And he sent him away to his house, saying,
Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
Read Chapter 8
Bede
AD 735
In Marc., 2, 34: Knowing that the touch of the Lord could give sight to a blind man as well as cleanse a leper. It goes on, “And He took the blind man bythe hand, and led him out of the town.”.
Seeing indeed the shapes of bodies amongst the shadows, but unable to distinguish the outlines of the limbs, from the continued darkness of his sight; just as trees standing thick together arewont to appear to men who see them from afar, or by the dim light of the night, so that it cannot easily be known whether they be trees or men.
Or else, He leaves an example to His disciples that they should not seek for popular favour by the miracles which they did.
Or else, putting spittle into the eyes of the blind man, He lays His hands upon him that he may see, because He has wiped away the blindness of the human race both by invisible gifts, and bythe Sacrament of His assumed humanity; for the spittle, proceeding from the Head, points out the grace of the Holy Spirit. But though by one word He could c...
After the feeding of the multitude, the Evangelist proceeds to the giving sight to the blind, saying, "And they came to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man to Him, and besought Him to touch him.”
How, then, is his house not in Bethsaida? Note the text exactly. If we consider the literal interpretation only, it does not make any sense. If this blind man is found in Bethsaida and is taken out and cured, and he is commanded: “Return to your own house,” certainly, he is bid: “Return to Bethsaida.” If, however, he returns there, what is the meaning of the command: “Do not go into the village?” You see, therefore, that the interpretation is symbolic. He is led out from the house of the Jews, from the village, from the law, from the traditions of the Jews. He who could not be cured in the law is cured in the grace of the gospel. It is said to him, “Return to your own house”—not into the house that you think, the one from which he came out, but into the house that was also the house of Abraham, since Abraham is the father of those who believe.
Mystically, however, Bethsaida is interpreted, ‘the house of the valley’, that is, the world, which is the vale of tears. Again, they bring to the Lord a blind man, that is, one who neither sees what he has been, what he is, nor what he is to be. They ask Him to touch him, for what is being touched, but feeling compunction?.
And He brings him out of the town, that is, out of the neighborhood of the wicked; and He puts spittle into his eyes, that he may see the will of God, by the breath of the Holy Ghost; and putting His hands upon him, He asked him if he could see, because bythe works of the Lord His majesty is seen.
Or else, he sees men astrees, because he thinks all men higher than himself. But He put His hands again upon his eyes, that he might see all things clearly, that is, understand invisible things by visible, and with the eye of a pure mind contemplate, what the eye hath not seen, the glorious state of his own soul after the rust of sin. He sent him to his home, that is, to ...
Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. From the commencement, however, of the return of his senses, He leads him to apprehend things by faith, and thus makes him see perfectly; wherefore it goeson, “After that, He put His hands again upon his eyes, and he began to see, "and afterwards he adds, “And he was restored, and saw all things clearly,” that is, being perfectly healed in his senses and his intellect. It goes on, “And He sent him away to his house, saying, Go into thy home, and if thou enter into the town, tell it notto any one.”
For Bethsaida appears to have been infected with much infidelity, wherefore the Lord reproaches it, “Woe to the e, 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.” He then takes out of the town the blind man, who had been brought to Him, for the faith of those who brought him was not true faith. It goes on, “And when He had spit in his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. "Wherefore there follows: “And He looked up, and said, I see men as trees walking;” because he was still under the influence of unfaithfulness, he said that he saw men obscurely.
But the reason why he did not see at once perfectly, but in part, was, that he had not perfect faith; for healing is bestowed in proportion to faith.
These precepts He gave him, because they were unfaithful, as has been said, lest perchance he should receive hurt in his soul from them, and they by their unbelief shou...
