Mark 8:22-26: when you're a fan, you don't have to be told when the game is starting

Have you ever noticed what comes right before Peter's confession in the gospel?  A miracle story, or more specifically a miracle story involving the healing of a blind man.  The story is told in just a few verses, but I can't help but wonder if there is a connection between this healing, and the confession that Peter is emboldened to make.  Upon seeing Jesus' heal the blind- yet again I might add- does it finally hit Peter like a ton of bricks, that Jesus really is the Messiah.  Perhaps for Peter the healing of this blind man served as an announcement that the kingdom of God was at hand.  Indeed, that is how the prophets would have seen it.  The prophet Isaiah writes that "in that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see" (Isaiah 29:18), and that "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped." (Isaiah 35:5)  The psalmist declares that, "the Lord opens the eyes of the blind."  (Psalm 146:8)

The whole thing reminds me of my time at the University of South Carolina.  More specifically, it reminds me of my time spent in the stands of Williams-Brice Stadium, cheering on my beloved Gamecocks.  In the southeast, football is more than a game, it's a passion.  Each school has it's own pregame rituals that border on the religious.  For Carolina fans it's the blasting of "2001" over the loud-speaker and the swaying of the crowd, all culminating in the team running through the smoke-engulfed tunnel, and out through the band.  It's a moment that sends a chill up the spine of any died-in-the-wool Gamecock fan.  Such a fan knows what is about to happen, as soon as the band begins to march to the end of the field where the tunnel is located.  Certain movements and songs serve as markers, announcing what is about to take place.  The murmur of the crowd, and it's thousands of individual conversations begins to quiet, or more accurately it begins to redirect it's energy to the coming task of screaming and jumping up and down.  For someone that knew the signs, for a Jew who had read the prophecies of his or her own religion, Jesus' healing of the blind was a marker that the game was about to start.  I think that in our day we have become accustomed to seeing Jesus' ministry, and particularly His death, burial, and resurrection, as the happy ending that the story had been waiting for.  In reality, it is just the beginning.  Jesus' healing of the blind, and ultimately His resurrection, is a sign that God's counter-attack against the forces of sin and death is about to begin.

Lest we become too critical of the disciples and others who failed to see the signs of what Jesus' ministry was really about, we should be prepared to hold ourselves to the same standard.  We might not be living during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, but as I said, His earthly ministry was just the beginning.  We find ourselves squarely in the middle of a story still being written.  Do we notice signs of God's love that we encounter everyday, or more importantly, do we live our lives so that they are a living breathing testimony to God's work in the world?  What God has done, and continues to do, is far more exciting than any football game; and if you know me, you know that's saying a lot!