260 Mark 7:31-37 Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute

Talk 22   Mark 7:31-37 Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute

Welcome to Talk 22 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at the story in Mark 7:31-37 of how Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute. But before we turn to the passage, let me begin with a testimony of a similar healing that happened in my own family.

From my earliest years I can remember being told of how one of my aunts had been miraculously healed in answer to prayer . Her name was May and in the 1911 census she was recorded as being ‘deaf and dumb from birth’. When she was in her twenties, my grandmother took her to a divine healing meeting conducted by the evangelist, George Jeffreys , who placed his hands on her and prayed  for her.

That evening, as they were travelling home to Poplar in the East End of London, they went down to catch the underground train. While they were waiting on the platform, suddenly, with a shocked expression on her face, May put both hands over her ears. She could hear the roar of the train as it came through the tunnel approaching the platform!

Until that moment, from the day she was born she had never been able to hear, but now she could hear, and within a few weeks was beginning to speak. My father was her younger brother, and when, years later, I was told at school that miracles  did not happen, he was quick to remind me of my aunt’s healing. I suppose that’s why I’ve never doubted God ’s miracle working power and firmly believe that we should expect to see miracles today. But now, to the passage in Mark 7.

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 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.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spat and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

This miracle is recorded only in Mark. It’s the simple but wonderful story of a man’s need and how Jesus met it. Jesus leaves the region of Tyre and Sidon and goes down to the region of the Ten Cities known as Decapolis. Some people bring him a man who is deaf and can hardly talk. There is no mention of faith in this story, but, as we saw last time, faith comes by hearing the message about Christ. How much these people were able to communicate with this deaf man is not clear, but they themselves had heard about Christ and had enough faith to bring him to Jesus. It’s interesting that in the New Testament it is often the faith of others that results in healing, and not always the faith of the person who is sick. Note too that they don’t specifically ask Jesus to heal the man, but just to place his hand on him.

But let’s look carefully at what Jesus actually does. The first thing we notice is that he took him aside away from the crowd.

He took him aside away from the crowd.

Why did Jesus do this? We’re not told. It can be great to be part of a crowd, especially where miracles are happening, but sometimes the crowd can be a distraction. The miracles Jesus is performing on others can in certain circumstances take our eyes off what he might want to do for us. Jesus deals with us as individuals. And in this case he wants to get the man’s full attention, to show him that he is not just one of the crowd, but an individual he cares about personally. Perhaps the man’s condition, unable to hear and hardly able to speak, made these personal moments with Jesus all the more necessary.

And perhaps Jesus himself felt the need to get away from the crowd, to get a moment of quiet when he can hear what Father is saying about how to deal with this man’s need. When ministering to the sick it’s so important to take time to hear what God is saying in each individual situation, and not be rushed into trying to deal with the needs of everyone who is asking for prayer at the same time.

He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue.

Jesus usually healed by a touch or a word of command, and his disciples sometimes healed by anointing people with oil. On one occasion he even healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with mud made from the dust of the ground and Jesus’ own saliva (John 9:6). But occasions like this, and the one we are considering in today’s passage, were exceptional, and should certainly not be seen as a methodology of healing. Jesus’ only methodology was to hear what the Father was saying (John 5:19.)

So why does Jesus on this occasion put his fingers into the man’s ears, spit and touch the man’s tongue. It’s possible that he was miming. The people who had brought the man to Jesus had shown a measure of faith just by bringing him, but it’s possible that Jesus was also looking for faith in the man himself. And, as we have seen, faith comes by hearing… But the man could not hear. But by miming Jesus could well have been indicating to the man that he was intending to heal him, and the assurance that would give the man would create faith in his heart.

But another aspect of Jesus’ unusual actions is how personal and intimate they are. He is not just touching the man; he’s putting his fingers into his ears. He’s spitting and touching the man’s tongue, presumably with the saliva! Today we might say, He’s invading his space! But if we want God’s blessing in our lives, we must be prepared to let him invade our space. We must make room for him.

When he left heaven and came to earth he was, in a sense, invading our space, but he only did so because he loves us. And he’s constantly looking for that intimate relationship with us where he’s involved with every aspect of our being. If we allow him to do so, the reward, as it was for the man in our story, will be wonderful.

He looked up to heaven

Jesus often looked up to heaven when he prayed. He did so before he blessed the loaves and fed the five thousand (Mark 6:41). And the fact that he does so here suggests three things. First, Jesus had constant contact with heaven. He was sinless. There was no barrier between himself and God. At his baptism the heavens were torn open and the Father’s voice was heard saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mark 1:10-11). Jesus lived under an open Heaven.

Secondly, by looking up to Heaven Jesus would be reminded of what Heaven is like. In Heaven there is no sin, no suffering, no sickness. He taught his disciples to pray, Your will be done as it is in heaven… God’s will is that earth should be like Heaven. And Jesus had come to do God’s will (Hebrews 10:7). Jesus knew that in the age to come earth would indeed become like Heaven and he had come to show us by his sinless life, his love and compassion, and by the miracles he performed, what a foretaste of Heaven could be like.

And thirdly, looking up to Heaven was a sign of his submission to heaven’s authority. As we have already said, Jesus only did what he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He looks up to Heaven in submission to Father’s authority before he speaks the word of command – be opened. And we should never presume to speak a word of command in Jesus’ name without first receiving by the Spirit authority to do so from Heaven. We can not take authority. We only have it if it is given to us.

He sighed deeply

It’s been suggested that Jesus’ sigh reflects the cost and pain of ministry. And Jesus certainly did pay a heavy price, not just by his death on the cross to save us from our sins, but even through the years of preaching, teaching, healing, and training his disciples, he warned those who thought that following him might be easy, that Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).

But I think it more likely that Jesus’ sigh was an expression of his compassion for the suffering. Jesus’ compassion was the motivation for his healings. In Matthew 14:14 we’re told that he healed their sick because he was moved with compassion for them.  It was because of his compassion that he gave sight to the blind (Matthew 20:34), cleansed the leper (Mark 1:41), cast out demons (Mark 5:19), and raised the dead (Luke 7:13).

It is also possible to see his sigh as an expression of anger with this man’s affliction. Does not God, who is holy, have a right to be angry with sin? Yes, but his anger with sin springs not only from his holiness, but also from his love. He hates sin because he knows what it does to our lives. He hates sin because he loves us. And he hates sickness because of the havoc it wreaks in human lives. It’s because of his compassion for this man that he is angry with the affliction that bound him, and no doubt with any Satanic forces that may have caused it.

So Jesus looks up to Heaven and sighs, and then he says, Ephphatha, BE OPENED.

He said to him, Ephphatha… BE OPENED

Just one word – Ephphatha. One word from Jesus is enough. It was enough because it had all the authority of Heaven behind it. Jesus only did what he saw the Father do. He who said at the beginning, Let there be light, now says, Be opened. Now notice what it says in verse 35:

35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly.

Th word translated at this literally means immediately! Immediately he could hear. Immediately he could speak – plainly. No wonder the crowd said, He has done everything well (v37). And, as my aunt’s testimony shows, the age of such miracles is not past, though admittedly she did not speak immediately she was healed. I think that perhaps her inability to speak had been caused by her being deaf. Once the Lord opened her ears she was able to begin to learn to speak. But this man began to speak plainly immediately. My aunt’s experience does not in any way suggest that miracles today cannot be as great as Jesus performed while he was here on earth. Did not he say,

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12)?

No, my aunt’s experience simply shows that God deals with different people differently. What doesn’t change is his love, his compassion, and his power. But is there perhaps also a spiritual message in this miracle that applies to us all? Look at verses 36-37.

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

When we met Jesus our ears were opened to his word and our tongues were loosened to speak it out. Have we begun to speak plainly to others about him? Are they overwhelmed with amazement? Does our testimony about Jesus cause them to say, He has done everything well? Do they keep talking about it?

But finally, let’s remind ourselves that Jesus opens more than ears, and mouths, and eyes. He opens the door to Heaven to all who will believe. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in (C.F Alexander). He is the one who opens and no-one can shut (Revelation 3:7). He alone can open the book (Revelation 5:7). And in John 5:28 Jesus tells us that a time is coming when the graves will be opened and

all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

And Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that

the Lord himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command (a shout) with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ shall rise…

I wonder what that shout might be. Could it be Ephphatha?