What does Mark 8:22 mean?
Bethsaida was a fairly large city near the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. As it sits on the east side of the river that feeds the lake, it is often described as "on the other side" of the lake from Capernaum (Mark 8:13). It belonged to the tetrarchy ruled by Philip, Herod Antipas' half-brother. Although Bethsaida was well-populated, it was organized more like a village than a city and was surrounded by several little villages that held about fifteen thousand people total. Many of the residents worked the surrounding fields.It was outside of Bethsaida that scholars believe Jesus fed the five thousand-plus people (Mark 6:34–44). Philip, Andrew, and Peter were from Bethsaida (John 1:44). Although Jesus performs many miracles there, they do not turn to Him as Savior. In fact, He laments that if the Gentiles of Tyre and Sidon had witnessed the displays of power and authority Bethsaida had, "they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (Matthew 11:21).
This is not the first time Jesus has healed the blind. He had done other such miracles before John the Baptist died (Luke 7:22), but it is the first recorded in Mark's Gospel. It's possible the people know of these other healings, as they ask Jesus to "touch" the blind man, and not merely bless him by laying hands on him.
Mark 8:22–26 contains an important fulfillment of prophecy. Much has been made about the fact that Jesus heals a physically blind man directly after dealing with spiritually blind Pharisees (Mark 8:11–12) and disciples (Mark 8:14–21). But it can't be overstated, particularly in this precise place in the book, that healing the blind is specifically listed in the Old Testament as a sign of God's Messiah (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:6–7). Even the restoration of Paul's sight was orchestrated by Jesus (Acts 9:17–18). The two-step nature of this healing is no accident: it symbolizes the fact that salvation does not impart instantaneous spiritual wisdom. Like the man in Bethsaida, the disciples' spiritual sight grows only gradually. Mark's account is the only recording of this miracle.
This chapter describes another miraculous feeding of thousands by Jesus. He also counters the hard-hearted and selfish hypocrisy of the Pharisees in seeking even more miraculous signs. Speaking to the disciples, Jesus rebukes their short memories and reminds them about God's intent to provide for His followers. After healing a blind man, Jesus accepts Peter's proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah. Almost immediately, though, Jesus rebukes Peter for resisting the idea that the Messiah must suffer and die.
