Seeing Clearly and Following Fully (Mark 8:22-37)
Have you ever felt like you’re trying to understand something important, but it’s just a little blurry? Maybe you’re searching for clarity about who Jesus is or what it really means to follow Him. In this part of Mark’s Gospel, we see Jesus gently helping His followers move from confusion to clarity—and calling them to take bold steps of faith.
Let’s take a closer look at what happens.
Healing in Stages
Jesus and His disciples arrived in a town called Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to heal him. Jesus took the man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then, He spit on the man’s eyes, placed His hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
The man replied, “I see people, but they look like trees walking around.” His sight had started to return, but it wasn’t clear yet.
So Jesus touched his eyes again, and this time, the man saw everything clearly.
This is the only story in the Bible where Jesus heals someone in two stages. Why? Maybe to show us something deeper. Just like that man, sometimes our understanding of Jesus doesn’t come all at once. It’s a process. He meets us where we are and gently helps us see more clearly over time.
A Question That Changes Everything
As Jesus and His disciples continued traveling, He asked them an important question: “Who do people say I am?”
They gave various answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets.
Then Jesus made it personal: “But who do you say I am?”
Peter spoke up boldly: “You are the Messiah.”
Peter got it right. He recognized that Jesus wasn’t just a great teacher or a miracle worker—He was the Savior they had been waiting for. But Peter didn’t fully understand what that meant yet, and Jesus told them not to tell anyone for now.
A Hard Truth to Hear
Right after Peter’s big declaration, Jesus began to explain what it meant to be the Messiah. He told them He would suffer, be rejected, killed, and then rise again.
This shocked the disciples. Peter even pulled Jesus aside and tried to stop Him from saying these things.
But Jesus corrected Peter strongly: “You are not thinking about the things of God, but the things of people.”
Peter wanted a victorious, powerful Messiah—but Jesus came to save through suffering. This was not what anyone expected, but it was exactly what the world needed.
The Cost of Following Jesus
Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said something powerful:
“If anyone wants to follow me, they must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”
He explained that trying to save your life your own way will actually cause you to lose what matters most—your soul. But if you’re willing to give up control and trust Him fully, that’s when you truly find life.
Jesus doesn’t promise comfort or ease. He offers something much better—purpose, truth, and eternal hope. But it comes with a cost: surrender.
Seeing Clearly, Following Fully
This part of Mark’s Gospel shows a clear journey:
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A blind man slowly begins to see.
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A disciple begins to recognize who Jesus is.
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Jesus reveals what following Him really involves.
It’s a journey we’re all invited to take. Jesus doesn’t expect us to understand everything right away. He walks with us, teaches us, and helps us see more clearly over time. But once we begin to see who He really is, He invites us to follow—with open hands and a willing heart.
So here’s the question Jesus still asks today: “Who do you say I am?”
And when you answer, are you ready to follow Him fully, wherever He leads?
Mark 8:22-37 (WEB)
8:22 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.24 He looked up, and said, “I see men, but I see them like walking trees.”25 Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly. 26 He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”27 Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about him. 31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke to them openly. Peter took him and began to rebuke him. 33 But he, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.”34 He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his life?