These are the Sermon Notes for May 31, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.
Mark 7:31-37 A Blip on the Radar
We are returning this morning to our study in the Gospel of Mark with chapter seven, verses 31-37. This account is only recorded in the Gospel of Mark, the other Gospel writers opted to leave it out.
Let’s pray and then look at it together.
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
You’ll remember from last week that Jesus and His disciples were in the region of Tyre and Sidon which were Gentile territories on the Northwestern border of Galilee. Now, in verse 31, we read that Jesus returned to the region of the Decapolis. This was on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus had cast out the legion of demons from the guy chained up and living among the tombs.
This was not a quick trip, this was a long walk! Some scholars believe that verse 31 took eight months!
At first glance this account of the healing of a man who was deaf and had a severe speech impediment as a result is kind of innocuous, kind of just a blip on the radar and then we move on.
I admit, when I sat down to study in preparation for today, I thought to myself, “What could be here worth preaching on? What’s in here that could possibly be of use?”
But the Lord impressed this on me: “Think this account is no big deal? Imagine you were the deaf man!”
In truth, I have to imagine what it would be like to be deaf, it’s beyond my understanding what it’s like to live in that condition. I can, however, relate to the speech impediment part! But there is actually a lot more going on here besides any emotional response to this man’s sad condition. There’s a lot of layers to this onion!
If you recall from Easter Sunday we talked about how the Bible is not just a collection of random stories about God and Jesus and a bunch of other people, it is all on story, all one meta-narrative, the narrative of God’s reign and work of redemption in His creation. And this account here is part of that grand narrative.
Isaiah 35:4-6 recorded hundreds of years before this man was brought to Jesus:
Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
This brief but important account is the partial fulfillment of that prophecy, Isaiah was writing about Jesus unstopping the ears of the deaf and causing the tongue of the mute to sing for joy!
So the top layer of the onion, the meta-narrative layer, is a proof of Jesus as the promised Messiah that would eventually bring about the redemption of God’s creation.
So if we peel back that layer we can see how the gospel works, really we see an example of the Holy Spirit’s work in the gospel.
Look at verse 32, 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
And THEY brought to HIM a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they BEGGED Him to lay His hands on him.
So who all is involved here?
Jesus, the deaf man, and the nameless “they” who begged Jesus to help their friend.
This is the prominent way that the Holy Spirit affects the gospel in the world. The work of the gospel is brought on by people with a passion for their needy friends. We can share that same passion, we can bring our needy friends and family and coworkers and neighbors to Jesus, maybe not physically but certainly in prayer. We can display the love of Christ in how we love them, we can introduce them to Him by telling them who Jesus is and what He did for them, we can invite them to join us each week as we gather around God’s Word for study and worship. Even just sharing this video is a small step we can take to get our friends to Jesus.
The work of the gospel is brought on by people with a passion for their needy friends.
And how does Jesus respond to their impassioned request to help their friend?
First, Jesus takes him aside privately. He doesn’t make a spectacle of Himself or the man, Jesus wasn’t seeking glory for Himself by meeting his great need.
Matthew Henry wrote, “Let us learn of Christ to be humble, and to do good where no eye sees but His.”
33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Now we come to the place where we cannot ignore the question, “What’s with the fingers in the ears and the spitting and tongue touching? There must be some hidden meaning there, right?”
To this I can only respond by quoting John Calvin:
“By touching his tongue with spittle, [Jesus] intended to point out that the faculty of speech was communicated by Himself alone; and by putting His fingers into the ears, He showed that it belonged to His office to pierce the ears of the deaf. There is no necessity for having recourse to allegories; and we find that those who have amused themselves with ingenious discussions on the subject are so far from bringing forward anything of real value that they tend rather to hold up the Scripture to ridicule. Readers of sobriety and judgment will be satisfied with this single instruction: that we obtain from Christ, in answer to our prayers both speech and hearing; for He pours His energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with His fingers.”
Instead of some secret meaning behind Jesus’ actions we can clearly see that Jesus was simply communicating with this man in a way that he could understand.
Put yourself in this man’s shoes. You couldn’t hear Jesus’ instructions, but you could certainly see His intentions.
33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
This man could see what Jesus was doing, he could feel it, he could observe Jesus’ deep sigh of compassion with His face toward heaven. He could even read His lips when He said the word, “ephphatha!”
“Ephphatha,” [an Aramaic word that means], “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
These passionate friends could not help but tell people what Jesus had done for their friend no matter how adamant Jesus was that they keep it to themselves.
Jesus charged them to tell no one so that He could still move about the countryside freely without throngs of people seeking miracles and signs and wonders, but they zealously proclaimed what He had done all the more.
There is a lot we can learn from this account.
First and foremost is that Jesus is the promised Messiah, he is the One who was to come into the world and make peace between God and Man, the only source of salvation, the only way to God the Father.
We can learn that we should passionately and persistently bring our needy friends to Jesus, earnestly pleading with Him in prayer to save them and help them.
We can learn to do our work humbly, to do good where no eye sees but God’s. And to communicate the gospel in language that people can see and understand.
I’ll close with the words of Isaiah 35…
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf [EPHPHATHA] unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Amen.