Mark 7:31–37
- Through the miracle of faith, we have been brought to Christ
- Our lives in Christ are one miracle after another
- In faith, in love we are compelled to bring others to the cross
In June, we spent a wonderful couple of days working in London with an inspiring group of students from Martin Luther College, Wisconsin. They went out into the streets of our sister church, St George’s in Aldgate, surveying people on their views on faith, Jesus, the Bible and God. During one intense conversation that two of the students had with a young man, they asked him if he believed in God. His answer? “Well, I could be convinced if God performed a miracle.”
In our text today from the Gospel of Mark, we see that Jesus has been spreading the gospel, teaching and healing in the region of Tyre and now returns to the Sea of Galilee. This is the region where he has previously performed astounding miracles and, more importantly, preached the Gospel. And what’s the very first thing that happens on his return? Some people bring to him a man “who was deaf and had a speech impediment”. They beg him “to lay his hand on him”. These people would have heard of Jesus’ healing miracles from when he was last in the area. They may have heard his preaching, or even been healed by him, but what we do know for certain is that they have faith that Jesus will heal the man. In faith, in love for their friend, they bring him to Jesus not expecting any reward for themselves.
Jesus’ response
From earlier healings, we would expect Jesus to simply command the man be healed with a word “Be clean!”. But not here, Jesus knows exactly what this man needs. How Jesus heals him is unique, it’s a very special and intimate event. He takes the man to one side to be alone with him, in private, away from the crowd, the noise and the hubbub. And so that the deaf man understands what’s happening to him, Jesus acts out a sign language performance. He puts his fingers in the man’s ears to say “I will make you hear”, he spits then touches the man’s tongue, “I will make you speak”. Jesus then looks up to heaven so the man is left in no doubt where Christ’s power and authority comes from, that Jesus is the Son of God. He then sighs. He sighs so that the man can see that something is about to happen. And this prepares him for what happens next, he says to the man in Aramaic “Ephphatha”. Try saying it: “Eph-pha-tha”. It’s a breathing word. He breathes the word “Ephphatha,” “Be opened”, on the man. “And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” Isn’t that just wonderful? The Son of God, who was there at the creation of the world, takes time out to personally and intimately heal this man and bring him to faith.
The people’s reaction
Jesus tells the people, he charges them, to tell no-one. He did the same with the healing of the leper earlier in Mark 1:43–44 “See that you say nothing to anyone” and the healing of the blind men in Matthew 9:30 “See that no one knows about it.” But, of course, they ignore him, they do the same as the restored leper, who “began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news” and the healed blind men, who “went away and spread his fame through all that district.” And here we hear that “the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.” And we can hardly blame the people for their disobedience, “they were astonished beyond measure”. Their hearts were bursting, overflowing with excitement with what had happened.
What did they have to offer?
After all what did this man have to offer? He was deaf, he couldn’t speak, he was powerless. But Jesus heals him and he immediately becomes an evangelist for Christ, zealously proclaiming about him. What did his friends who brought him have to offer? We don’t know their names, we don’t know their status, but we do know that they had faith in Jesus. They could not give the man, their friend, the faith that they had, so they did the one thing that their faith compelled them to do – to love their neighbour and bring him to Jesus.
What about us?
Are you deaf to the saving grace of the Gospel? Does your speech impediment, your twisted tongue that says the wrong things at the wrong time, ensnare you? Or even remains silent when you know you should have spoken up for Christ? “But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.” (Psalm 38:13) Do you think you’ve heard the message so many times that you have nothing more to learn, so have become hard of hearing? How blind are you to the needs of your neighbours, or your own need for the Word and the Sacraments? How covered in the leprosy of your old sins, your old Adam are you? As Jesus says when the Pharisees accused him of eating with tax collectors and sinners: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” We are all sick. We all need to be brought before Jesus, to the foot of the cross.
The miracle of faith
And when you come to Jesus in repentance, in humility, you receive the miracle of faith. A personal faith, just for you from Him. A gift freely given from God’s care and love for you. Then the Holy Spirit miraculously unblocks your ears and you hear his Word loud and clear, “Be clean! You are forgiven”. And our faith grows. And when we understand the truth that we were dead, but through Christ’s sacrifice and his glorious resurrection, we, like him, have been miraculously raised from the dead. We were worthless, we have nothing to offer, but through God’s grace we are his children reborn into eternal life. I can’t think of greater miracles than these. Miracle after miracle. Miracle on miracle. And knowing these things what is your response?
Our response
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10) Do you hide these miracles away, embarrassed that your tongues might be impeded and you’ll let Jesus down by saying the wrong things? Or do you, like the man in our story, know Christ, the Son of God, has healed you and speak plainly? Do you, from the overpouring of your hearts, astonished by the miracles that he has performed, “zealously proclaim it”? Through the miracles of faith, the healing of our sinful hearts, the forgiveness of our sins and life everlasting, we are called to be God’s priests to be “ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit” as we heard earlier in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. And that Spirit of the new covenant, which is love, gives life. As ministers of the new covenant, we are compelled to be a blessing to our neighbours, not just in material things, but much more importantly to bring them to the place that will give them new life. We are compelled to bring them to the cross. To bring them to Jesus, just as the people brought the deaf man to him 2000 years ago, so that he can personally, privately heal them and give them a faith that is theirs. So let your heart overflow and let your mouth run over. Tell of the hope that you have through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Zealously proclaim it. For Jesus has done all things well.
Amen.