“There is a prominent historical theologian who said the reason Jesus did this two-stage healing was to prove to the man – and to us – that as God He has the liberty to pour out grace on some people but to only give grace in drops to others.
Does that fit at all with what has been revealed about Jesus Christ in this Gospel? How often have we seen His patience, His generosity, His kindness, His willingness? Even here, He stops all He’s doing to interact tenderly, carefully, personally with this one man. Does it seem like He did so to jerk him around and say, “You know, I don’t really have to heal you?”
This scene is not about God penny-pinching His grace. It is about the spiritual impairments that we have in our hearts and minds on this side of eternity.
Now on the one hand, the man’s blindness was healed – before he could see nothing, now he saw something. But obviously he wouldn’t say, “You know what, blurry is good enough.”
Obviously he need further help – further correction. He needed greater clarity to be able to move through life. He saw people dimly. And so, as Jesus began the work, He would continue and finish the work.”
