Go With the Flow

In studying the Bible, it's informative not only to look at an account of something, but where that account stands in the flow of events. In the Christianity Explored group I am leading, we looked at Jesus healing the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26), the only miracle Jesus performed in two stages. As we pan back from that miracle we see it sandwiched between two incidents. The one prior to the miracle closes with Jesus' statement to His disciples, "Do you still not understand?" The incident after the miracle has Jesus asking who people say He is, gleaning an answer first of partial understanding and then of full understanding with Peter's statement that Jesus is the Christ. From there Jesus asserts His mission involving betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection.

Sometimes people have an accurate but incomplete view of Jesus, seeing Him as good teacher or a pious example, even as God in human flesh. Sometimes they have a partial view of the gospel, understand a bit about sin and need for forgiveness but lacking the whole. Part of our witness is listening to a person's view of Jesus and the gospel and looking to how we can complete it.

Interestingly, that listening actually serves to do the same thing in their lives as we are talking about in our study of Scripture. It asks what knowledge they have and where on the continuum between partial and complete they are, where we can meet them to advance that knowledge.

To illustrate how it works, think of the knowledge you had of Jesus and the gospel before coming to a saving knowledge. You saw distorted truth, just as the blind man saw people as trees walking around. But it was the Spirit of God who convinced you of your sin and misery, enlightened your mind in the knowledge of Christ, renewed your will and enabled you to embrace Jesus Christ fully and freely offered in the gospel--the miracle of spiritual sight.