A miracle in two stages

Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man, who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly. And Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ (Mark 8, 22-26)

The teaching underlying the miracle, performed in two stages by Jesus, tells us that although He knows our needs well, He does not always satisfy them immediately. This is so we do not dwell on appearances, but understand increasingly what is really important for our eternal salvation: if we do not put the search for Paradise first, everything in our life will be ruined, which is even worse than losing an asset as precious as sight.