In the Gospel of Mark, the journey of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem is bracketed by two stories that involve Jesus restoring the sight of someone who is blind.
In the first instance Jesus comes to the town of Bethsaida and some people bring a blind man to him asking Jesus to cure his blindness. Jesus leads the man out of the town, and after placing saliva on the man’s eyes, Jesus lays his hands on the man and asks him if he can see anything. The man can see the outline of people, but he can’t distinguish their features. So Jesus then placed his hands on the man’s eyes again and looks intently at him. This time the man’s sight is fully restored and he sees clearly.
This two-stage healing is symbolic of the partial healing of the Apostle Peter’s ‘spiritual blindness’ that follows when Peter correctly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, but then fails to fully understand what this means when Jesus tells the disciples that his mission requires him to undergo suffering and death.
Likewise the second instance of Jesus restoring the sight of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus outside the gates of Jericho is symbolic of the continued ‘blindness’ of the disciples despite the repeated teaching Jesus has given them on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem.
Prior to arriving at Jericho, Jesus had, on several different occasions, used the example of little children to demonstrate to the disciples the countercultural nature of the Kingdom of God. Little children had no value in society in the time of Jesus, but Jesus taught the disciples that in God’s kingdom children were just as important as the people who were considered the most important in society, that is the wealthy. He did this through the story of the wealthy man asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, and who is then unable to give up his wealth in order to obtain it. Jesus concluded this story by saying to the disciples, “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Mark 10:31 NRSV)
But having just taught the disciples about what their priorities should be – focus on the Kingdom of God rather than worldly possessions – the sons of Zebedee, James and John, ask Jesus to grant them positions of power and authority in his kingdom when he reveals himself as the Messiah. The other ten disciples are angry with James and John, and they all begin arguing about who is the most important among them. They still don’t have their priorities right because they are still ‘spiritually blind.’ They believe Jesus is the Messiah, but they believe the kingdom he is going to inaugurate is still going to be some sort of ‘worldly kingdom’ and they want to have power and authority in that kingdom.
Contrast this with Bartimaeus who has never met Jesus but who on hearing that Jesus is approaching calls out to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimaeus clearly believes that Jesus is the Messiah – note that he addresses Jesus as ‘Son of David’ – and he also believes that Jesus can restore his sight.
When Jesus asks Bartimaeus what he wants him to do for him, Bartimaeus replies, “Teacher, let me see again.” Jesus then says to him, “Go, your faith has made you well” and instantly Bartimaeus regains his sight and becomes a follower of Jesus.
These words attributed to Jesus echo previous stories in Mark’s Gospel of the woman suffering haemorrhages for twelve years, and the Gentile woman whose daughter is possessed by an unclean spirit. In both of those cases, their belief that Jesus can supply the required healing, results in that healing taking place. The actions of Bartimaeus and these two women reflect the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NRSV)
As Christians, that is largely what we do. We put our trust in God, and we try to live our lives according to the teaching of Jesus, even though we have seen neither God or Jesus. To “walk by faith” is not always easy, especially when we experience difficult or challenging times.
An expression we often hear, particularly from people of no faith, is that if God exists, why does He allow suffering? It’s a difficult question to answer, and it’s perhaps one for which there is really no satisfactory explanation. In my opinion, the best explanation is that a complete understanding of God is beyond the limits of human beings at this time.
That is exactly the point made by the author of the Book of Job. That particular book of the Bible, which deals with the suffering inflicted on Job by Satan, with the approval of God, is probably the most well known treatise or commentary on suffering that we have.
Through an exchange that takes place towards the end of the book between God and Job, the author asserts that human beings don’t have the capacity to understand God’s plan for the universe. First, God questions Job. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7 NRSV) In response, Job says, “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3 NRSV)
Humankind’s understanding of the universe continues to increase dramatically through the discoveries and advances of science, but it seems the more we learn and know, the more questions we are faced with. The discovery made earlier this year by the James Webb Telescope of several ancient galaxies believed to have been formed some 450 million years after the Big Bang is proof of that. The discovery has sent shock waves through the scientific community because these galaxies are significantly larger and brighter than all the theories predicted, which now has scientists questioning many of the theories that had been postulated to explain the creation of the universe.
For me, the creation and function of the universe points towards the existence of a creator or creative agent (God) and just as a complete understanding of the universe is beyond the limits of human beings at this time, so too is our understanding of the nature of suffering. And so we continue to “walk by faith, not by sight.”
