Spiritually Deaf?
Opening Prayer
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise [Your] holy name” (Psa. 103:1).
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 Jesus to place his hand on him.
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.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
It takes concentration and discernment to hear God speak above the cacophony of other voices around us all the time.
Think Further
Although Jesus’ earthly mission was largely confined to Israel, even in Gentile territory his reputation as a healer precedes him; it does not stop at a geographical boundary. Here Jesus takes the deaf and mute man to one side and acts. We are used to Jesus touching the sick and speaking as he heals, but what about spitting? In the ancient world, spit was understood to have a therapeutic
function, which Jesus now chooses to use. Nevertheless, the healing comes about because of Jesus’ authoritative word, which again, for his probably Gentile readers, Mark translates. Jesus speaks the word—and the healing is immediate.
Through the prophet, God promised a day when “the ears of the deaf [would be] unstopped… and the mute tongue [would] shout for joy” (Isa. 35:5,6). In the account of this miracle, Mark uses a deliberate allusion to Isaiah’s prophecy to make clear the significance of Jesus. Jesus is the one promised by the prophets, who will bring the new day of salvation. The story also functions, within Mark’s Gospel, as an example of the disciples’ deafness when it comes to hearing Jesus (compare the healing of the blind man in Mark 8:22–25). Despite spending time with Jesus and despite the fact that they receive not only his public teaching but also private teaching (Mark 4:10–20; 7:17–23), they are spiritually deaf to what God is doing in Christ (Mark 8:18). They need Jesus to open their spiritual ears so that they can understand truly who Jesus is.
Of course, after the resurrection of Jesus, this understanding comes. The challenge comes to us: having spent time with Jesus, are there occasions when we are spiritually deaf? We need to pray that our ears will be open to hear from God—but that might require the transforming power of Jesus to open our ears, just as he did for the disciples.
Apply
How do you “hear” God’s voice?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, please touch my ears today, that I may always have open ears to hear what you are saying to me.
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