Mark 7:31-37. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 24, 2019.
Last week we saw that Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, which is on the coast of what we would call Lebanon today. Our story today has Jesus traveling all the way back to the Sea of Galilee and he heals a deaf man upon his arrival.
We should note up front that the parallel account in Matthew 15 focuses on the general activity of Jesus. In general, Jesus comes back to Israel and begins healing people. However, Mark focuses in on one of those miracles and gives us a specific account. It is important to have both a wide, general view of what Jesus did, as well as the specific stories of how individuals were touched by him. The same is true today. Many people are coming to Christ around this world every day, and we should not be discouraged by the limitations on what we can see. Also, each of these people are a story of how Christ stepped into their lives and transformed them in powerful ways. Let’s look at our story.
A deaf person is brought to Jesus
Mark starts the story by describing the route that Jesus took from the coast northwest of Israel to the Sea of Galilee. The route is interesting because it is not the most direct route. The emphasis is placed upon the fact that Jesus purposefully came to the Sea of Galilee through the one region that was Gentile. Here is a map from www.bibleatlas.org.
The easiest path would be to travel south along the coast and come up the Jezreel valley past Nazareth and then drop down into the Galilee. Alternatively, a person could travel east through the mountains and drop down into the Jordan River valley and then travel south through the region that was ruled by Herod Philip. Both ways would leave Gentile territory and enter the Galilee through Israelite territory.
Jesus on the other hand starts out on the alternative route, but he then skirts around the sea and approaches it from the southeast, instead of heading south through Philip’s territory.
This area was called Decapolis and it bordered the southeast quarter of the Sea of Galilee. Decapolis was not so much a political entity as it was an area where there were 10 cities on the frontier between Rome and the kingdoms of Parthia (northeast) and Nabatea (southeast). When Rome had conquered the Syrian region in the First Century BC, they allowed these 10 Gentile cities to remain autonomous as long as they stayed loyal to Rome. Though the story does not tell us where on the sea Jesus is specifically, it seems likely that he is on the southeast coast of it and therefore still in Gentile territory. This area would have a mix of Jews and Gentiles, but would heavily favor Gentiles. Why do I mention this?
All of this seems to be Mark’s way of highlighting or showing that more than a few crumbs were falling off of the table of the children towards the Gentiles (See the dialogue between Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman we talked about last week). Jesus does care about the Gentiles and is preparing to send the remnant of Israel to all the nations of the earth, and this is part of the proof that he was already setting this up.
In our story, we are told that a group of people (either the crowd as a whole, or a group that is a part of it) bring a man to Jesus and beg him to lay his hands upon him. This might be an insignificant detail. However, we are told that Jesus removes the man from the crowd. Why would he do this? No, doubt the crowd wanted to see a miracle and witness it.
When you think about the history of deaf people, you will have to recognize that it has not been very nice, much like many other social minorities. Deaf people were often seen as mentally deficient because they ranged from being unable to speak at all to those who could talk, but did so with a speech impediment. Of course, such impeded speech is generally due to the effect that not being able to hear has upon our learning and mimicking of the sounds of speech. In fact, the Middle English phrase, “Deaf and Dumb,” was used to describe that a person is deaf and unable to talk. This is considered highly offensive by deaf people because it is not true. Sure, deaf people are not all geniuses. Yet, their troubles do not usually come from mental deficiency. By the way, a number of years ago it became vogue to refer to them as hearing impaired. Most deaf people do not like that phrase and would rather just be called deaf.
I mention all of this because there is no doubt that this man had a tough life of people abusing him, making fun of him, and generally ignoring him. This social component would seem to be at least part of the reason that Jesus removes him from the crowd. To them, he is just a hard case that they want to see if Jesus can fix. Like setting up a series of hoops and asking a dog to jump through them, the crowd is wanting to see a show from Jesus. We don’t know the state of mind of the man at this point. It seems that Jesus recognizes that the crowd is an impediment to the man’s true need at this point. So, Jesus takes the man aside and deals with him alone. Jesus wants this to be something that is between him and the deaf man, instead of him and the crowd.
It is easy for those with full capability- which, if you think about it, is a lie- to see a disabled person as somehow less than human. What is it that happens in our hearts to allow us to tell ourselves that a person is not worth treating with proper respect and dignity? May God teach us to really see people who can often be masked behind physical disabilities that make it hard for us to do so.
What should we make of the strange things that Jesus does in healing the man? First, Jesus sticks his fingers in the man’s ears. Then, Jesus spits and touches the man’s tongue. The story leaves us with the impression that Jesus may have put some of his spit upon the man’s tongue. What is this about?
We know from countless other accounts that Jesus can heal without any touching, speaking, or even being present. His power is not in a method, or the chemical properties of his spit, etc. His power comes from who he is. John tells us that nothing that was made was made without Jesus. He was involved in the creation. Jesus did certain things not because he had to do them to heal someone, but as an aid to their faith. It is just how we are as humans. We often don’t have faith until we can actually see something. God often accommodates our weaknesses. These outward actions like: laying hands upon a person, anointing them with oil, and praying for healing out loud, are simply that, aids to our faith. They have no inherent power to heal people.
In this case, the man is hard of hearing. When Jesus sticks his fingers in his ears, it leaves the clear impression that he is going to do something to the man’s ears. This is the simplest form of communication. Touching his tongue would similarly send a message that he is also going to do something about his ability to speak. The spit may only be sending the message that something from within Christ is going to be the reason that the man is given full ability. However, it is not his spit itself. Jesus is the creator. That same creative power that created the first ear and tongue of Adam is now hear to touch this son of Adam. It is in this intersection of mortal man and divine man that he is going to be healed.
A common theme throughout the gospels is touching of people by Jesus. Even lepers were touched by him. This is important for us to understand today. People need other people to touch them in appropriate and loving ways. Studies have shown that newborns who are not touched, held, and cared for in that first year, are negatively impacted for the rest of their lives. People often feel that the Creator does not care and yet in Jesus the Creator came down and touched us. I am here. You are valued and loved. To Jesus, this man is not just a prop to be trotted out for the entertainment of the crowd. He is not just a prop for the promotion of a ministry empire, or for a political agenda. No, this man is a human being who was created to bear the image of the God of heaven.
Several things happen in rapid succession at this point. Jesus looks up into heaven to let us know the source of the healing. God Almighty is about to grant a healing to this man. It also says that Jesus sighed or groaned. This is the same word that Paul uses to speak of how we feel when we are burdened with this mortal body, longing to be clothed with our promised, immortal one. I believe that Jesus is feeling the weight and heaviness of the effects of sin upon mankind in general, and this man specifically. What a heavy burden this man had to carry up to this point, and Jesus is about to set him free. We must understand that God fully empathizes with the burdens of this life, even those that are the effects of our own sin. He is not just intellectually aware of them, but he groans with those who groan.
Jesus then says a simple command. Mark tells us the Aramaic word that Jesus uses, “Ephphatha!” The translation is the command to be opened. Such a simple command tells us and any who see that the power does not come from long incantation or some healing spell. This is the voice of authority that commands all of creation. It is not normal, or as God created it to be, for a man’s ears to be closed and his tongue to be tied. God did not make mankind to be deaf and unable to speak properly among many other things. Thus, in a moment in time, Jesus commands the man’s body to come into conformity with the proper function and image for which God had created it.
The man is completely healed
We are told that the healing takes place immediately upon the command of Jesus. The man is able to hear, and even more incredible, he is able to speak without impediment. The Greek word describing his speech is that is now “orthos.” This is the word we use in orthodontics and orthodoxy. It has the idea of something that is right, correct, and as it should be. His sounds were now perfectly formed and easily understood. How amazing must that have been for the man.
Yet, there are many who do not speak as they should and they do not have the excuse of being deaf upon which to blame it. Yes, we all want full capability, but the greater question is what am I doing with it? Oh, that God would touch our tongues and help us to speak the right things that we should speak, to speak correctly with one another, and not with the emotional and corrupt impediments of this world! It is one thing to be able to speak and to be understood. What a wonderful blessing and rejoicing was had by this man. Yet, it is quite another thing to exercise this power that God has given us with correct and righteous intent, in the image of our Creator. Oh, be careful little mouth what you say. There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love. So, be careful little mouth what you say. Be careful ears what you hear. Be careful in all that we do, that it reflects the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone was the perfect representation of our heavenly Father.
Jesus then tells the people not to tell others about this healing. This is a similar dynamic throughout all the Gospels. It did not always help the plan of God to promote everything that He has done. The world promotes everything, but God has a timing all His own. In our world of promotion and building of little empires, we don’t always understand this spiritual principle. God’s purposes are not increased by the promotions of this world. He will do and accomplish what He wants to do. The real question is this. Am I a part of it? May God help us to go from seeing Jesus as a cosmic vending machine to seeing him as our pattern, more importantly, our Lord. We were made to be like him, and he works by his Holy Spirit to create that image in us today and tomorrow. God help us to give full cooperation with His Spirit, so that we can be a river of life to those around us!