About how spiritual sight is usually gained gradually
18 December, 1946
‘And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town’ (Mark 8:22-26).
Why did the Lord Jesus Christ heal the blind man in a different way this time? Usually He healed them immediately, and this time it was gradual: at first He returned sight in part, and then, laying His hands on the man once more, returned his sight completely.
We don’t know why, indeed we cannot know every thought that the Lord had. We can only guess. But it seems very possible the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching us through this gradual healing that spiritual healing is not – and cannot be – something sudden. It is something gradual.
And so it is. We know very well that it is impossible to begin seeing spiritually just like that, to all of a sudden become a saint, or righteous. It is a gradual process of development, which often takes an entire lifetime. Which must take a person’s entire lifetime, and indeed the whole of mankind’s lifetime. Take a look and see: the revelation God, given to mankind, didn’t come suddenly.
First only a small part of God’s mysteries was opened to the forefathers: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The revelation they received was not large, it was only the beginning. Centuries passed and the Hebrew nation received a much fuller, much deeper revelation through Moses. The Ten Commandments were received, and the law was established. And things didn’t stop there. The Lord so kindly saw fit to come into the world Himself and bring with Him the greatest revelation of all – the complete revelation of the Gospel.
And only since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ has such a complete revelation existed – as complete as mankind is capable of receiving; and along with it the opportunity develop and perfect ourselves spiritually, and to clean and enlighten our hearts. And there will be no more revelations. Indeed there cannot be a revelation higher than that of the great revelation of the Gospel.
Until the end of the world the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ will remain the highest and fullest.
The same thing that happened with the blind man is happening in the history of humanity, in the history of the world: the Lord has not opened mankind’s eyes suddenly, He has not healed it suddenly, He has not suddenly given people sight. It has been given gradually over the course of many centuries.
And it is the same with each person who comes into the world, indeed the Lord gives him enlightenment, and this enlightenment comes very gradually. You get your bodily sight immediately upon birth, but spiritual sight comes incredibly slowly, and only as a result of great effort.
The Lord gradually reveals everything that needs to be revealed. He reveals everything, gradually and slowly, in proportion to the effort made by the person concerned. And a real effort is required to receive this sight from Christ. He must constantly ask Christ for help. And he must cleanse himself with prayer and fasting, as well as carry out Christ’s commandments. And then, in proportion to the purification of heart, the person receives sight. Spiritual development is a terrifyingly slow process.
The great majority of people have no interest whatsoever in sight. But those who are better, those who have been chosen by God, receive sight in proportion to the efforts they make. If they are constant, unswerving, and tireless in their efforts – then the process goes forward, further and further.
The holy and righteous achieved great levels of sight. There can be no comparison between the levels of sight achieved by your average Christian, and those of great saints like Seraphim of Sarov and Sergius of Radonezh, whose sight was immeasurably greater than ours, who were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they could read the thoughts and hearts of others. Saint Seraphim of Sarov knew beforehand why a person had come to him, what he was going to ask about, and what was expected of him in reply, and quite often would answer without waiting for the question to be posed, staggering his visitors. They had just wanted to ask something – and saint Seraphim had already answered. Such was the spiritual sight of the saints. And immeasurably more – yes, even more than the spiritual sight of the saints – will be granted us when we come to stand face to face with God.
Take a look at what the holy apostle John wrote in his first epistle: ‘Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is’ (3:2). When our spiritual eyes are at last opened fully in the kingdom of God, we will enter into direct contact with Him, seeing everything, seeing Him face to face. We will gradually become more like Him, perfecting our reason, our heart, and our righteousness.
Which of God’s saints could boast of having achieved the mindset of Christ more than the apostle Paul? In the thirteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians he says: ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face’ (13:12). And even he didn’t know, seeing only darkly. But when we come to stand before God, then we will see, face to face.
How does sight come to humans and humanity who follow Christ? It comes slowly and gradually, just as the Lord healed the blind man slowly and gradually.
So move towards spiritual sight one step at a time.
It is essential that all desire and seek after spiritual sight, and that all ask the Lord to open their spiritual eyes.
May the Lord open your spiritual eyes.
Amen.
‘And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town’ (Mark 8:22-26).
Why did the Lord Jesus Christ heal the blind man in a different way this time? Usually He healed them immediately, and this time it was gradual: at first He returned sight in part, and then, laying His hands on the man once more, returned his sight completely.
We don’t know why, indeed we cannot know every thought that the Lord had. We can only guess. But it seems very possible the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching us through this gradual healing that spiritual healing is not – and cannot be – something sudden. It is something gradual.
And so it is. We know very well that it is impossible to begin seeing spiritually just like that, to all of a sudden become a saint, or righteous. It is a gradual process of development, which often takes an entire lifetime. Which must take a person’s entire lifetime, and indeed the whole of mankind’s lifetime. Take a look and see: the revelation God, given to mankind, didn’t come suddenly.
First only a small part of God’s mysteries was opened to the forefathers: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The revelation they received was not large, it was only the beginning. Centuries passed and the Hebrew nation received a much fuller, much deeper revelation through Moses. The Ten Commandments were received, and the law was established. And things didn’t stop there. The Lord so kindly saw fit to come into the world Himself and bring with Him the greatest revelation of all – the complete revelation of the Gospel.
And only since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ has such a complete revelation existed – as complete as mankind is capable of receiving; and along with it the opportunity develop and perfect ourselves spiritually, and to clean and enlighten our hearts. And there will be no more revelations. Indeed there cannot be a revelation higher than that of the great revelation of the Gospel.
Until the end of the world the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ will remain the highest and fullest.
The same thing that happened with the blind man is happening in the history of humanity, in the history of the world: the Lord has not opened mankind’s eyes suddenly, He has not healed it suddenly, He has not suddenly given people sight. It has been given gradually over the course of many centuries.
And it is the same with each person who comes into the world, indeed the Lord gives him enlightenment, and this enlightenment comes very gradually. You get your bodily sight immediately upon birth, but spiritual sight comes incredibly slowly, and only as a result of great effort.
The Lord gradually reveals everything that needs to be revealed. He reveals everything, gradually and slowly, in proportion to the effort made by the person concerned. And a real effort is required to receive this sight from Christ. He must constantly ask Christ for help. And he must cleanse himself with prayer and fasting, as well as carry out Christ’s commandments. And then, in proportion to the purification of heart, the person receives sight. Spiritual development is a terrifyingly slow process.
The great majority of people have no interest whatsoever in sight. But those who are better, those who have been chosen by God, receive sight in proportion to the efforts they make. If they are constant, unswerving, and tireless in their efforts – then the process goes forward, further and further.
The holy and righteous achieved great levels of sight. There can be no comparison between the levels of sight achieved by your average Christian, and those of great saints like Seraphim of Sarov and Sergius of Radonezh, whose sight was immeasurably greater than ours, who were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they could read the thoughts and hearts of others. Saint Seraphim of Sarov knew beforehand why a person had come to him, what he was going to ask about, and what was expected of him in reply, and quite often would answer without waiting for the question to be posed, staggering his visitors. They had just wanted to ask something – and saint Seraphim had already answered. Such was the spiritual sight of the saints. And immeasurably more – yes, even more than the spiritual sight of the saints – will be granted us when we come to stand face to face with God.
Take a look at what the holy apostle John wrote in his first epistle: ‘Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is’ (3:2). When our spiritual eyes are at last opened fully in the kingdom of God, we will enter into direct contact with Him, seeing everything, seeing Him face to face. We will gradually become more like Him, perfecting our reason, our heart, and our righteousness.
Which of God’s saints could boast of having achieved the mindset of Christ more than the apostle Paul? In the thirteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians he says: ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face’ (13:12). And even he didn’t know, seeing only darkly. But when we come to stand before God, then we will see, face to face.
How does sight come to humans and humanity who follow Christ? It comes slowly and gradually, just as the Lord healed the blind man slowly and gradually.
So move towards spiritual sight one step at a time.
It is essential that all desire and seek after spiritual sight, and that all ask the Lord to open their spiritual eyes.
May the Lord open your spiritual eyes.
Amen.
posted by teacher at 3:59 AM
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