Daily Devotional For Monday, October 12, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Mark 8:22-26:
“When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged Him to touch the man and heal him. (23) Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, He laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” (24) The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” (25) Then Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. (26) Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home” (NLT).
Since Jesus was in Gentile territory, it is likely that this blind man was a Gentile. We may marvel at this man’s friends. They were not only sure that Jesus could heal this blind man, they also thought they knew how Jesus would do it – “. . . touch the man and heal him.” We see in this story it is this man’s friends who had faith in Jesus to do this. Nowhere in this story do we see the man stepping out in faith for Jesus to heal him. He almost seems to be apathetic about it.
Usually, this was not the type of person Jesus healed. When Jesus encountered blind Bartimaeus on the road, this man was shouting out in faith to Jesus to heal him, even when others tried to silence him. For most people, they experienced from Jesus the reality of His words in Matthew 9:29. So, why a two-stage healing for this man? Well, in this story, which Mark is the only Gospel we read this, we see several things about Jesus:
- We see Jesus’ considerateness and compassion. Jesus took this man out of his village. Why? So, that the thrill of seeing would break upon him gently, rather than suddenly. With all the sights, colors and images, it would have been overwhelming for this man to see everything immediately. Also, Jesus wanted this man, who did not exhibit any faith, to have faith in Him.
- Jesus used a method to heal this man that was common and believed had healing properties. In Jesus’ day, people believed that spittle (saliva) had the ability to cure certain illnesses, diseases and handicaps. We are not much different today. When you get a paper cut, what is your first instinct? – you put your finger in your mouth. This man never begged Jesus to heal him; his friends were the ones who begged Jesus to heal him.
- This is the only miracle Jesus did that took steps or stages to accomplish. This reminds us that no one sees all of God’s truth immediately. It comes to us in stages. Jesus led this blind man out of his village, Bethsaida, which was Peter’s hometown. Why? Jesus did not want a public spectacle with this miracle. This is why Jesus told him after the healing not to go back to his village immediately.
The fact that Jesus took the man by the hand and let him out of the village rather than asking one of His disciples to do it shows the servanthood attitude of Jesus. We see this repeated attitude by Jesus in His comments in Mark 10:45. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. In doing this He was teaching His disciples a very important lesson. The man first saw people as trees walking. I imagine that if the man’s expectations were surging, now seeing people as trees his expectations were soaring as well as his faith.
I think the reason Jesus took two stages to heal this man is that he had two kinds of blindness: one was physical and the second was spiritual. Jesus had to get this man’s faith to where his sight was about to be. We know that Jesus was not flattering in His omnipotence nor was He unsure as to what to do and how to do it for this man.
Jesus was teaching His disciples that while all the apparatus for the man to see again was there, he still needed to see fully or completely. For His disciples, they still were struggling with spiritual blindness. His disciples had spiritual sight but it was incomplete. Jesus had already rebuked them for their lack of faith in Him. Jesus was more concerned about this man’s soul than his sight.
Reflection Assignment: When has the Lord tested your faith in stages? What did you learn about yourself and Him? What appeals to you more? – the teachings of Jesus or the miracles of Jesus? Why? What “spittle” symbolically speaking has the Lord used with you to get your attention, answer a prayer or heal you? What expectations do you have of the Lord? When has your faith soared for the Lord?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 1:9, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, (the qualities are listed in 1 Pet. 1:5-8) having forgotten his purification from his former sins” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, sometimes I feel I have faith and other times I feel I have little or no faith. I can be so much like Peter at times: I can “walk on water” in faith and then I can deny You due to my lack of faith. I do not want to live like this. I want to experience the blessings of Hebrews 11:6. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly