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Mark 8:23 |
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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 ought.
Note 2 at Mr 8:23: Jesus did "nothing of himself" but only what He saw His Father do (Joh 5:19). There was a purpose for leading this man out of the town. Bethsaida was one of the cities that received Jesus' harshest rebuke because of the people's hardened hearts of unbelief (Mt 11:20-22 and Lu 10:13-14). As revealed in Mr 6:5-6, the unbelief of others can hinder the manifestation of God's will (see note 2 at Mr 6:5). Therefore, it is probable that Jesus led this man away from the crowd to separate him from the unbelief of others, just as He did on other occasions (see note 2 at Lu 8:51).
Note 3 at Mr 8:23: This was very unusual for Jesus to minister healing and then ask what the results were. We can rule out the possibility that Jesus didn't know what the will of the Father was in this case (Joh 5:19) and was therefore asking this man if he could see to find out if God had heard and answered His prayer (Joh 11:41-42). Jesus didn't doubt God, but rather He knew that manifestations of God's power could be hindered by the unbelief of others (see note 2 at Mr 6:5 and note 2 at Lu 8:51).
Although He had taken the man out of the town (see note 2 at Mr 8:23), He knew He hadn't removed all of the "town" out of the man (i.e., the unbelief of those in the town of Bethsaida). Therefore, rather than release the power of God into this man and then leave him to struggle with the manifestation of that healing, Jesus helped this man with his unbelief until the healing was complete (see note 4 at Mr 8:25).
This establishes the principle that not all healings (or other answers to prayer) are manifested instantly (see note 5 at Lu 5:25). Satan can hinder God's power even after it has been released. In Da 10:1-13, God answered Daniel's prayer instantly (Da 10:12), yet it took twenty-one days (Da 10:2) for Daniel to see the answer of God, because the prince of Persia (a demonic power) withstood his manifestation. God answers many prayers (Mt 7:7-8) that never come into manifestation, because those praying fail to stand as Daniel did (Mr 11:24 and Ga 6:9).
