The livestream for today’s service has no sound; here is Pastor Gullixson’s sermon on Mark 7:31-37.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
People loved by God,
In our text for meditation today, we hear of Jesus healing a deaf-mute. In this account, we see the love of our Savior whose mercy got the best of Him, as He hears and receives the pleas for mercy from the neighbors who loved a man in need. Which really fits well with your congregation’s Core Focus: Know Christ and Make Christ Known.
We read selected verses from the Gospel, …as follows in Jesus’ name:
Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And [Jesus] took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”(NKJV)
This is Your Word, heavenly Father; sanctify us in the truth, Your Word is Truth. Amen. (John 17:17)
Jesus has done all things well. … What a remarkable miracle Jesus had just performed. Not only was this deaf-mute man able to hear and his tongue loosed, but Jesus even gave the man the ability to speak coherent thoughts and sentences, so that he knew the vocabulary, the grammar, and had the ability to make the right sounds, all without any kind of therapy or help.
No wonder the crowd was so astonished beyond measure. No wonder the witnesses wanted to spread the word about this Jesus, this miracle worker. Seeing something this wonderful, they reasoned (if they reasoned at all), couldn’t be kept secret.
And yet, Jesus commanded them (unsuccessfully) to tell no one. This seems so counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Didn’t Jesus want people to know Him? Didn’t He desire that all people would come to the knowledge of the truth about Him? Yes, of course, He did – but what they did was not helping people get to the truth about Him. What did they tell the crowd, or their neighbors, or their family members? “Look at this miracle worker … He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
So their testimony about Jesus, though true, was woefully insufficient and misdirected. It focused on the hype of this outward act, while disregarding His real mission.
It had only been a little while ago that Jesus had left Galilee to head up to the region of Tyre and Sidon in order to get away from the crowds chasing Him because they they just wanted Him to do miracles. They admired the sensation that was Jesus, while minimizing the Savior that Jesus is.
Jesus’ command not to tell anyone was so that people would not just seek out the miracle worker, but would have the opportunity to hear His message. The miracles were a demonstration that He spoke with the authority and power of God, as well as displaying His divine compassion and mercy upon those suffering from sin’s corruption.
But, as I mentioned earlier, though Jesus desired to keep the people focused on His preaching, His mercy got the best of Him and when presented with this man, by the pleas of his neighbors,
Jesus took the man aside and gave him a private audience, away from the crowd. And Jesus went on to do these very unique and “touching” signs: putting His fingers in the man’s ears, spitting and touching the man’s bound tongue, then looking up to heaven (signing to the deaf man from whence came his help), and speaking the word, “Ephphatha.”
Here we have what you could call a “sacramental” miracle. Not sacramental as in “the man was baptized or given the Lord’s Supper and received healing,” but that Jesus physically took a hold of things in His creation, and by the power of His Word,
brought healing. As He spoke “Ephphatha,” creation had to bend to His will and word, and was opened.
What was stopped and bound by sin’s corruption was cleared and freed by the Word of God, and the physical, outward corruption of sin was not only reversed but the man was given the immediate ability to hear Jesus and His apostles preach, and not just know the direction from which his help had come (that is, from heaven), but know specifically who the God of heaven was (namely the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Now he was able to hear about the salvation that Jesus would accomplish for him — and for the whole world — and to believe in the atonement that Jesus would make for his sin.
But as is often the case with us, for their astonishment, the man and his friends did not listen to Jesus. They were so amazed that they disregarded Jesus’ command and told everyone. Instead of listening and receiving more of a blessing, they wanted instead to speak. His purpose in pulling the man aside and then telling him not to tell anyone was so that people would be focused on the healing coming from His lips, in the preaching and teaching of the Gospel (something that could not be seen with eyes), rather than the sensationalism of focusing only on the physical healing
Today, we do not regularly hear or see such supernatural and instantaneous healings of the body. Is this because Jesus is no longer able to perform these miracles? Certainly not!
Jesus still has the power and authority to heal. He CAN do it where and when He pleases, just as He did 2,000 years ago. Perhaps you have even heard of people who have miraculously and inexplicably recovered from an illness or injury after the prayers of God’s people pleaded on the person’s behalf.
It may not be as flashy, and it may not be as frequent or regular as we would like it to be, but it could be just as Jesus did to this man, taking him aside for his own personal miracle so as to avoid our superficial sensationalism and focusing on the miracle, rather than focusing on the One who gave the healing.
Or is it that Jesus is no longer as merciful or loving as He was when He walked this earth? Certainly not!
The Lord who has given up His life in suffering and death for the sins of the world, has not changed His mind about His love for us.
But just as a father might show love to his child in different ways,
sometimes giving a gift immediately, and other times allowing the child to grow through hardship, so the Lord also sometimes relieves one’s suffering quickly, while at other times exercising your faith that it may grow stronger through the suffering,
even as He did for St. Paul suffering with the thorn in his flesh, as Jesus Himself pointed out, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
So then, people loved by God, knowing that the Lord can heal when and where He pleases, knowing that He can reverse the corruption of sin, let us focus our attention not on our own desire for miracles, but instead on what the Lord desires us to see and hear … what He clearly says to us and does for us.
Let us also look with astonishment beyond measure upon the true healing that Jesus gives you in the real sacramental miracles
where He heals you and gives you new life in Holy Baptism each day, and where He takes you aside personally and touches your tongue with His body and blood at His altar to forgive you from all your sin and strengthen you for the days ahead.
And let us hear Him speak to us His words of forgiveness, proclaimed by the pastor or confessor, and believe that these words are just as powerful, just as effective, as His speaking the word, “Ephphatha,” for when you hear these words of God – I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – know for certain that what was corrupted by sin, is restored and made whole. That He has opened your ears to hear His Word and to believe it for your salvation.
And not only does He open your ears, but He looses your tongue … and gives you the words to speak to your neighbors. Now Jesus does not prohibit you from telling it to anyone. Now you are free to confess Him and to share your own astonishment of His grace. Now we are able “to know Christ and make Christ known.”
And note that just as Jesus’ love and mercy got the better of Him through the intercessions of others, so He chooses to show His mercy today not only to you but also through you. And so we pray (as in the Prayer of the Church) for our neighbors, for our loved ones as well as those who hate us … for those in need and distress, as well as those in power and authority … for those who believe and are baptized, as well as those who do not know Christ yet …
May our prayers and intercessions be fervent, and our hearts be filled with love and mercy, ready to share it liberally with others just as Christ bestows it liberally upon us, and always be ready to confess the truth, that Jesus has done all things well, for us and for our salvation.”
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria