Mark 7:31-37 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."
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 This deaf, mute man had it pretty good. Sure, Jesus healed his dead ears and his lifeless tongue, but even before that, he had it pretty good. Sure, he had friends who cared enough about him to name his problem correctly: he was deaf and mute. They didn’t ignore the problem or try to define it more politically correctly: he’s just hearing impaired and in need of speech therapy. Yes, his friends cared enough for him to identify his problem and bring him to the only place where his problem could get fixed: to Jesus. But even before that, he had it pretty good. When his ears didn’t work and his tongue was bound, he had it pretty good. Better than you have it, at least.
2 Sure, your ears work, but not like they were meant to work. Instead of being filled with the Word of God, you let them be filled with dirty jokes, with gossip and rumors, with damnable uses of your Lord’s holy name. Your ears work, but you use them for listening for praise and adoration from friends and coworkers, for listening to obscene music and movies, and for listening to false prophets who will redefine your sins into more politically-correct, socially-acceptable “differences.”
3 And sure your tongue works, but not like it was meant to work. Instead of being used to praise and pray to your Lord, instead of being used to encourage, defend, and speak well of your neighbors, you use your tongue for wickedness. You use your tongue to lash out angrily at your friends or—worse—your spouse. You use your tongue to sing your own praises. You use your tongue to talk back to your parents or to slander your co-workers. You use your tongue to speak the gossip, crude jokes, and hatred that the sinful ears of others delight to hear.
4 So repent. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, and if your hand causes you to sin, chop it off. So if your tongue causes you to sin, cut it out, and if your ears cause you to sin, pierce your eardrums. It is better to go through life deaf and mute than to go to hell with wicked words and itching ears. Repent, and come like the deaf, mute man to the Lord who heals. What good are working ears if you fill them with vice? And what good is a working tongue if it pours forth malice?
5 The Lord Jesus came healing deafness and freeing silent tongues. See—deafness, muteness, blindness, sickness, sadness, frailty, pain, sadness—these are all signs of a bigger problem: death. And the death is a result of the root problem: sin. The miraculous healing Jesus performed for this man in the region of the Decapolis pointed to the greater miracle which He came to perform. He healed the man’s deafness and his muteness, but the fellow still died. Even though he was unable to hear or to speak before Jesus stuck his fingers in his ears and spat and touched his tongue, this man was no less sinful than you.
6 So the Lord who opened the deaf man’s ears and released his tongue took the curse of this man’s sinfulness. He who knew no sin, the sinless Son of God became sin for you. And upon the cross, He bore the ultimate consequence of sin: separation from God. As He cried out in dereliction, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” His ears were deaf to the Word of His Heavenly Father and His tongue was unable to call upon Him. He was completely deaf and mute, worse than the deaf man, worse than you. And so, cut off from God the Father, God the Son died in your place, in the place of the deaf man, in the place of the crowds astonished beyond measure.
7 He who died is He who rose. And He didn’t rise spiritually, no, He rose with His body. He died to redeem you—to buy you back from death—body and soul together. He healed the physical sickness of the deaf man and the deeper spiritual cause: his sin. So He desires to heal you—both body and soul. Your ears that are naturally deaf to His Word He opened. Not in some ethereal, other-worldly way. Remember, He stuck His fingers into the deaf man’s ears and commanded them to be opened. And He spat and touched the mute man’s tongue. Crude, invasive, almost offensive, Jesus healed this man through a very physical confrontation.
8 He has opened your ears through the preaching of His holy Word. He sticks His Holy Absolution into your deaf, dull ears, and opens them to the Good News of His forgiveness. He placed the water of Holy Baptism on your forehead and spoke His Holy name upon you, declaring you to be His own, joining you into His death and resurrection, and giving you the forgiveness of sins.
9 And He presses His Body against your tongue and pours His Blood down your throat. It seems crude, invasive, almost offensive, that the God of all, the Creator of the universe, the eternal Lord would give you forgiveness and eternal life through such a physical confrontation. But through these very physical means, the Lord delivers His gifts that heal you body and soul.
10 So your ears, otherwise deaf to the Lord’s Word, now delight to hear His Word, delight to hear Him call you His own, delight to hear Him declare your sins forgiven. And your tongue, once mute to call Jesus Lord, now delights to declare with all the Lord’s beloved that He is Lord. Your tongue, once bound with selfishness, is now released to praise the Lord who never ceases to give you His life. And once mute with fear, your tongue is now free to declare to those you encounter the love of Him who has given you the privilege to hear His word and to sing His praises.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Jeff Hemmer
Hope, Jerseyville