The Blind Man of Bethsaida
Encyclopedia
The Blind Man of Bethsaida is the subject of one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. It is found only in Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

 8:22-26.

According to the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 came to Bethsaida
Bethsaida
Bethsaida is a place mentioned in the New Testament.- Bethsaida Julias :...

, a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

, he was asked to heal a blind man. Jesus took his patient out of town, put some spittle on his eyes, and laid hands on him. "I see men like trees, walking," said the man. Jesus repeated the procedure, resulting in clear and perfect eyesight. "Neither go into the town," commanded Jesus, "nor tell anyone in the town." (New King James Version). Even though the story is found only in Mark, it is strongly supported by the Criterion of Embarrassment
Criterion of embarrassment
The criterion of embarrassment, also known as criterion of dissimilarity, is a critical analysis of historical accounts in which accounts embarrassing to the author are presumed to be true because the author would have no reason to invent an embarrassing account about himself...

, since early Christians (or Christians at any time, for that matter), would not have been happy that Jesus had to give two blessings to achieve a proper result. The story also casts strong doubt on the curse on Bethsaida for not repenting in spite of all "the mighty works" done there, since there is no hint of any other miracle, and Jesus took care not to propagandize this one.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK