Deaf and speechless no more!

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" (Mark 7:31-37).

Imagine yourself living long ago in a rural area. There are towns scattered here and there, but none of them are very large and most people live out in the country farming or raising animals. There is no electricity—no television, no telephones, no computers or Internet. There are no cars—you get where you want to go by walking, riding in a wagon or on a boat, so most people never travel more than a few miles from home their entire lives. There are no hospitals. Medicine is cooked from local plants over a fire. There are very few books, because the only way books can be made is by writing out each copy by hand—a tedious, time-consuming job. Since books are rare and expensive, most of the people who learn to read are those who work for the government, the church, or who run a large business in foreign trade. People learn by listening to a teacher and memorizing what he says.

Such a world was a tough place to live for a person who could not hear or speak. Most people never learned to read or write, so the deaf person could not communicate with others by exchange of written notes. There were no electronic aids to boost hearing and sign language had not been invented. A person dared not travel, because as hard as it was to communicate with people who knew you, it would be impossible to interact meaningfully with a stranger.

Think of living life in this way. You cannot hear the sound of birds singing, of water tapping on the roof or gurgling in a stream. You cannot hear the laughter of a child or words of love from your spouse. If you are sick, you have no way of explaining what feels wrong. Since education comes through listening, you cannot keep up on the news nor can you learn anything new except what you can pick up by watching others at your place of employment. You cannot work in any business that requires verbal communication between employees.

Such was the life of the deaf and mute man in today’s Gospel lesson. We are told that some people brought this man to Jesus—evidently he could not read or write, because he needed others to present his needs to the Lord. Likely he had no idea who Jesus was, what Jesus taught, or why he was being introduced to this stranger. He was probably filled with a mixture of excitement and fear—excitement over being the center of attention, fear of being among so many who he could not communicate with.

Our Lord shows His compassion immediately. Jesus pulls this agitated man away from the crowd to calm him and focus his attention on Jesus alone. Then our Lord communicates to the man what is about to happen. First He places his fingers within the man’s ears, as if to remove an obstruction. Then Jesus wets the man’s tongue with spit, as if to lubricate it. Finally our Lord looks up towards heaven, to indicate that it is God who will provide the miracle. Jesus has communicated reassurance and promise to this deaf, unspeaking man.

Then, the miracle. Jesus says one word: "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). And just as God said, "Let there be light," and there was light (Genesis 1:3), just as Jesus told the storm "Quiet! Be still!" and the wind died down and it was completely calm (Mark 4:39), by the power of His spoken word, our Lord worked a miracle: the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Can you imagine the joy that this man felt, suddenly being able to hear and to speak clearly? Can you imagine the excitement of the crowd, seeing this remarkable act of restoration? Scripture tells us that the people were overwhelmed with amazement—even those who had brought this man to Jesus were amazed at the quickness and completeness of the relief from his disabilities. It is only natural that those present should be moved to say, He has done everything well.

But the most wonderful part of this miracle is its’ spiritual aspect. Why did Jesus give this man hearing and speech? Out of loving compassion, of course—but of even greater importance is this: until Jesus opened his ears, this man could not hear about his need for salvation. He could not be told that he had been a sinner from birth. He could not be told that sin prevented him from being healthy, either physically or spiritually. Without his sense of hearing, this man could not be taught that his deafness and garbled speech were evidence of the imperfection of sin that infests every human being, imperfection that alienates us from our perfect God and our fellow man.

Even more tragically, without being able to hear this man had been unable to hear about Jesus. He knew nothing about God’s great love for imperfect people, a love that sent His holy, eternal Son to take on a dirty, painful human life so that our Lord could come to us and touch us with warm, gentle hands. This man was ignorant of the sacrifice that Jesus made by leaving heaven so that He could walk among us, forgive us, heal us and teach us. He had no way of hearing Jesus say that He was soon going to enter the great city of Jerusalem, where He would be betrayed into the hands of sinners, executed as a criminal, and on the third day return from death to unending life. Jesus was doing all this for that deaf man, and for every human being ever given life by the heavenly Father, because by doing this Jesus would satisfy His Father’s anger at our imperfections and be empowered to offer us forgiveness. It was vital that everyone know this important message—including this deaf man. And so Jesus gave him the greatest gift he could ever receive—our Lord enabled him to hear the promises of God that forgive sin and offer unending perfect life with God in heaven.

But Jesus did not stop there. Our Lord also gave this man the ability to speak clearly. And this is nearly as important a miracle as was the gift of hearing. Paul tells us in Romans chapter ten, if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Over and over again, Scripture tells us how important it is for each of us to speak about Jesus and His promises to everyone; it is through us that God reaches out to those who are lost in the despair of their imperfections. Paul wrote, We are…Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus said, Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33). Since God has chosen us to be the means through which people are brought into contact with Jesus, we dare not keep our mouths closed about Him; this is why Jesus gave the mute man the ability to speak. Jesus empowered him to speak so that he could tell everyone about the wonderful God who had given him a whole new life, a life that was now worth living.

In a sense, you and I have been deaf and mute as well. You’ve done it: Mom or Dad wanted to sit you down and talk about something important, but your mind went a million miles away and you didn’t hear a thing that they were saying. You started listening to a sermon, but soon your thoughts drifted to the ballgame or the meal or the chores to be done, and after church you realized that you didn’t know what the sermon was about. When we are asked to listen to important things, we very often become deaf.

It’s the same with talking. I’ll bet that you know people who have an amazing number of sports statistics memorized, but can’t remember any Bible verses from confirmation. How much of your daily conversation is devoted to sports, gossip or jokes, and how much of what you say is about Jesus? Most of the time, we would rather chit-chat about trivial things than about the things that are truly important in every person’s life.

Jesus wants to correct these problems. Jesus wants to take us aside where we can focus on Him without distractions, whether in church or in Bible study or in devotional time, so that He can speak His words to us and by their power open our ears and loosen our tongues. Just as Jesus had the power to make a deaf man able to hear, so does our Savior have the power to get our attention and teach us about the important things, things that we need to know to be assured of God’s eternal companionship and support. Just as Jesus had the power to make a mute man able to speak, so does our Savior have the power to give us the courage and wisdom to speak about Him to people who are confused and depressed because of their imperfect lives and desperately need someone to bring them a ray of hope.

Jesus is a miracle worker who does everything well. But the hardest miracle was not healing a man so that he could hear and speak; no, the hardest miracle was enduring God’s righteous anger at our sins so that we could be forgiven. Compared to that great feat of love, everything else is easy for our Lord—even getting each of us to listen to Him and to spread the Good News of His promises.