People as Trees, Walking:
(Exodus 15:22-27, Mark 8:24, Mark 11:12-14, Luke 10:38-42)
In JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, there is a character race called Ents who are creatures who look like walking trees. They are very old, slow moving, and stubborn in their ways especially when it comes to change. My mind couldn’t help but picture these characters when I read Mark 8. Jesus uses his spit and his hands to heal a blind man. The blind man then says “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” From the first quick reading of it, it may seem as though Jesus’ first attempt at healing this man had failed. How can this be when a woman a few chapters before barely catches his garment to give her complete healing? Here Jesus uses direct and intimate contact: his spit and his hands, and somehow it is not enough? That cannot be. I can only reason that it was not a mistake, but a symbol, a message, or perhaps a glimpse into the spiritual world we cannot see around us?
What this blind man saw (people as trees, walking) is an oxymoron. In our world trees don’t walk, they are rooted to the ground, solid, we plant them for shelter against the winds, snow, and soil erosion. Perhaps it is a symbol of the things men invest their time and efforts in, starting new shoots and entangling their branches in things that only leave us dead and fruitless? Is it a window into how mankind is connected by so many things this world has to offer with our spiritual “roots” are wandering, our branches reaching for the sky, trying to take root in all the wrong places? Perhaps this blind man saw us in our perverted state of sin? Trees who wandered from God’s garden looking for a source of nourishment other than what we were created to be fulfilled by, searching for anything to put our roots into that may bring us satisfaction to fill the void of something that was lost long ago. I find it extremely poetic and the imagery jarring, instead of seeing people’s outside façade, a glimpse of the inner thinking and turmoil that is nestled inside us. A reminder that all of us are like wandering trees, lost uprooted dying unfruitful trees who are waiting for that sigh of relief that is felt when God leads us to His oasis. Our one thing needful.
Jesus placed his hands on the blind man’s eyes a second time, as if to say “I AM He” put your roots in me, do not be anxious or troubled, do not wander any longer, do not be blinded by sin, SEE ME. Not so unlike when the Israelites became uprooted from Egypt, they were trees without roots, they thought they were going to shrivel up and die. But God continued to provide for his children at every turn, an oasis for them to replenish their physical and spiritual needs. My interpretation may be adding more to the text than is there, I admit that there is no direct connection for meaning stated in the text of Mark. I encourage you to use the Bible to interpret the Bible and searched for other passages where Jesus and the prophets mention trees, how trees is often a symbol of mankind and our spiritual state. It is a fascinating if you are a interested in nature, (FYI there are tons of verses) here are a few that I think directly fit into what Jesus might have been hinting at in Mark 8:
John 15:5
“I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. You do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do you? So then, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Matthew 21:18-22
As he [Jesus] returned to the city early in the morning, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “May there never be fruit from you again!” Immediately the fig tree withered away. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”Jesus answered them, “Amen I tell you: If you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it would be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer, as you believe, you will receive.”
Isaiah 56:3
Therefore, the foreigner who joins himself to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.”
The eunuch should not say,
“I am just a dried-up tree.”
Psalm 1:1-3
How blessed is the man
who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,
who does not stand on the path with sinners,
and who does not sit in a meeting with mockers.
2 But his delight is in the teaching[a] of the Lord,
and on his teaching he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season,
and its leaves do not wither.
Everything he does prospers.
Jeremiah 17:7-8,
But blessed is anyone who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by water.
It sends out its roots to the stream.
It does not fear the heat when it comes.
Its leaves will remain green.
It is not concerned about a time of drought.
It does not stop producing fruit.
Exodus 15:27
Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.
מגן השביל 