Twice Touched

Text: Mark 8:22-25

Mark 8:20-25
20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many
baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said,
Seven.
21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not
understand?
22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind
man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23 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.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees,
walking.
25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and
made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every
man clearly.

I. INTRODUCTION

A. SHIRL JENNINGS’ STORY

1. At age three, Shirl Jennings, who was raised in a

farm cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains,
simultaneously contracted polio, meningitis, and
a mysterious malady known as cat-scratch-fever.
a. Doctors gave up hope on him and sent him
home to Montvale – probably to die.

2. His mother, Pearl Layman, was determined that

her son would recover, and over the next three
years she worked with him to teach him to walk
again.

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 a. His eyesight, however, quickly deteriorated to
the point that he could distinguish only
between light and dark.
(1) Doctors concluded that he had
retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and
incurable eye disease.
(2) As he got older, doctors considered
removing the cataracts from Jennings’
eyes, but feared the surgery would
further damage his retinas.

3. On September 19, 1999, at the age of 51, Shirl

Jennings had the first cataract removed from his
eyes, and on Halloween of that same year the
other one was removed.

4. After Jennings’ initial delight in having his sight

restored came the hard work of making sense of
his restored sight.
a. “He could see a lot,” his new wife, Barbara,
said, “but all his visual memory was gone.”
(1) Jennings was seeing, but exactly what
he was seeing was a mystery to him
and to those around him.
(2) He was unable to distinguish between
an apple and an orange, for instance,
or even a banana and a tomato
without touching them.

5. It was finally determined that Jennings had

MENTAL blindness…
a. He could see, but he could not distinguish
what he was seeing.
(1) He could not understand what he was
seeing.
(a) He had his eyes healed, but
what he needed was for his
mind to be healed.

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II. BODY

A. THE BLIND MAN IN OUR TEXT

1. When you read through the book of Mark, if you

take the time, you will find yourself with Jesus…
a. Surrounded by crowds,
(1) Wearied by the demands, and…
(a) Besieged by attacks of demons.

2. Some of the miracles you will find in the Book of

Mark are…
a. The great catch of fish;
b. The healing of the withered hand;
c. Peter’s mother-in-law being healed;
d. The healing of the Paralytic;
e. The storm that was calmed;
f. The Gadarene Demoniac delivered;
g. Jairus’ daughter called back to life;
h. The feeding of the 5,000; and…
i. The Lord walking on the water…
(1) Just to name a few.

3. Many of these miracles can be found in other of

the Gospels; however, the Blind Man healed at
Bethsaida is exclusive to the Book of Mark.
a. There were other blind men that the Lord
would heal, the accounts of which can be
found in Matthew’s Gospel, and Luke; but this
miracle is found only in Mark’s gospel
account.
(1) It occurs not a far distance from the
scene of the miracle of the feeding of
the 5,000.

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 4. In our text we read the story of a blind man who
was brought to Jesus by his friends who
“begged” Jesus to heal him.
a. These people had enough faith and action to
know that if they could get him to Jesus, he
could be healed.
(1) I wonder this morning, do we believe
Jesus can still heal and change the
lives of people?
(2) If you do, are you willing to bring those
in need of a touch into the presence of
Jesus?

5. Now, after Jesus touched him, He asked the man

if he could see anything.
a. The man’s reply would seem to indicate that
his eyes were not completely healed.
(1) He said, “I see men as trees,
walking.”

6. The fact is, this man’s eyes were completely

healed, but, just like Shirl Jennings, he could not
distinguish what he was seeing.
a. His mind was not correctly interpreting what
his eyes were seeing.
(1) He had his physical sight back, but he
was mentally blind.

7. The next touch that Jesus administered was not

to his eyes, but it was a touch of the mind!
a. Thus, he was Twice Touched.

B. RENEWING OF THE MIND

1. Often times, when folk read this passage, it is

assumed that the first touch of Jesus was simply
not adequate enough to perform the miraculous
healing that this man needed.

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 a. The issue, however, was in the mind of the
one being touched.
(1) The reality is that oftentimes when
Jesus touches a person’s body, out of
habit or because their brain is simply
unable to compute what has just
happened, the body feels as if the
healing is incomplete.
(a) He’s already healed your body,
now He has to heal your mind!

2. Romans 12:1-2 – I beseech you therefore,

brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.
a. The Greek word translated “renewing”
means, literally, “a renovation.”
(1) Paul is demanding that, in order for
you to present your body as a living
sacrifice, your mind must be restored
to good condition – as if it were brand
new.
(a) Many of you have been
baptized in water in Jesus’
Name (which cancels the debt
of sin against you), and you’ve
been baptized in the Holy Ghost
(which makes you a new man in
Christ)…
(b) But far too many of us who
have had this wonderful touch
of God’s Spirit still have minds
that have difficulty perceiving

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 what has actually happened in
our lives!
(c) You’ve been touched once in
your life, but you will be
transformed if you will let the
touch of Jesus reinvigorate,
refresh, and revive your mind,
your intellect, your
understanding, and your
perception!

3. David said in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a

clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me.”
a. And then in Ezekiel 36:26, the Lord said: “A
new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will
take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of
flesh.”
(1) In both verses of Scripture it appears
that the same Hebrew word is used.
(2) They are spelled the same, but they
are pronounced differently, and
consequently, have dissimilar
meanings.
(a) In Psalm 51:10, David asked
God to “chadash” [khaw-DASH],
or “RENEW” a right spirit within
him.
(b) It means to REPAIR; to cause to
be new by REBUILDING
1) In Ezekiel 36:26, God
promises to give us a
“chadash” [khaw-DAWSH)
or “NEW” spirit and heart.

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 2) God’s promise is for a
FRESH, NEW spirit and
heart!
a) The bottom line,
however, is that God
can change you either
through repairing or
rebuilding the old, or
by giving you the
new!

4. Perhaps you are sitting here wondering this

morning, “How is one transformed by the
renewing of the mind?”
a. I’m glad you asked!
(1) Ephesians 4:22-24 – That ye put
off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts; And be renewed in the spirit
of your mind; And that ye put on
the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true
holiness.
(2) Romans 13:14 – But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to fulfil the
lusts thereof.
(3) Colossians 3:10 – And have put on
the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him
that created him:
(4) II Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are
become new.

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 (a) In other words, anyone saved
by the touch of Jesus – if he or
she is united with Christ – gets
a fresh start.
(b) They are created NEW!
(c) The old life is gone; and the
new life burgeons!
(d) And how is this done?
(e) Titus tells us…
1) Titus 3:5 – Not by
works of righteousness
which we have done,
but according to his
mercy he saved us, by
the washing of
regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy
Ghost;

C. ILLUSTRATION – REBECCA THOMPSON

1. Rebecca Thompson fell twice from the Fremont

Canyon Bridge.
a. She died both times.
(1) The first fall broke her heart;
(2) The second broke her neck.

2. She was only 18 years old when she and her 11-
year-old sister were abducted by a pair of
hoodlums near a store in Casper, Wyoming.
a. They drove the girls forty miles southwest to
Freemont Canyon Bridge, a one-lane, steel-
beamed structure rising 112 feet above the
North Platte River.

3. The men brutally abused and beat both girls.

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 a. Somehow, Rebecca managed to convince the
two men not to abuse her sister the way they
had abused her.
b. Both girls were thrown over the bridge into a
narrow gorge.
(1) Amy died when she landed on the
rocks below, near the river.
(2) Rebecca slammed into a higher ledge
and ricocheted into deeper water.

4. With a hip fracture in multiple places, she

struggled to the shore.
a. To protect her body from the cold, she
wedged herself between two rocks and
waited until the dawn.
b. But morning never came for Rebecca.
(1) Oh, the sun came up and she was
found.
(2) The physicians treated her wounds,
and the courts imprisoned her
attackers.
(3) Life continued, but dawn never came.

5. The blackness of her night of horrors lingered.

a. She was never able to climb up out of that
canyon.
b. So, in September 1992, nineteen years later,
she returned to the bridge.
c. Against her boyfriend’s pleadings, she drove
seventy miles per hour to the North Platte
River.
d. With her two-year-old daughter and boyfriend
at her side, she sat on the edge of the
Fremont Canyon Bridge and wept.
(1) Through her tears, she retold the
story.

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 (2) The boyfriend did not want the child to
see her cry, so he carried the toddler
to the car.
(3) That’s when he heard Rebecca’s body
hit the water.
(a) That is when Rebecca
Thompson died her second
death.
(b) The sun never dawned on
Rebecca’s dark night.

6. What was it that eclipsed the light from her

world?
a. Fear?
(1) Perhaps…for she had testified in the
trial against the men, pointing them
out in the courtroom; and one of the
murderers had taunted her by drawing
a finger across his throat and smirking
maliciously at her.
(2) On the day of her death, the two had
been up for parole.
b. Was it anger?
(1) Perhaps…anger at the criminals, anger
at the parole board, and anger at
herself for the thousands of
nightmares or the thousands of falls
that followed.
c. Was it guilt?
(1) Perhaps…despite her attractive smile
and appealing personality, friends say
that she struggled with the fact that
she had survived and her little sister
had not.
d. Was it shame?
(1) Perhaps…everyone she knew, and
thousands she didn’t know, knew the
details of her tragedy.

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 (2) The stigma was tattooed deeper and
deeper with the newspaper ink of
every headline.
(a) She had been violated, and try
as she might, she could never
outlive nor outrun the memory.
(b) So, 19 years later, she went
back to the bridge.

7. Canyons of shame run deep – gorges of never-

ending guilt.
a. Walls ribboned with greens and grays of
defeat and the death of dreams.
b. Unending echoes of screams…
(1) Put your hands over your ears…
(2) Splash water on your face…
(3) Stop looking over your shoulder…
(a) Try as you might to outrun
yesterday’s tragedies, their
tentacles are longer than your
hope.
(b) They draw you back to the
bridge of sorrows to be shamed
again and again and again.

8. Perhaps you’ve been touched once by the

Master, but more than anything today, you need
to be Twice Touched.
a. You have your spiritual blindness healed, but
your mind is still blind, it is uncomprehending
of what actually took place in the spirit-world.
(1) Jesus wants to give you a second
touch today!

III. CLOSE

A. BEETHOVEN’S HARPSICHORD

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 1. In his later years, Beethoven would spend hours
playing a broken harpsichord.
a. The instrument was worthless.
(1) Keys were missing.
(2) Strings were stretched.
(3) It was out of tune and harsh on the
ears.

2. Nonetheless, the great pianist would play till

tears came down his cheeks.
a. To look at him, you would think that he was
hearing something that was not there.
(1) He, in fact, was, for he was deaf!
(a) Beethoven was hearing the
sound the instrument SHOULD
make, not the one that it did
make.

3. Ever feel like Beethoven’s broken harpsichord?

a. Out of tune?
b. Inadequate?
c. Your service ill timed and insignificant?

B. ALTAR CALL

1. Ever wonder what God does when instruments

get broken?
a. What happens to the song when the strings
are out of tune?
b. How does the Master respond when the keys
don’t work?
(1) Does He turn around and leave?
(2) Does He demand a replacement?
(3) Does He junk the old? Or…
(4) Does He patiently tune until He hears
the songs that He longs to hear?

2. No…none of that.

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 a. He just calls for a second touch!

3. Is there anyone in the house this morning that

desires to be twice touched?
a. Won’t you come?

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