One of many enigmatic passages in the Bible is found in Mark 8:22 – 25.

Mar 8:22  And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

Mar 8:23  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.

Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

Mar 8:25  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 want to humbly ask that you consider what I have written about this account. I have seen and heard many explanations of this account but I feel that what is said by the blind man after encountering Jesus sheds the light we need into understanding what really happened.

The question that needs answering is one that asks whether or not Jesus messed up in healing the blind man.  Did Jesus heal the man in increments?  Did Jesus not heal completely the first time? The answer, as you will see, is a firm “no” – Jesus always heals completely and fully.

Consider the following verses:

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Also,  please read the following verses from Psalms:

Psa 37:35  I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

Psa 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Can you see that men are seen as trees in the Bible?  Yes, it’s true that these verses are only from Psalms, let me give you a few more from the Old Testament.

Dan 4:19  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
Dan 4:20  The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
Dan 4:21  Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
Dan 4:22  It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Can you see that there is a connection in the Bible with men and trees?  Trees are a shadow/type for humans in the Word!  Not convinced yet?  Ok, let’s look at some scriptures from the New Testament.

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Do you see this? Why is verse 15 talking about false prophets and then the connection is made about knowing them by their fruits? Why fruits? What bares fruit? A tree!

There are of course more examples on this and I will let you search them out. Look at the image below. Here, I drew a tree and numbered some of the parts.

1. tree trunk
2. water/river
3. tree roots
4. fruits

I want to take Psalms chapter 1 (just the verses posted at the beginning) and analyze that part of the chapter. You will see then that a righteous man is compared to a tree planted by a river or water. That is what this image is all about.

Now, consider that watering of a tree happens underground.  The roots take in the water and send it up the trunk towards the branches and finally towards the fruit.  That is the natural path of travel.  A tree with no water has no life.  A tree with little water has little growth and bares mediocre fruit.

How do know that a tree is flourishing?  Well, it will increase in size and strength. Let’s look at the spiritual application of all of this.

We have already mentioned that water can be a type/shadow of the Holy Spirit.  You will need to read John 7:38-39.  The tree, according to Psalms, is the righteous person who being planted in proximity to the water increases in size and bares fruit.  The Holy Spirit is the one responsible for providing the growth just as the water to a tree.  Also, understand that the Holy Spirit will nourish you underground – that is to say, within you.  You will not be able to see the roots of any tree taking water because it all happens in a place hidden from view.  A tree is planted (or set) in the earth just as a Christian is left on Earth to grow and produce fruit.  Our roots should move towards the living water so that we can grow and be strong.

Trees give fruit which is a visible sign of vitality and purpose.  Men and women should also bare fruit as a response to the Holy Spirit’s nourishing.   Look at the chart below:

• trees get their energy by the sun – men receive their life energy from God who is in Heaven
• trees are planted in the ground – men are set in the Earth for a witness and testimony
• trees are watered underground – men are nourished within (invisible)
• trees give fruit – men give fruit (visible)

Now that we have established the above, let’s go back to the original scripture – the man who saw men as trees walking around.  What really happened?  Think about it.

I believe that based on what we just discovered, the man who received sight received his vision in such as way as to peer through the physical and into the spiritual.  I believe that Jesus Christ allowed this healing to go beyond the man’s expectations (not to mention our own) so as to tie the comparison between men and trees even more.  I believe that in the supernatural, we actually resemble trees.  I don’t believe the the man’s vision was blurred and that he saw people as figures of trees (like when we squint).  I believe that he really saw men like trees.  It was only then the Jesus touched his eyes again and gave him normal human vision.

Jesus did not heal him in increments but rather healed him in a powerful and complete way.  This man saw people as Christ saw people.  Had you ever considered this?  Wow, praise God for His goodness and kindness!  We really are men walking around as trees.