Do You Have 20/20 Spiritual Vision? – Mark 8:22-9:1
8 (22) Then they came to Bethsaida. There they brought to Jesus a blind man, and begged him to touch him. (23) Jesus took the blind man by the hand, and brought him outside of the village. After he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, Do you see anything? (24) The man looked up and said, I see men; but they look like walking trees. (25) He laid his hands upon the man’s eyes again; then his eyes came into focus, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.(26) Jesus sent him away to his home, saying, Do not even enter into the village.
(27) Then Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, Who do men say that I am? (28) And they told him, Some say you are John the Baptist; others say that you are Elijah; and still others say that you are one of the prophets. (29) Then he asked them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. (30) He charged them not to tell anyone who he was. (31) Then he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
(32) Now he spoke these things publicly. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. (33) But Jesus, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, Get behind me, Satan; for your mind is not focused on the things of God, but on the things of men. (34) Then he called to himself the whole crowd along with his disciples, and said to them, If any man desires to be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (35) Whoever wants to save his life, will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel shall save it. (36) What profit is it for a man to gain the whole world, but to forfeit his life? (37) What can a man give in exchange for his life? (38) Whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 9 Then he said to them, I tell you the truth, Some of those who are standing here shall by no means taste of death until they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
