Aug 13
Submitted by on as 2023


Mark 7:31-37

(31) And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. (32) And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. (33) And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; (34) and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (35) And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. (36) And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; (37) and were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

 

  Another great story of The healing power, love and compassion Jesus has.  As stated last week we learned that when it comes to God’s power, there is no real formula, ritual or "magic potion/saying” that needs to happen. Here we see Jesus take on a new approach. After "they” brought the deaf and dumb man to Jesus, He’ pulls in aside and sticks His fingers into His ears, He spit and touched His tongue. Jesus looked to Heaven and says Ephphatha, which means to be opened. I find it very interesting in the interpretation they kept the Aramaic word in there. Sometimes there is no really way to truly translate what was written into modern language and to do so might compromise the usage of the word or phrase. We do not see that often in the scriptures. I can only imagine what the disciples were thinking. Ok, so here Jesus does something quite different than what he normally does. Do you think they questioned Him? The man immediately could hear and spoke clearly. Once again Jesus tells the people to tell no one, and of course they cannot contain themselves, and tell everyone Jesus has done well and makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

 

  We continue to learn that there is nothing beyond the capability of the power of Christ. We have been mention the word FAITH quite often, and even though this passage does not even use it, we can see a demonstration of great faith among those who brough the man to Jesus. It does not say who "they” were, probably from Decapolis, but you can assume that Jesus’ fame had preceded Him. Here is another great example that they did not need to see Jesus perform any miracle, just the possibility of hearing about Him was enough for them. And when they do see the greatness of Jesus, they cannot contain themselves and tell everyone.

 

 If there is anything I am getting out of this, we need to be spreading the greatness of Jesus. There are many people in this world or even in our lives looking for hope who do not need to see Jesus or experience some big event, but just need to know about Jesus. Are we spreading God’s love to those around us. What great blessing has God done for us, and did we go tell everyone or did we hide it?

 

I am going to leave you with one verse here.

Matthew 5:16   Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.


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COMMENTS


[ posted by Megan, 08/14/2023 03:29 PM ]

I agree Mike, there are lots of people just needing to know who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Lately I've been having a lot of talks with Jacob about this same thing as he's been wearing a cross around his neck that Mom gave him a few months ago. I want him to know the mercy of Jesus and be able to stand in the light / joy there is when we talk about Him to others. It is a blessing what he's done for us!

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[ posted by Cindy, 08/15/2023 07:32 AM ]

Yes, Mike another good story of the faith people had in Jesus as they are hearing more and more about Him all around the area.  I want to think the "they" would probably been his closest friends or family.  
Perhaps the hand gestures Jesus used were for the man to 'understand' what Jesus was going to do. 
Touch his ears, his eyes... I notice the looked up to heaven and  "he sighed" part. Jesus felt compassion for this man.   We were originally created by God to be perfect. Whole. Never get sick or die.  And yes, because of Adam and Eve, sin created all this in us that Jesus feels and sees.   People believed sin was a reason people had these kinds of problems/deformities/disabilities back in those days.
Is that why Jesus has said after a healing to "go and sin no more" ?
The word 'ephphatha' He used is just a word. Yet, again we see Jesus' authority over using just a word.
"Open" And its is done. The man doesn't stutter or fumble with words,  just made whole to speak and hear clearly as if he had never had a problem.
Jesus took the man away from the crowd of people, do you think sometimes Jesus just wants to make it personal?   He gives you His full attention. 
When God works with our hearts, sometimes He needs to separate us ( from the noise and distractions of the world) to make it one on one.
We are all born spiritually deaf and speechless.
There is a point in life where are eyes and ears are opened to the path and purpose of Gods Kingdom. 
In Psalm 40 David praises God saying "You have opened my eyes."  It is a good little section to read.
Like David, God wants to hear us, He wants our hearts to be open. We need to be open to hear and receive the truth  He wants.  And we will be full of thankfulness and praise.
I always think about these people who stood in front of Jesus.  Even tho they were asked not to go tell about their healing, many do.  What did they say? How did they explain this Jesus man?  How did it affect the rest of their life? 
If that wasn't a reason to spread the greatness of Jesus, (like Mike said), then what is?  Even in our own lives.  When we accept Jesus, we should be transformed.  We show how good our God Is when we let others know what He has done for us. We don't need fancy talk, just speak plainly about God, show love and kindness like Jesus. Perhaps we can also lead someone who is 'spiritually' deaf to Jesus.  

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[ posted by Mike, 08/20/2023 10:28 AM ]

Cindy, I like how you said "Jesus took the man away from the crowd of people, do you think sometimes Jesus just wants to make it personal?   He gives you His full attention. I did not pick up on that. I needed to hear that

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