Week 4 of Lent: Bethsaida - Eyes and Ears

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March 22, 2020 Mark 8:14-21

Deborah Laforet Mark 8:22-26

“Bethsaida - Eyes and Ears”

Let us pray.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O God, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) Amen.

Let’s just breathe for a moment.  If any of you are like me, my brain has been a bit hyperactive lately, so I’m learning to take breaks, especially from computer.  Breathing is one of those things that we all do but that sometimes we have to remember to do with intention.  Breathe deeply in and let it all out.

This is the fourth Sunday of Lent.  If you’ve been following, we have been on a journey through the gospel of Mark, travelling where Jesus travelled.  We’re going to use our technology to hopefully show you a map.

We started in Capernaum, where Jesus went now and again throughout the gospel, and possibly where he had a home.  We then went to Nazareth, the place of his birth.  Last week, we went with Jesus as he travelled outside of Galilee, north into Gentile country, where there were very few Jewish people.  Today, we continue that journey into the Decapolis and then to a small village called Bethsaida, just north of the Sea of Galilee. 

Jesus spent quite a bit of time outside of Galilee with the Gentiles.  We talked last week about his visit to Tyre, then he went north to Sidon, and then down into the Decapolis, which is a fairly large region, but I think he was probably still fairly close to the Sea of Galilee.  In the Decapolis region, he healed a man who was deaf and struggled with speech.  Using spit that he put on his fingers, which, on a good day, sounds very unclean, but especially during this pandemic, he touched the man’s ears and tongue and healed him.  

Also while in the Decapolis, Jesus broke bread with thousands of people.  This has happened one before.  Before Jesus left Galilee, he had broken bread with a crowd of over 5000 people, with plenty left over.  This time, in a crowd of mostly Gentiles, Jesus again prompts his disciples to feed a very large crowd of 4000 people.  The disciples though, although they had seen this miracle happen once already, seem to have forgotten that it was possible.  They ask Jesus how they are supposed to feed these people with only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.   I can imagine Jesus shaking his head.  He breaks breaks bread, gives thanks, and the food is distributed to ALL 4000 people, and, again, with plenty left over.

There seems to be this pattern in Mark’s gospel, especially in chapter eight.  No matter how many times a miracle is witnessed, people still doubt, they still seek more proof.  In Mark’s gospel, there were times when Jesus took those he healed away from the crowd to heal them in private, maybe not wanting the healing or the person to be a spectacle, so the people may not have seen the miracle happen but they would have seen the result.  Crowds followed Jesus because of these results, some begging for healing, some seeking wisdom, but I’m sure there were those seeking proof or even wanting to reveal this mysterious person as a fraud.  

We heard two stories today from Sue and Linden  These stories follow each other in the bible.  First we have the disciples and Jesus in a boat, on their way to Bethsaida.  They have just left a group of Pharisees who were challenging Jesus, asking for a sign from heaven that Jesus was actually working under God’s authority.  We read that Jesus sighed deeply and told them there would be no sign and got back into the boat.  

In the boat, Jesus says a kind of parable to his disciples, which some today are still trying to interpret.  He says, ““Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” I’m not going to tackle that parable today, but the disciples, even after watching Jesus perform miracles, even after hearing his wisdom and parables that so often left them confused,  and even after witnessing the feeding of thousands of people, twice, say something like, “Oh, he must be talking about our low supply of bread.”  They had just helped Jesus feed 4000 people, and they’re still preoccupied with whether they have enough to eat!

Jesus says to them, ““Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?” You can hear the frustration in these questions.

They cross the sea to Bethsaida.  I want you to remember that before he fed the crowd of 4000, Jesus had healed a deaf man because now Jesus is going to heal a blind man.  These two healing stories hold many of the same elements.  The blind man and the deaf man are both brought to Jesus.  Jesus takes them both away from the crowd, somewhere private.  In both healings, Jesus uses his spit.  But, unlike the healing of the deaf man and unlike every other healing story in all four gospels, Jesus has to make two attempts to heal this blind man.  He puts saliva on the man’s eyes, lays his hands on him, and asks, “Can you see anything?”  The man says, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”  So not quite healed.  Jesus, again, lays his hands on the blind man’s eyes. This time, the man is completely healed and can see clearly.

I want to be very clear that these healing stories are not about making people who are deaf or hard of hearing whole again.  They’re not about fixing people who are blind or visually impaired.  People with different abilities sometimes do not need to be fixed and can be made whole without a physical healing.  These healing stories are symbolic.  It was about offering compassion where it was needed.  It was about removing the stigma around illness and disease.  And the writer of this gospel was emphasizing a point.  In between these two healing stories, we hear Jesus saying to his disciples, “Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?”  Some had their eyes and ears opened immediately, were transformed right away, like the deaf man or even upon a second try, like the blind man, but others, like his own followers, no matter how much they tried, just couldn’t get it, and still others, like the Pharisees, didn’t want to get it, had closed their hearts and minds to any kind of growth or transformation from this man.  

What might we be failing to see?  What are we failing to hear?  What point might we be missing?  To what have we closed our hearts and minds?  

In the past week, we have been told to stay home, to social distance for our own protection as well as that of others and to lessen the burden on our health system.  The government has rolled out an economic plan worth billions of dollars to support people through this crisis.  We are being told to wash our hands and not touch our face, stay home and self isolate if we are sick or caring for those who are sick.  We’re encouraged to stay connected by phone or online, exercise, eat well, and drink lots of water.  We see people hoarding essential items and leaving the shelves bare for others.  The messages, and the number of messages, are enough to cause panic, to make us feel overwhelmed, to cause fear and anxiety.  

I heard Father Richard Rohr this morning on a podcast talk about fear and panic, and that when we feel these things, our vision narrows, we see less clearly, and in fact, sometimes we see only those things that confirm our fears.  

Jesus lived during a time when people had these same kinds of feelings, and in fact, were also struggling with poverty, oppression, and injustice, that still remain with many of us today.  Jesus was trying to help people see beyond the fear, the panic, and the anxiety, to make his message of hope heard, and to help people see his message of a coming kingdom of peace and justice.  Many just weren’t ready to hear it or were too afraid to see it.

Are we ready?  Are we ready to open your ears, to open your eyes?  I don’t ever want you to put on rose-coloured glasses and ignore the very real impact this pandemic is having on us and our world, or ignore the injustices that occur, but we also have to keep our view broad enough to see the whole picture.  People in Italy are singing to each other from their balconies.  The Chinese, now that they are coming through this, are assisting in healthcare efforts.  Churches and outreach centres are striving to stay connected with people in their communities and especially with those who will struggle the most in this crisis.  Left and Right wing politicians are striving to work together.  People are volunteering their time to make deliveries, create cards to mail, to check in with neighbours, make phone calls, and assist people to get online where many are connecting virtually.  Thousands, maybe millions, are being fed.  People are finding healing.  The world is being transformed.  Do you see it?  Do you hear it?  Sometimes it’s the ones in need that hear it and see it first.  Sometimes, it’s the ones who think they have all the answers who find it hardest to be open.  

The hope is all around us.  The miracles are there to be seen.  Some may see glimmers of hope but won’t understand.  Some may see miracles but will deny their existence.  Some will fail to see and some will fail to hear.  For Jesus’ followers, it took his death and the miracle of resurrection to help them see and hear the good news.  What will it take for us?

May we all, as followers of wisdom and grace, seek understanding in the hope and peace that surrounds us every day.  May we all have our ears and eyes opened, able to see and hear that kingdom that Jesus envisioned; and may we all then work towards that blessed kingdom of God, right here and now, today and tomorrow.

Grace and peace be with you, my friends, and remember, our doors may be closed. but our hearts are open.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Deborah Laforet