From time to time, someone asks me a question like, “Father, what’d ya think of what happened last week?”  When I hear a question like that one, I try to read the questioner’s mind but always draw a blank.  Then, of course, my only option is to play a game of “Twenty Questions” to help the inquirer discern the unstated antecedent to a woefully incomplete question.   

Antecedents are important because questions and statements often make no sense out of context.  For example, today’s Gospel reading makes perfect sense when read with its antecedent which, in this case, is missing from the Sunday Lectionary. 

You are probably familiar with the strange story of the townsfolk of Bethsaida who asked Jesus to heal a blind man.  Jesus put spittle on the blind man’s eyes and laid hands on him, but the healing actions had an incomplete effect.  Jesus asked the man if he could see, and the man replied, “I can see people, but they look like walking trees.” (Mk 8:24)  Jesus laid hands on him a second time and his sight was restored fully. (Mk 8:25) 

Have you ever wondered why two attempts at healing were required for the man to see clearly?  Was Jesus having a bad day?  Was he not paying sufficient attention to the man’s malady?  The story that comprises today’s Gospel reading explains the meaning of the blind man’s two-part healing.  In fact, the two stories make sense only when read together.  Unfortunately, the Lectionary doesn’t keep the antecedent and its application together for us. 

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is the well-known story of Peter’s so-called “confession of faith.”  Immediately upon leaving Bethsaida, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27)  Various answers were proposed and eventually Simon Peter blurted out, “You are the one anointed by God.” (Mk 8:29) 

Peter’s statement does, indeed, sound like a confession of faith in Jesus, but there is reason to doubt the adequacy of Peter’s faith.  Not only did Peter and the Eleven continue to fail to understand Jesus’ teachings, they abandoned and denied him when he was arrested and crucified. 

Peter’s so-called confession of faith sounds hollow and false unless one hears it in tandem with its antecedent, the blind man of Bethsaida.  The blind man wasn’t healed immediately; he required two healing miracles in order to see people clearly.  In a like manner, Peter required two confessions of faith in order to see Jesus’ identity clearly.  Peter’s faith began on the road to Caesarea Philippi, but it did not mature until much later, that is, after the crucifixion. 

In today’s Gospel reading, Peter was able to see the truth about Jesus, but only partially.  Peter’s partial faith was prefigured in the blind man’s partial vision; Peter saw Jesus, but through a distorted lens.  Like many people at the time, Peter probably wanted a messiah who would lead a successful revolt against the Roman Empire or, at least, a successful revolt against the Temple leadership in Jerusalem.  Peter’s spiritual vision was distorted by his own wants and needs. 

The lens that clarifies one’s vision of Jesus is the lens of Jesus’ perfect completion of Israelite prophecy.  Today’s first reading describes the nature and work of the savior God promised to send to his People.  The chosen savior would be mocked, beaten, rejected, and humiliated, but he would never be shamed because he would remain perfectly faithful to God. (Isa 50:5-9a)  This version of a savior differs radically from both ancient and modern popular versions of a savior.  The savior chosen by God is not sent to conquer a select group of people; rather, the savior chosen by God is sent to conquer the faithlessness inherent in human nature.   

Peter’s mistake was to assume that the salvation promised by God would be limited to what Peter found displeasing about his personal experience of the world.  The salvation that God promised in the Scriptures isn’t limited in its scope, but it is limited in its reception.  It is valid to say that the salvation offered by God is intended for all people at all times but sadly, it is not accepted and received by all.  At the time the event in today’s Gospel reading took place, Peter had yet to accept fully God’s offer of salvation. 

Jesus described the requirement both for seeing him clearly and for accepting fully God’s offer of salvation.  He said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8:34-35)  Taking up one’s cross in conjunction with Jesus is the antecedent required to find oneself among the company of the forgiven and reconciled. 

The blind man’s incomplete healing and Peter’s incomplete confession of faith form a two-part explanation of God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness.  The desire for God’s mercy is incomplete until one accepts the pre-condition of God’s mercy – which is self-denial. 

This might sound like a difficult path to salvation, but it is the only path that offers hope to all people.  Specifically, there is real hope for those who have not yet accepted the Cross.  The antecedent of real faith is incomplete faith, and the beginning of faith can lead eventually to the completion of faith.  If, like Peter, you are unable to see Jesus clearly, the healing of the blind man is instruction and encouragement; a clear vision of faith is available to those who seek it, ask for it, and accept it. 

One sees Jesus clearly when one sees him from the point of view of his sufferings, one’s own suffering, and the suffering of others.  One can be certain that one has a complete faith when one chooses to imitate Jesus’ faithfulness in suffering for the sake of God’s will.