Eyes that Cannot See

Now, let’s put the past posts into context and try to catch Matthew’s narrative arc as he tells this story. Matthew is not just simply telling a collection of random and disjointed stories, but a larger narrative with a larger agenda at play. So join me as we remember where we’ve been and try to piece together the bigger picture.

Let’s pick up with Jesus’s public entrance at the Sermon on the Mount. 

After the message (in chapters 5–7), Jesus has some encounters with people who land “outside the lines” and is amazed by their faith. 

In order to make his point, it appears Jesus travels to the Decapolis and heals the demoniac — the most unclean of the unclean. 

Jesus comes back to the Triangle and teaches the people of God about this Kingdom he is pronouncing. 

Jesus then attempts to get away to some solitude, but is followed by the multitudes. 

Jesus seizes the teaching opportunity and feeds the 5000 in order to teach the disciples about his mission. 

(It could be seen that Peter walking on the water is an affirmation that the disciples have what it take to do what Jesus is telling them to do.) 

Jesus finally gets away to Phonecia and finds some quiet. 

While there, Jesus realizes that his mission is even bigger than he originally thought. 

Jesus immediately puts this into a teaching lesson by traveling back to the Decapolis to feed the 4000. 

Finally, Jesus tells the disciples to beware the teaching of the religious leadership that will tell them this is unacceptable.

This “mission” of Jesus fits perfectly with Matthew’s larger agenda of the mumzer.

Add to this the story Mark has in his narrative and this teaching lesson gets even stronger. Mark interjects a story Matthew leaves out; immediately after Jesus’s warning about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Mark tells the following story:

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Uh oh. Apparently Jesus didn’t get enough rest on his mini-sabbatical, because he’s having a hard time completing his miracles.

Or is he?

In typical rabbinic fashion, Jesus has turned this scenario into a teaching lesson. If you remember, when Jesus tells the disciples to beware the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Text tells us they are confused and begin discussing the food supply (or lack thereof). Jesus’s response seems to be, “You’ve got to be kidding me! After all of that — after the 5000 and the woman with her daughter and the 4000 in the Decapolis — you think I’m talking about food?!” Listen to the words from Mark:

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus asks them if they have eyes, but cannot see.

The rabbi promptly demands they pull the boat over, stomps into Bethsaida, grabs a blind man and pulls him outside of town. He “heals” him in such a way that he has eyes, but cannot see. I imagine Jesus putting his hands on his hips and looking around at all the disciples, who begin to hang their heads. He then finishes the healing of the man and sends him on his way.

This is a perfect example of Jesus’s miracles being a teaching tool and not about the content of the miracle. This blind man is nothing more than a prop for Jesus’s teaching!

But Jesus’s point still stands out to his disciples. “I am here to reach the whole world. This Kingdom business is about everybody; all the people you thought were out are more in then you realize! Watch out for the religious; they aren’t going to like this message much!”

This lesson is going to mean so much to Jesus that he’s about to lead his disciples on a hike that will make his trip to the Decapolis look like a ride on a carousel.