Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 8:6-13.20-22; Mark 8:22-26)
Today’s gospel should be read in tandem with yesterday’s and
tomorrow’s. The three form a continuum
in the Gospel of Mark. Yesterday Jesus
chided his disciples for failing to understand him. They had seen him feed thousands, yet they
could not grasp that the power behind his work is his relationship to the
Father. In tomorrow’s gospel Peter will
at last perceive that Jesus is the Father’s anointed one with the mission of
saving the world from its folly.
Like the disciple’s gradual coming to understand Jesus, the
blind man in today’s gospel recovers his sight in stages. First, after Jesus lays his hands on him, the
blind man can see people as if they were trees on the horizon. Then after a second imposition of hands, the
man can see clearly.
Understanding Jesus is coming to believe in him. He is not only human but also divine. We may want to make the claim that Jesus was
the greatest human that ever existed.
However, that is not enough reason to follow him unto death. But once we see Jesus as the one God chose to
reveal His love to the world, we cannot but follow him.
