I Can’t Hear You!
Opening Prayer
As you pray in preparation for reading today’s passage, ask the Lord to show you something new about himself.
Read Mark 7:31-37
[31] Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. [32] 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. [33] 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. [34] He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). [35] At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. [36] Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. [37] People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
How did the people react to this miraculous healing?Jesus frequently used the expression, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (e.g. 4:23). Here we see a physical case of someone who had ears but could not hear until Jesus touched him. Spiritually speaking, though, there were many in the crowd that day who had ears and did not hear. There were many who had heard stories about Jesus, but had not believed. There were others who had believed, but still had not grasped who Jesus actually was. They saw and heard what Jesus was doing, but they did not comprehend it.
The crowd’s reaction (37) suggests that they, too, may have had their ears opened by this particular healing. There were well-known prophecies which declared that the coming Messiah would open the ears of the deaf (Isa. 35:5) and here was Jesus doing exactly that! You can almost hear the whisper rippling through the crowd, “Could this be the One?”
Are there truths about Jesus to which we are still deaf? Maybe our past experiences or traditions make us avoid seeing the fullness of who he is.
Apply
Ask God to show you any ways that your spiritual “ears” may be plugged when it comes to truths about Jesus.
Closing prayer
Open my mind, Lord, to know who You really are. Open my eyes, Lord, to see how truly great You are.
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