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 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.”
In this passage we see Jesus as a man of love, concerned about the disabilities and troubles of men and women. We see him sighing deeply before He heals this disabled man, indicating the Spirit of God considered this incidental fact of Jesus sighing as very important. His deep sigh tells us that Jesus found this man's circumstance and the condition of mankind in general troubling to his soul. Yes, this particular man's needs would be met, but how many more people were in the same difficulties or even worse. As he journeyed on this earth, Jesus met the needs of all of the people He touched with his healing hands and his kind and loving spirit. Yet we can infer from his sigh that as a man of compassion, the scope of mankind's general predicament--a people sitting in darkness with many needs--must have weighed heavily upon him. He knew there were so many people living difficult lives, harnessed with serious disabilities, sicknesses, and problems. All of this because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, allowing for sin and sickness to enter into the world. We see his frustration and his mercy when He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). God did not plan for men to exist in disharmony and sin, inundated with troubles and sicknesses. He did not plan for men to die, but sin entered the world to destroy the very breath that God placed in mankind. Sin reaps death; but this was not God's desire. This was the not the plan of God from the beginning: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) Seeing the great gulf that separated him from his creation, God had another plan: He sent his beloved Son.
As with everyplace Jesus went, even in Decapolis, which consisted of Hebrews and Greeks, we see Jesus healing people. When they saw such an amazing act as a deaf man speaking, we hear these people, some who worship Greek Gods, say, “He has done everything well,” “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” They knew even the wisest amongst them could not open ears. They knew their great and wise Greek philosophers could not perform such a miracle. This man Jesus was performing miracles that no one could do from the beginning of time. Even among the Gentiles, God was revealing himself through Jesus' mighty works. The people had not seen anyone like Jesus, and He captured their attention. Of course they were overwhelmed with amazement. Later in Acts when Peter is called to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, he says, You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached — how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:37-38) Peter confirms the works of Christ and his death and resurrection to these Gentiles, and while he is yet speaking, they are so overwhelmed by the love of Christ, the Spirit of God falls upon them. Then he baptizes them in the name of Jesus Christ. There is power in the name of Jesus. He overwhelms people and He sets captives free from sin and sickness, bringing them from darkness into the light.
The question for us today: Are we overwhelmed with Jesus' mighty works in 2013? In the last several decades, technology and scientific knowledge have increased exponentially. We are doing things now that no man could have envisioned a hundred years ago, let alone in the first century. We are at the cusp of breaking through to knowledge of how basic matter was created. We are searching for the foundational elements of life. We are computerizing DNA so we can produce new life. Is Jesus and his miracles enough for us today or are we entering into an age of greater unbelief because man is becoming like God in his creative ability. Are we still overwhelmed with amazement at Jesus' teaching and supernatural power or have we become lax in our zeal for Jesus Christ and his works? If we have fallen away, my Christian friend, we have failed the challenge of faith: we have gone back to the Greek Philosophers for our answers to life, dependent on human wisdom and knowledge. Elevating human knowledge as our absolute answer to life replaces the saving grace found in Jesus Christ and his works of love and grace. Knowledge and wisdom are a gift from God, but such attributes never replace the saving grace of God through faith in his Son as Lord of all creation. Man seeks to bring God down to his level, but as we have seen in the progressive grossness and debauchery of our culture, man's wisdom and knowledge supply no answers for sin. Only Christ is the answer: only He can make man a new creature with a clean heart. Every day of our lives, we meet people who cannot hear: they are deaf to the word of the Lord. We have the privilege to say: “Ephphatha! Let your ears be opened to the Good News! Jesus saves, and He came to heal and to save you!" Bless you today as you go about doing good in the name of the Lord.
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