They look like trees walking around

I like the story a Jesus healing the blind man in Mark 8:22-9:1. It is in some ways strange in that Jesus heals him in stages...

When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
 ²⁴He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
 ²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored.

Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus didn't just heal the man at the first attempt?

Perhaps it had something to do with Peter, who was with Jesus when this healing took place. Because Jesus goes on to ask the disciples 'Who do people say I am?' and Peter, ever the impetuous one shouts out "You are the Christ."

But he didn't understand, did he? He couldn't take the fact that the Jesus he was following would have to suffer, be rejected and killed before rising again. Peter saw Jesus, but like the blind man he only saw the reality of who Jesus was faintly and blurred - he knew the words to say but didn't understand their significance.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

How do we see Jesus?