None So Blind

There are two stories of the cure of a blind person in this portion of Mark's gospel, so the cure of blindness must have been important for Mark. What could the cure of blindness mean in your own life?

For me, the stories about the cure of blindness in Mark combined with the understanding that Jesus had to keep demonstrating his values through the things he did and said, and that the disciples kept misunderstanding and hoping that Jesus would overthrow their oppressors with a valiant show of power, tells me that I need to think about the ways in which I might be spiritually blind, or misunderstanding what Jesus is trying to show me about the values I should learn from him and the way I should live as a result of embracing these values, and that the cure for this blindness can come from Jesus.

I must examine my heart and test my values to see if they match up with Jesus’ values, and then give my application of those values a once-over: having faith in God is good; neglecting to act out of a denialist “faith” that God will take care of a problematic situation or relationship is not so good. Forgiving people’s wrongs is essential if we want to build community, but so is challenging people if they continue to do the same hurtful things over and over again. Grace should encourage growth in all of us, not allow us to settle into destructive patterns.

What expectations do I have about how God ‘ought to’ act, and what effect does that have on how I engage with other people? How do I deal with opposition to my own understanding of the Gospel?