The Aral Sea (lake), located between Kazakhastan and Uzbekistan, is the fourth biggest lake in the world. It was absolutely huge, hosting 35 kinds of fish, horses, Caspian tigers, cattle, etc with people living around it. But in the 1960's the Soviet's diverted the river (Syr Darya) that was filling the lake for manufacturing and agricultural purposes. In turn this created a disaster. From 1985 to 2014 the lake slowly started to shrink. All its water was evaporated. The 7000 cubic kilometers sea is now left with a very small portion of water in it. As the water evaporated only salt remained. Many of the farmers lost their jobs, when asked about the disaster, they expressed their agony in one word "pain". This isn't the end, NASA satellite images in 2014 show that eastern area of the sea was completely dried up, and now this part is called as Aralkum desert. The salty debris along with the sand was picked up by the wind and carried hundreds and hundreds of kilometers, causing sand storms in the rest of the country. These sand storms ruined the crops 500kms away from the lake, and in addition it is making people sick. Data (2000 to 2018) says that Urinary diseases and other health issues are on the rise. There are even cases of Cancer too. The UN declared this area as national diaster. You may think why am I writing all this instead of digging into the subject. As we dive into the subject you'll know why I gave this prologue.
So now, let's dive into our main subject.
As apostle John writes in his Gospel, "there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Out of 37 to 38 miracles that were been recorded in the four Gospels, one miracle stands out specifically. The miracle that Jesus did which Old Testament prophets never attempted is giving sight to the blind. Blindness was very common in this part of the world.
In his book "Eastern Customs in Bible Lands", by H.B.Tristram (Hodder and Stoughton, 27 Paternoster Row, London, 2nd Edition, 1893) writes under Chapter 1, "Jesus as Teacher and Healer", that, "There is probably no country in the world, except Egypt, in which this affliction is so prevalent. ...Owing to the nature of the climate—the fine dust and sand which floats in the air; the glare of the sunlight when there is but scanty and occasional shade; the sudden change in the plains from the heat of the day to the chill of night, causing inflammation to the eyes, especially to those who are sleeping in the open on the housetops; the swarms of flies, which are attracted to the eyelids of the diseased, and then carry the virulent and infectious discharge on their feet to the eyelids of the healthy—all these and other causes render blindness, total or partial, so common that it is computed that one-tenth of the inhabitants of the towns and plains of Palestine are entirely or partially blind."
A 1944 Science and Philanthropic community, "the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science" in their 2017 blog writing about "the microbiome" that was carried by sand storms blowing from the Sahara (Africa), Saudi and the Syrian deserts are quite different says Prof. Yinon Rudich. He also says that the harmful bacteria is on the rise in the atmosphere at the time of sand storms. The blog says, "Israel is subjected to sand and dust storms from several directions: northeast from the Sahara, northwest from Saudi Arabia, and southwest from the desert regions of Syria. The airborne dust carried in these storms affects the health of people and ecosystems (the nitrogen fixation helps plants to acquire the nutrients, ex: ammonia) alike. ...Some of these bacteria might be pathogenic – harmful to us or the environment – and a few of them also carry genes for antibiotic resistance."
NASA in their Earth Observatory Blog, 2015, they published an article which shows satellite (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS) pictures of Sand Strom that passed over Israel and around. The Sand Strom which started in Syria, lasted from 6th to 9th September, 2015. Writing in their blog, "In Jerusalem, pollution levels were 173 times higher than average, according to one news report."
As we know right from the time of our patriarch Abraham or even before, there's a commercial road which passes through Canaan that connected the north and the south. With the imports and the exports, these caravans also brought contagious diseases such as acute Conjunctivitis and Trachoma which were prevalent in the land of Egypt. Some call Egypt as the "land of the blind" too. The treatment included diet modification, drinking wine, bathing, cleansing, and sometimes bloodletting incisions.
From our above study, we can conclude that Israel was hit by the Sand Storms frequently and in addition Israel is also part of the Commercial lane. These brought harmful infections that affected the sight of the inhabitants which resulted in partial or complete blindness is established.
The four Gosples provide information about eight members who approached Jesus were healed from their blindness. The chapters that provide this information are Matthew 9 and 20 (two blind people in each chapter which makes four people in all); Mark 8 and 10; Luke 18; and John 9. Out of these miracles that happened at Jericho are Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43. Miracles that happened at Bethsaida were Matthew 9:27-31; Mark 8:22-26, and the only miracle that happened at Siloam pool is in John 9:1-7. If we observe keenly, we would notice that to some Jesus just spoke healing upon them, to some He touched their eyes, and finally to some He spit saliva either directly on the affected organ or made mud and smeared it on their eyes. I was little confused when going through these different procedures by Jesus. Why would Jesus spoke healing on some, to some by touching, and to some by using saliva? Then I remembered what H.B.Tristram has written in his book "Eastern Customs in Bible Lands", that the sand storms have left a few people with partial to complete blindness. There are many eye infections that cause partial to permanent blindness. Cataracts, Glaucoma, Amblyopia, etc., cause partial blindness. Diabetic Retinopathy, Trachoma, Black eye, etc., are a few which causes permanent blindness.The case of born blind man is completely different from these two cases. To my understanding is that the one written in the Gospel of Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43 are affected with partial blindness. If you observe Jesus spoke healing on them and the person in Mk.10:46,50, "Bartimaeus, threw of his coat, jumped up and came to Jesus", suggests that his vision is partially lost. In Matthew 9:27-31, two blind men approached Jesus, and the Scripture reads, "the blindmen approached Him (v28)", suggests that one was partially blind while the other has permanent blindness. And to the one in Matthew 20:29-34, "Jesus stopped on His walk and called both the men and asked them, what do you want of Me (v32)", which suggest that they have permanent blindness. So Jesus touched their eyes and they are immediately healed. On the other hand, the one in John 9:1-7, was permanently blind. The conversation between Jesus and His disciples on v2,3, suggest that this person was born blind.
Finally we've come to an exclusive text of Jesus healing the blind who saw unusual images after being healed - Mark 8:22-26, this is the only place where Jesus did his miracle in two stages. "He (Jesus) took the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village (v23)". Jesus helping the man by his hand suggests that, this man is completely blind. In the next verse we see Jesus, spitting directly on the organ and laying his hand on it (v24).
In Jewish writings - we read that - spitting on the diseased part of the body was particularly common in incantations. According to widespread opinion, human illness came from the sinster work of demons who took possession of the diseased part of the body, the superstitious believed that spitting on the affected area of the body (and an incantation of the Scripture) was an effective means of driving the evil spirits away. The incantation for diseases was common practice among Jews at that time, and it was also permitted too. In "The Works of Josephus", Book 8.5, we read King Solomon composed books on every sort of tree, living creatures, nature, philosophy, ect., and he also wrote on exorcism as well. These incantations were in use in Josephus time too. Jewish Rabbi's/ physicians recited or whisper over the wound, "I will not place upon you all the suffering that I have placed on the Egyptians (or I am Yahweh, your Physician)" (Exodus 15:26). This was customary in their incantations. The words in parentheses (or I am Yahweh, your Physician, Ex 15:26) are missing in the text of the Mishnah, but were certainly recited (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10.1). The Rabbi's believed that, spitting while reciting or after reciting this Biblical text excludes those who recited from the future world, because the text contains the name of the Lord. Rabbi Rashi comments at Babylonian Sanhedrin 101A, confirms this: "Those who whisper the spell usually spit before reciting and it is forbidden to mention a verse of Scripture when whispering (discussing)". The patients in those era knew of the custom of using saliva in a healing incantation. What Jesus is doing here is going by the practice of the Rabbi's.
"I see people they look like trees walking" (Mark 8:22-26) - Why would this blind man saw humans as trees? We really don't know. Some might try to give a spiritual message out of it; which doesn't fit in. But we have an Opthalmological view which might answer this question. We need to know that there are various parts of the eye which work together to put an image in your brain. Why you see an object is because, the available light bounces on it and enters into your eyes. Before reaching the brain the image passes through Cornea, Pupil, Iris to the Lens, which then reflects on to the layer of Retin. Through the Rods and Cones which are part of Retina, inturn send it through the Optic Nerve to the Visual Cortex at the back of your Brain. Here the visual image is formed. When the image is passed through the Lens the image is inverted before hitting the Retina. Not just the image is inverted but the left and right are also reversed. Retina sends the inverted image to the Brain. Now it's the Brain's job to correct it. Even while you're reading this article your eyes are sending an inverted image to your Brain. Because your Brain is used to correct this since your childhood, you're reading this properly. Technically your Brain is used to correct the image naturally. It is believed by many that Infants actually spends their first few weeks with inverted image, it's their Visual Cortex slowly develops to properly interpret the information from their eyes. "National Library of Medicine National Center for Biotechnology Information" in their blog writes that, "The first study established that the inversion effect is present in infants as young as 5 months. .....studies suggest that the importance of internal features of face recognition increases between 5th and 7th months." Psychologists like George Malcom Stratton (1865-1957) and James Jerome Gibson (1904-1979), etc., have done extensive studies on this in 19th and 20th centuries.
I believe that my reasoning might relieve you of your doubt, why that blind man saw humans like trees? The study suggests that the infants eyes or the infants brains try to interpret what they are seeing for the first time. In the same way the blind man in the Gospel of Mark 8th Chapter, got to see the world for the first time, his eyes and visual cortex are as equal to a new born child, which might take a few months to interpret the image he is seeing. So the Lord touched his eyes once more and his sight was restored normally.
To conclude, Exodus 15:26 reads, "I the Lord, am your healer.” We are all wounded by our sins, we are in an unbearable pain, our wounds are oozing. We all need a physician. Jesus knows that we need Him. He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick" (Matthew 9:12). We are sinners, we need His word, we need His touch, we need His expertise to heal us, and make us righteous before the Father. When Jesus uses His saliva, it's not His saliva that healed the blind, but His divinity that healed.
*Recently my wife witnessed a miracle. She is a Nurse in the Operation Theatre, at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, Hyderabad, India. A patient was been operated and was implanted a lens in one of her eye. A week later, she came back with a little infection in her implant eye. After the examination the Doctor found out that there was some problem with the implant. So, the Doctor decided to re-operate her. As my wife is preparing the patient for operation, she said something very surprising. The patient said that, "the humans looked like trees to her". That's amazing isn't it? I am dumbstruck upon listening to this. The words that we read in the Bible are still been expressed by the people even today. My wife shared this with me in the afternoon of May 1st, 2024.
Links for further study:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/86571/dust-storm-sweeps-across-middle-east
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-dust-storm-microbiome/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585817/
