coming out of cloud-land into the brightness of day, when, instead of seeing men as trees, you behold the Savior. Then you may let the men and the trees take care of themselves. We read that our Lord bade His patient, “Look up.” If we would see, we must not look below us; no light springs from this dusky earth. If we would see, we must not look within us; it is a dark, black cavern, full of everything that is evil. We must look up. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, and we must look up for it. Meditating upon Jesus and resting upon Him, we must look up to our God. Our soul must consider her Lord’s perfection, and not dream of her own. She must muse upon His greatness, and not on any fancied greatness of her own. We must look up—not on our fellow servants, or upon the externals of worship, but up to God Himself. We must look, and as we look up, we shall find the light of God.
We are told that at last, “the man could see every man clearly.” Yes, when the great Physician sends the patient home, you may rest assured that his cure is fully worked. It was all well with him in the superlative degree. He saw, he saw every man, he saw every man clearly. May this be the happy lot of many a half-enlightened one here present! Be not satisfied, my dear friends, with being saved; desire to know how you are saved, why you are saved, the method by which you are saved. It is a rock on which you stand, I know, but think upon the questions—how you were put on that rock, by whose love you came there, and why that love was set on you. I would to God that all the members of this church were not only in Christ Jesus, but understood Him, and knew by the assurance of the understanding to where they have attained. Be always ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Remember there are many grave distinctions in Scripture which will save you a world of trouble if you will know and remember them. Try to understand the difference between the old nature and the new. Never expect the old nature to improve into the new, for it never will. The old nature can never do anything but sin, and the new nature never can sin. They are two distinct principles; never confuse them. Do not see men as trees walking. Do not confuse sanctification and justification. Remember that the moment you trust in Christ you are justified as completely as you will be in heaven, but sanctification is a gradual work which is carried on from day to day by God the Holy Spirit. Distinguish between the great truth of God that salvation is all of God, and the great lie that men are not to be blamed if they are lost. Be well assured that salvation is of the Lord, but do not lay damnation at God’s door. Be not ashamed if men call you a Calvinist, but hate with all your heart Antinomianism. On the other hand, while you believe human responsibility, never run into the error of supposing that man ever turns to God of his own free will. There is a narrow line between the two errors, and ask for divine grace to see it. Ask for grace neither to fall into the whirlpool nor to be dashed against the rock; to be neither a slave of this system nor that. Never say of one text of Scripture, “Be still, I cannot endure you,” nor yet of another, “I believe you, and you alone.” Seek to love the whole Word of God, to get an insight into every truth revealed. Pray to have God’s Word given to you not as so many discordant books, but as a whole, and seek to grasp the truth as it is in Jesus in all its compactness and unity.
I would urge you, if you have got sight which enables you to see at all, to fall on your knees and cry unto the great Sightgiver, “O Master, still go on; take every film away, remove every cataract, and if it should be painful to have my prejudices cut away or burnt out of my eyes, yet do it, Lord, until I can see in the clear light of the Holy Spirit, and shall be worthy to enter into the gates of the holy city, where they see You face to face.”