Spitting Image

(Here’s what I shared recently in our local congregation.)

The term spitting image means the exact double of another person or thing. However, I’ll be proposing another meaning of this term on this study.

A Wise Doctor

There was a story of a doctor who had a fee of $50, no matter what ailment. If he failed in finding a cure, he would give $100 to the patient.

One day, a man came to him and said, “Doctor, my sense of taste is gone.”
The doctor gave him a jar and said, “Have a spoonful of this.”
The man tries some, spits it out, and says, “This is shaving foam, it taste awful! Why would you give this to a patient?!”
The doctor said, “Well, it seems your sense of taste is cured. That’ll be $50. please”

Two weeks later, the same man went to the doctor and said, “Doctor, I think I have Alzheimer’s; I cannot remember things”
On hearing this, the doctor gave him a jar and said, “Have a spoonful of this.”
The man got annoyed and asked, “Wait, isn’t this shaving foam?”
The doctor said, “It seems your memory is back. That’ll be $50 please.”

Two months later, the man once again went to the doctor and said, “Doctor, you must help me. I lost my eyesight.”
The doctor said, “Oh dear, I’m afraid I don’t have a cure for that. Here’s $100.”
The man was overjoyed on finally outsmarting the doctor. But when he saw the money, he blurted out, “Isn’t this $1?!”
The doctor remarked, “It seems your eyesight is cured. That’ll be $50 please.”

Our story in the Bible is also about a blind man who was healed. Let’s read:

Mark 8:22-26

²² Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. ²³ So 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 on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

²⁵ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. ²⁶ Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

The Author, Running Naked in Gethsemane

This story is only found in the gospel of Mark. Not in Matthew, Luke or John.

Who is the author of the book of Mark? Bible scholars agree that it is John Mark. He is a nephew of Barnabas, and went with Paul and Barnabas in their travel (Acts 13), but he later abandoned them, thus he ruffled feathers with Paul.

He later became a companion of Peter (1 Peter 5) and wrote Peter’s eyewitness account of the story of Jesus. Because of this we have the gospel of Mark.

Tradition and scholars believed that the young man in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:51-52), who fled naked, leaving his garment behind when Roman soldiers tried to seize him during Jesus’ arrest, was John Mark. It is thought that only the author could have known the detailed account of that event.

The Book of Mark is a gospel of action. It is fast-paced. The word “immediately” was used 42 times in the book. Even the miracles of Jesus has this word, “immediately.” Let’s look at some of them.

In the story of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years, when she clawed her way through the crowd and when she touched the edge of Jesus’ robe, it said that “immediately her bleeding stopped” (Mark 5:29).

In the next miracle, when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus commanded the little girl to wake up and “immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around” (Mark 5: 42).

In the healing of the deaf and mute, when Jesus spoke to heal him: “Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly” (Mark 7:35).

Thus the story of healing we’re studying today is different. It did not happen “immediately.” Did God’s power suffered a minor glitch? Or there’s a lesson we can learn here?

The story happened in Bethsaida. Where is Bethsaida? It is a fishing village in the northern shore of Sea of Galilee. The name means “house of fishermen.”

This place is the hometown of the brothers Peter and Andrew, and also of Philip. They became disciples of Jesus, and sure enough, true to the name of their town, they are all fishermen.

Many miracles of Jesus where performed in this town. However, it has come to represent those who have heard the gospel, but rejected it. We read in Matt 11:21: “Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

Jesus’ Calling Card

So in our story, people brought a blind man to Jesus (v 22).

Why did people brought the blind man to Jesus? Is it in Jesus’ calling card for people to bring the blind to Him? Actually it is.

According to Isaiah (Isaiah 35), one of the signs of the coming Messiah is that he can make the blind man see. When John the Baptist was in prison, he was having doubts, so he sent his disciples to asked Jesus if He is Messiah they’re waiting for or should they look for another one. Jesus said to John’s disciples – “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walked, lepers were cleansed, the deaf hear….” (Lk 7:20-22).

Who are the people who brought the blind man? It did not say. But we can be the ones to bring “blind” people to Jesus. We can bring people that needs healing to Jesus. Remember the four friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus that they have to make a hole through the roof? It said there “when Jesus saw their faith” (Mark 2:5). Who’s faith? It said their. It is plural. It was the faith of the four friends!

This just means that with our faith we can bring others to Jesus. With our faith we can cause others to be healed.

Then Jesus led the blind man by the hand out of town (v 23). How do you lead a blind person?

Few weeks ago, I had a patient who was blind. After my examination of her, I led her out of the examination room, back to the front desk, and into the waiting room where her brother was waiting. I made sure that where she would be walking was clear and she would not hit a chair or run into the wall. Where I lead her, she followed. She probably trusted me, because I was her doctor.

Friends, we need to accept that we are blind and needed to be guided by God’s hand. We can trust God that He will lead us to the right destination. Like one of our hymns that says:

He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.

So why did Jesus led the blind men out of town?

One possible reason is to heal him privately, away from the crowd where he can only focus on Jesus. It could also be that he would be shielded from the town’s unbelief. Bethsaida was known to reject Jesus’ teaching despite witnessing many miracles.

Friends, we also needed to be brought of town; where there is no distraction; where we will have a quiet moment with God. This could be a quiet time, like during early morning. Or it could be a quiet place, like a place away from the crowd, where we can hear God’s voice better.

Anatomy of a Spit

What happened next is somewhat shocking, or perhaps even disgusting. Jesus spit on the blind man’s eyes (v 23)!

When I first arrived here in America about 30 years ago, I attended a Filipino gathering. During the party, the TV was on and it was showing a baseball game. What I noticed was lots of players were chewing and were spitting. I was a little perplexed with this practice. Then one old and wise Filipina lady commented: “Here in America we have freedom of spits!”

When we see a gob of spit, our reaction is ‘eew’ or ‘yuck!’ Because saliva is full of bacteria. In fact it has more bacteria than the toilet seat!

Spitting at somebody is a derogatory act. It is act of hatred. In many States it is against the law and is considered an assault and battery and can even land you in jail.

Even in the Bible to be spit on is to be cursed.

Remember Job? He said “They abhor me and stand aloof from me, and they do not refrain from spitting at my face” (Job 30:10).

Jesus experienced this too – “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him” (Mark 15:19).

So why did Jesus spit on this man?

Friends, could it be that the curse we thought we are going through is really the start of our healing? Could it be that when we are going through shameful and humbling experiences in our lives, God is trying to heal us?

This is not the only man healed with a spit. Jesus healed another blind man by spitting on the ground and mixing it with soil to make mud, and then putting it in the man’s eyes. He was told to wash in the pool of Siloam after that (John 9). But in our story today, Jesus spit directly to the person’s eyes.

Does saliva has healing power?

When you accidentally hurt your finger, your first reaction is to put it in your mouth, right? When you were a kid, you asked your mom to kiss your boo-boo, and it got better!

Let’s get scientific here. Saliva has components that really has healing properties. It contains:

• growth factors – epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulate the growth of new cells and blood vessels. 
• antimicrobial agents – enzymes like Lysozyme, and other substance that kill bacteria and other microorganisms that can infect wounds. 
• tissue factor and proteins- promotes blood clotting, which helps to stop bleeding and form a scab; has proteases that help break down damaged tissue and stimulate migration of new cells.

That’s why animals, like dogs, cats, horses, and primates, has the God-given instinct to lick their wounds to remove debris, promote blood clotting, and apply the antimicrobial and tissue-growth-promoting properties in their saliva.

But as a doctor, I am not suggesting that you do it like your dog or your cat. No, no, no, that’s not what I’m suggesting you do. We have better ways today to heal wounds.

Do you know what else is in our saliva?

We can determine a person’s DNA from his saliva, because it contains cells that are slough off from the lining of the mouth. So the DNA, which is the genetic makeup of a person, is in the saliva.

Could it be that when Jesus spit on this blind man, He was putting His DNA on this man. When Jesus spit and then touched the man’s eyes, He was transferring his DNA to this man – restoring the image of God in the fallen man. That’s a different definition for the term “spitting image,” right?

Men Like Trees Walking

After Jesus spat and touched the blind man, he asked him what he see? Then he said: “I see men like trees, walking” (v24).

I believe this man must have sight before because he already know what men and trees look like; meaning, he was not born blind, but rather had an acquired blindness.

Maybe this man had cataracts. Or maybe he had an infection of the eyes, like trachoma, caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. Ancient medical records suggests that this disease was rampant in the Near East during Bible times.

Have you been to an optometrist? When they are fitting you with different lenses, they would ask: “which is more clear this one or this one?” The optometrist would not stop trying different lenses until you get a clear vision. Same with Jesus. He is not satisfied with partial healing too.

So why was the healing of this blind man incomplete or in stages?

On possible reason is he was just brought by others to Jesus and perhaps has no faith of his own. Jesus wants him to develop more faith in HIm. When Jesus asked what do you see, He is urging the man to trust Him more, for him to see clearer.

Friends, when we are not totally healed, could it be that God just wanted us to have more faith? He maybe telling us “Continue to trust in Me my child, I got this.”

Then Jesus put his hands again on the blind man, then he can see clearly (v 25).

I believe Mark has a purpose in putting this story for a particular message for his readers and for us today. Let’s look at the context:

The story before this miracle was when Jesus told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisee and Herod, pertaining to their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. But the disciples thought Jesus was talking about bread because they did not bring bread on their trip. And they just witnessed Jesus fed 4,000 people (not counting women and children), and yet they were worried for not bringing bread.

The story after the healing of the blind man was when Jesus asked his disciples whom people think Jesus was. They answered, “John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.” But when Jesus asked them whom do they think He was, Peter answered “You are the Christ.” Yet when Jesus told them that he would suffer and die, Peter rebuked Jesus, that Jesus told Peter ‘Get behind Me Satan.’

This shows that even though the disciples have an idea who Jesus was, their perception of Him and His mission was still incomplete. In the following chapters Mark relates what kind of Messiah Jesus was – a suffering servant who must die, and not as a conquering king that the disciples expect.

Mark is telling us that fully understanding and knowing Jesus could be a process like what the disciples went through. The same is true in the healing of the blind man. Conviction and healing may be in stages, and does not necessarily happens “immediately.”

Friends, wherever we are on our faith journey, fully understanding God and seeing Christ clearly can be a process or in stages. But we need to continue on our faith journey.

Same in healing too. Whatever you’re going through – a sickness that would not go away, or an emotional trauma, or broken relationship that would not heal, or a problem that you cannot resolve – Jesus is still working on you. Trust Him and His process of healing.

Restoring God’s Image

I would like to end with a personal story. I was diagnosed with a prostate tumor September of last year. My PSA was more than 7x normal, and an MRI showed a 6 mm nodule in my prostate.

Before going for conventional treatment, we wanted to try natural healing with lifestyle changes, that’s why we adopted a full vegan diet. Plus lots of prayers.

We went to a Lifestyle Center in North California last January so we can learn more of this healthy lifestyle. But while we were there, my focus for healing has changed.

As a medical doctor, I have a good idea what mainstream treatment entails for prostate cancer, like surgery, or radiation therapy or hormonal therapy. But I received a better insight for healing and that is with healthy lifestyle with plant based diet, exercise, water, sunshine, fresh air and rest.

Yet my vision for healing was still blurry. “I still see men like trees, walking.”

During our stay in that center, we have daily devotional led by Pastor Adeline, who made an impact on my perception. We were made to understand that the most important part of healing is not physical, but rather spiritual. Because of sin, God’s image was lost. This image needs to be restored.

My focus was fine-tuned, and I was able to see clearer. It was made plain to me, that it was not so important that I get healed from my cancer. What was more important was to have God’s image, God’s character, God’s DNA be restored in me.

I know I am still a work in progress. But as long as I surrender, God will continue to work until I become a spitting image of Him.

By the way, my PSA is as high as ever when it was tested again, but the prostate tumor disappeared on my last MRI.

Friends, we need to have God’s image, God’s character, be restored in us. And that is a process. It does not matter so much if we still have cancer, or we still have diabetes, or still have coronary artery disease, which God can take away also. But if God’s image is restored in us, when we become a spitting image of God, then we will have true healing.

(*last photo taken at Lifestyle Center in California; other photos borrowed from the web)