Mark 7 : 31 – 37

  Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him  to place his hand on the man.

  After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears.  Then he spit and and touched the man's tongue.  He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

  Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed  with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”


Some people    sought a blessing. Human compassion was operative here. Friends, family, perhaps bystanders, cared enough to bring the unfortunate  man to the attention of Jesus.  They cared and dared to approach Jesus on his behalf. There was no advantage for themselves. They must have had a keen sense  of the kindness of Jesus. They sought a blessing upon the afflicted one  perhaps limited to the laying on of hands and prayer, no doubt a common practice, but in recognition of Jesus as an uncommon person to be especially respected and trusted on the basis of his reputation.  They requested a blessing but witnessed much more than they had expected.

Took him aside      Something special was about to occur.  A blessing could have been conferred immediately right where Jesus and the man were standing. But Jesus draws him aside. The man is bidden away from the crowd. Jesus can and did bless multitudes as he addressed them. But his primary concern was deeply individual.  Jesus exemplified the personal touch and attention to detail in his pastoral care. His concern and compassion were, and are, close. He was actively involved in the plight of others and that fact contributed to moments of human exhaustion and the need for divine replenishment.  “Touch” in terms of heartfelt sympathy, and physical contact where appropriate, are vital in the support of others – identification with their situation and awareness of their troubles with understanding.  Jesus is moved and modest  in his healing action. His withdrawal reveals his desire to work without sensationalism. The result will be a sign of his vocation as Messiah in accordance with Old Testament prophecy.

Put his fingers        Jesus is hands-on in his  ministering to the needs he encounters.  God places his hand where it is needed. He presses it against our maladies to heal. He plunges it into our messes to bring order. Jesus stretched the man's ears symbolically so that he might recover the faculty of hearing by divine power. It is a beautiful image. Sound is so much a part of a full life  bringing pleasure, contact, and warning. Audibility is a marvellous faculty we should hate to lose. But the inner ear must be caused to hear the word of God also and the fingers of Jesus illustrate this important point.

Then he spit     Spitting seems to us an action that is rude and unhygienic.  But in Jesus' action it is illustrative of a very personal gesture. He is giving something uniquely of himself to the man he is healing. Health will come from Jesus' own life.  The man is cured by Jesus' own will and virtue. Healing is restoration. Salvation is the renewal of creation. Saliva, especially when mixed with dust of the earth hints at the universal, life-saving act of salvation performed by Jesus (cf John 9:6 and Genesis 2: 7). Mankind was formed from earth and moisture thus making clay. Dust without wetness could not result in the solid sculpted figure brought to life by the breath of God. In all the words and acts of Jesus ruined creation is being reconstituted.

He looked up to heaven     This was the principal attitude of Jesus throughout the entirety of his life and ministry on earth. The Father had sent him and the Father must supply him with every resource for his assignment. The Father was his Guide and Giver of power. When we do not gaze to heaven first and continually in all that we entertain or enterprise matters go awry and mistakes occur. We must focus on heaven as we work on earth.

Deep sigh      Jesus was a man of profound but controlled passion and emotion.  The consequences of the world's rebellion against its Maker and Lord are disastrous and painful.  The sensitive soul of the God-man registers the ravages of evil and the sufferings of humanity and sighs at all the evidence of moral and material devastation.

Be opened     Who can estimate the power and importance of these words of the Saviour? They are instantly the cause of effective cure in a physical sense for the handicapped man before him. But they signal so much else in a social and a spiritual sense. For this individual Christ has opened the way to to connection and communication with others. He no longer lives in isolation and the pity of his fellows. He is integrated into society and his future is now filled with prospects. He is opened to new life in terms of a soul relating now to the God who has shown him mercy. In various senses Jesus has brought him release and restoration.

Not to tell anyone       Jesus' command, though disregarded, served at least two purposes. He was no exhibitionist. His wonders were for the glory of God and not the entertainment of the people. He commanded silence to avoid distraction from his principal assignment of preaching. “The people  were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.  But he said, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea'” (Luke 4: 42-44).

The miracle enabled men to confess the Messiahship and Saviourhood of the Lord Jesus (cf Mark 7:37 & Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus fits the prophecy.

RJS

  Jesus was a man of powerful emotion. The fact is amply demonstrated in the above passage. Yet because he was meek his passions were well regulated and aptly expressed. He never lost control as we can when tempers flare or feelings are strong. He could both desire and be angry without sin. His indignation was just. He could be in sorrow but never in despair.

  There are two famous occasions on which Jesus wept – in his lamentation over Jerusalem and at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus could weep for pity but his weeping also expressed anger. This was especially the case with Lazarus. He was not weeping for his departed friend, or for the sadness of Martha and Mary. He knew that Lazarus would be raised. His tears were not for human grief but because of human unbelief. “He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33).

  The words mean that he was angry. Previous conversation had been about death and resurrection, yet Jesus' statement about himself had not really hit home (John 11: 25-26). “Jesus said to her (Martha), ' I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” In his power and authority over life and death Jesus had not actually been recognized. His manner of raising Lazarus was for the benefit of friends and onlookers (John 11:41-42). “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me'”. Failure in recognition had deprived the people of divine favour and salvation, and it generated a plot among his enemies to kill Jesus. (V45ff).

  Once again the failure in recognition came to the fore as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem – the city that rejected him. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, named as the city of peace that spurned the Prince of Peace, and once again Jesus was highly emotional. He wept says the translation. He wailed says the original. Jesus sobbed over mankind's obstinacy. Luke makes much of the divine “visitation” which is not so thematically and dramatically clear and clinched as well as it might be in some versions (Luke 1:68,78 cf Benedictus BCP 1662). The tragedy is that God in Christ had visited his people, mingled among them, and revealed his power, and they had not recognized him. “You did not recognize the time of God's coming to you” (Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation – Luke 19:44, King James version). Visitation emphasises a well-pondered and abiding presence rather than a mere appearance.  There was ample time for recognition if only folk had wanted to acknowledge the divine dignity of Jesus. Prophets had described him but the people lacked the sight to descry or discern him. Optical failure in terms of mental perception meant loss of opportunity.

  But now, says Jesus, it is hidden from your eyes (v42). The Saviour, and safety of the city, and perhaps eternal salvation are hidden to blind eyes. Emotion is strong in in the Saviour's summary of the future (vv43-44). Jesus is not the feeble figure some people make him out to be. Meek and mild are misunderstood characterizations. They mean that Jesus never loses himself in his moods of passion. These are controlled and well and wisely directed. Indignation in the temple is expressed for its abuses and the high rates of exchange charged to the people who sought admission to its precincts for their approach to God. The temple had become an obstruction rather than an opening to the presence of God.

  Emotion serves the purpose of emphasis. Jesus' emotions reinforce divine truth and attitudes. Jesus visits us with good intent. Our attitudes elicit grace or judgment. God recoils from judgment for as long as reasonably possible (2 Peter 3: 8-9). He is forbearing. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. There is opportunity for recognition of his visitation in Jesus Christ his Son and opportunity for response. It is pride and conceit that are the blinkers to the recognition of Jesus (Matthew 11: 28 -30). It comes down to a clear distinction. We are, in our hearts, either friend or foe to Jesus.

  Failure in recognition is often due to the deliberately averted eye and the perverted mind. It is a stubbornness that rejects the Lord – the king, the emperor over all things. We will not have this man to rule over us.

  Deep down, whatever guises men assume, we will either cling to Jesus or secretly wish to kill him. The antipathy is as real as that. Jesus mourns over persistent human unbelief, purposeful non-recognition, and lost opportunity.

  Jesus was a man of great passion – passion for the glory of God and the rescue of mankind. He stirs us to seek him with purpose and passion while opportunity lasts. His whole being throbs with a sense of urgency that he communicates to us. When the arrogant and envious Pharisees would restrain the joy of those who gladly recognized Jesus for who and what he was, and what he had come to do, Jesus replied that even inanimate objects are constrained to recognize their creator. He speaks figuratively but truly:

“When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen [aids to recognition – the apostle John calls them signs]:  

'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!'
  'Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples!'
'I tell you,' he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out'” (Luke 19: 37-40).

Crying!          Jesus cried bitterly over man's refusal of mercy.

                        The lost will cry bitterly over wasted opportunity.

    Believers will cry joyfully over recognition of their Saviour come to carry them home at death or to receive them on the day of judgment.

May our personal heart's-cry join that happy chorus.

RJS