Mark 7:31-37 — Ephphatha...Be Opened

Mark 7:31-37

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 He 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)

Jesus continued his trek through Gentile territory, going north along the coast through Tyre and Sidon and then circling east and south through Decapolis before looping back west to the Sea of Galilee.

The last time Jesus had been here was when he had delivered the Gadarene demoniac and sent the demons into a herd of pigs. The people had been so afraid of Jesus that they asked him to leave. This time they brought a man who was deaf and couldn’t speak to Jesus and instead of begging Jesus to leave they begged him to heal the man.

Map:  Baker Bible Atlas.

As far as we can tell from the Gospel accounts, Jesus healed everyone that was ever brought to him. This man was no exception, though the way Jesus healed him is unusual. We can see in Jesus' actions an echo of the creation story in Genesis. He spoke “Be opened!” and it happened. The people of Decapolis, formerly closed-minded to Jesus’ ministry are now open to it, probably due to the testimony of the formerly demonized man who he had sent back to his family “to tell them the good things that God has done.” In this case, as usual, though Jesus wanted no publicity he got it anyway. He was concerned for the afflicted man and was not objectifying or using him to advance his cause. If anything it is Jesus who was often objectified by the crowd.

Some time ago, I heard a story of a small church in Nigeria that began to experience healings and about a thousand people came and wouldn’t leave. They began camping out around the church with services every day. This healing turned into something similar as we will see in the next post.

On a final note, I love how this passage ends in v.37,

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.”

I only hope that our eyes and ears and hearts are opened to see that Jesus does all things well! And may our tongues be loosed to speak his praise!