22. And he comes to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man to him, and besought him to touch him.
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.
24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
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.
26. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
GLOSS. After the feeding of the multitude, the Evangelist proceeds to the giving sight to the blind, saying, And they come to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man to him, and besought him to touch him.
BEDE; Knowing that the touch of the Lord could give sight to a blind man as well as cleanse a leper. It goes on, And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town.
THEOPHYL. For Bethsaida appears to have been infected with much infidelity, wherefore the Lord reproaches it, Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. He then takes out of the town the blind man, who had been brought to Him, for the faith of those who brought him was not true faith. It goes on; And when he had spit in his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
PSEUD-CHRYS. He spat indeed, and put His hand upon the blind man, because He wished to show that wonderful are the effects of the Divine word added to action; for the hand is the symbol of working, but the spittle, of the word proceeding out of the mouth. Again He asked him whether he could see any thing, which he had not done in the case of any whom He had healed, thus showing that by the weak faith of those who brought him, and of the blind man himself, his eyes could not altogether be opened.
Wherefore there follows: And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees walking; because he was still under the influence of unfaithfulness, he said that he saw men obscurely.
BEDE; Seeing indeed the shapes of bodies amongst the shadows, but unable to distinguish the outlines of the limbs, from the continued darkness of his sight; just as trees standing thick together are wont to appear to men who see them from afar, or by the dim light of the night, so that it cannot easily he known whether they be trees or men.
THEOPHYL. But the reason why he did not see at once perfectly, but in part, was, that he had not perfect faith; for healing is bestowed in proportion to faith.
PSEUDO-CHRYS. From the commencement, however, of the return of his senses, he leads him to apprehend things by faith, and thus makes him see perfectly; wherefore it goes on, After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes, and he began to see, and afterwards he adds, And he was restored, and saw all things clearly; that is, being perfectly healed in his senses and his intellect.
It goes on: And he sent him away to his house, saying, Go in to your home, and if you enter in to the town, tell it not to anyone.
THEOPHYL. These precepts he gave him, because they were unfaithful, as has been said, lest perchance he should receive hurt in his soul from them, and they by their unbelief should run into a more grievous crime.
BEDE; Or else, he leaves an example to His disciples that they should not seek for popular favor by the miracles which they did. Mystically, however, Bethsaida is interpreted 'the house of time valley,' that is, the world, which is the vale of tears. Again, they bring to the Lord a blind man, that is, one who neither sees what he has been, what he is, nor what he is to be. They ask Him to touch him, for what is being touched, but feeling compunction?
BEDE; For the Lord touches us, when He enlightens our minds with the breath of His Spirit, and he stirs us up that we may recognize our own infirmity, and be diligent in good actions. He takes the hand of the blind man, that He may strengthen him to the practice of good works.
PSEUDO-JEROME; And He brings him out of the town, that is, out of the neighborhood of the wicked; and lie puts spittle into his eyes, that he may see the will of God, by the breath of the Holy Ghost; and putting His hands upon him, He asked him if he could see, because by the works of the Lord His majesty is seen.
BEDE; Or else, putting spittle into the eyes of the blind man, he hays His hands upon him that he may see, because He has wiped away the blindness of the human race both by invisible gifts, and by the Sacrament of His assumed humanity; for the spittle, proceeding from the Head, points out the grace of the Holy Ghost. But though by one word He could cure the man wholly and all at once, still He cures him by degrees, that He may show the greatness of the blindness of man, which can hardly, and only as it were step by step, be restored to light; and He exhibits to us His grace, by which He furthers each step towards perfection. Again, whoever is weighed down by a blindness of such long continuance, that he is unable to distinguish between good and evil, sees as it were men like trees walking, because he sees the deeds of the multitude without the light of discretion.
PSEUDO-JEROME; Or else, he sees men as trees, because he thinks all men higher than himself. But He put His hands again upon his eyes, that he might see all things clearly, that is, understand invisible things by visible, and with the eye of a pure mind contemplate, what the eye has not seen, the glorious state of his own soul after the rust of sin. He sent him to his home, that is, to his heart; that he might see in himself things which he had not seen before; for a man despairing of salvation does not think that he can do at all what, when enlightened, he can easily accomplish.
THEOPHYL. Or else, after He has healed him He sends him to his home; for the home of every one of us heaven, and the mansions which are there.
PSEUDO-JEROME. And He says to him, If thou enter into the town, tell it not to any one, that is, relate continually to your neighbors your blindness, but never tell them of your virtue.
Catena Aurea Mark 8