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One of the most iconic miracles Jesus performed while on earth is the healing of the blind. I like the gospel of Mark here; because throughout the story it has put us into the mood of 'touch.' Jesus touches lepers to heal them; a woman touches his robe. Christ has, if I may use the term, the magic touch. Then finally it comes the the moment (Mark 10:51) when Jesus heals Bartimaeus. The healing of the blind is a powerful statement and a great symbol for so much in this world.

I remember as a child, learning to swim, I was terrified. I had been able to handle water, before then, only in contained areas like the sink and perhaps the bathtub: now I was being confronted with a giant hole in the ground, filled with this liquid which could devour me any moment. Forget my fears of the deep end in the pool; those hadn't even occured to me yet. For now, it was going to be an acheivement just to get into the water at all.

When Jesus heals the blind, there's the same sort of wonder and fear surrounding the whole thing. Can you imagine it? One minute, you're plunged in a well of pitch blackness, and you do not even know what it means to see. Then, you suddenly experience an agonizing flash of light before the face of a man--the son of God--materializes before you. It's incredible. It's unspeakable. And I think that it came through touch.

I think that when Jesus healed the blind, he put a hand over their eyes so that the magic touch might channel into their bodies. If they had faith, they would allow themselves to be protected, at least for a moment, from the light so that they could adjust. It only seemed like Jesus was giving them an impossible situation. in reality, the remarkable love and wisdom of Christ knew exactly what to do, if only the helpless child would put a toe into the swimming pool. If only, if only, if only--if only there were more faith in the world. Then all the blind would be healed!

But I think what keeps us away from Christ, more than anything else, is fear of bodily harm. The blind have the opportunity to enter into a beautiful symbolism, into a communion with God: but I think there always would have been some hesitation. There always would have been that little voice in the back of the mind, saying 'wait! Doesn't light hurt?' And we see the same thing today, more than ever. We see people shying away from their call to Christ because they do not want to give up lust or gluttony; they are afraid of martyrdom, and they do not want to bear the cross. We are human! We don't want to deal with the fact that we feel pain! But isn't that exactly what Christ is asking us to do? To have faith, to open our eyes to the light?

I'm sure scared of that. It's a long process, it's frightful: it's not over after the original conversion. Are you afraid of any part of Christ's message to us? I think we will grow stronger if we share what fears we have as we go along our ways.

Glad I could help. ^^

Check out my new FAQ thread in the 'Students for Christ' subforum?

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