Listen! Speak Up! - Mark 7:24-37

 

Mark 7:24-37 NIV

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

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.”

Listen! Speak Up!

In this passage of Scripture, we find evidence that Jesus mission is for ALL the lost and neglected, no matter what race or religion. Jesus travels outside of Jewish territory and is in Gentile land with the Gentiles. According to Jewish thinking this land is “unclean” territory. And it is in this land that Jesus comes in contact with a Gentile woman with a lively, passionate faith and belief in what healing powers that Jesus has.

You see, Jesus has always been a living personality and force, even to this day. Nothing can permanently hide Jesus from our eyes, ears or minds.

Yes, this Jesus was destined, yet forbidden, to die by men’s powers. Yes, Jesus was condemned by mankind, but to die? Well yes… yet No. At least not a death that would last. Jesus rose from the dead to live into eternity.

So, in this unclean land of the Gentiles, Jesus meets a woman. A lively passionate faithful woman. Yes, a Gentile, and yes unclean by Jewish standards, and yet yes even more a woman who places her faith in Jesus. And even at what some may think of as a rebuke from Jesus, this woman is persistent in her faith. For this woman, who some think may be named Justa, her daughter, likewise thought to be named Bernice is possessed by a demon. And Justa begs Jesus to drive the demon from Bernice. This is life or death stuff, and Justa has faith in Jesus.

And now we see faith once again present with the miracles of Jesus. God wants to save as many of his people as possible.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians this loving desire of God to save is driven home.

Ephesians 2:11-18 NIV

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

And Justa, the Gentile woman, exclaims to Jesus, “Sir,” or as recorded in this passage Lord. This is the same word we use in the church as Kyrie. Some of you may recognize Kyrie Eliason… Lord have mercy! Just in this proclamation of this Gentile woman, we witness faith. And remember from a few past sessions of “Pointing to Jesus,” we discovered how faith is present with miracles. And in this miracle of Jesus, the woman’s daughter is even healed from a distance. The daughter isn’t even present in the same location. And the woman returns home and her daughter is rid of the demon.

This miracle account of Jesus is followed up by another miracle.

After Jesus travels a bit, a deaf man with a speech impediment is brought to Jesus for healing. Here, in this place, Jesus wanted to avoid publicity, because earlier, in this region, the people tried to make Him king. But this wasn’t the type of kingship Jesus came into this world to become. No, Jesus would be our King, but not just, a worldly king alone.

Witness this passage of Scripture from the Old Testament, years before Jesus walked this earth and met this man.

Isaiah 35:5-6 NIV

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.

This is a promise into the future, as now we see Jesus, and this miracle of healing and faith.

And in this miracle of Jesus, we witness contact.

The saliva of Jesus is used here. Saliva was thought to have a healing power. But it is also the saliva of Jesus the causes the man to co-operate in faith with what Jesus is doing. Jesus looks to heaven and groans. Perhaps this groan from Jesus was showing His deep emotion and compassion for this deaf man with a speech impediment.

And with this sigh, Jesus uses a funny word for us today, Ephphatha. This word means to be opened.

Now think about it. If our ears are opened to the Word of God, or even to Jesus, the Word made flesh; how can we help but to loosen our tongues in praise and testimony?

This is exactly what happens to the man with Jesus, He can now hear and he will now proclaim Jesus.  Yes, this man, now has his own Jesus encounter testimony that he wants to tell to all the world.

Once again, in just a few verses, Jesus in Gentile territory, heals in a miraculous way, the deaf and mute man.

Now, to make this all a little personal. Have my ears, or your ears, or the ears of this world been opened to Jesus lifegiving, forgiveness and salvation?

Have we, as disciples of Jesus a new speech? Do we witness to a new spiritual life in Jesus? I’ll come back to these questions in a moment.

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus combined Himself, His own Faith, in His doing the will of God, with His earthly spittle along with His command to be opened to bring healing for this one man.

What more has God done for all of us and God combines an earthly element, like spittle with a command. Perhaps like with water and God’s command, or even bread and wine with God’s command. Does this sound familiar to the disciples of this world?

You see, as we learn from Luther, Baptism is not merely water. No, it is water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s Word. What Word is this? It is the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in,

Matthew 28:19 NIV

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

And what gifts and benefits does Baptism bring? It brings forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe, as the Word and promise of God declare.

Mark 16:16 NIV

 

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

 

You see, it’s not the water, or the spittle, or the bread or the wine, that does these great things, rather it is the Word of God connected with the earthly element and our faith that relies on the Word. For without the Word of God, we only have spittle, water, bread or wine.

 

It’s sort of the same with Communion. We take the bread and the wine, the earthly elements, and along with the Words of Jesus we receive not only bread and wine but the body and blood of Jesus, in with and under the bread and the wine.  Where do we find this command?

 

Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul, all say…

In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying:

“Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

So, there you have it. A couple more examples of God’s command and earthly elements, combined with faith and given as healing gifts to not only one man, or one daughter, but to all the world.

 

In the account of the deaf man, Jesus tells the people to hush it up. But how can they help themselves but to go out into their own worlds and shout out about what they have just witnessed.

 

Today, do disciples have an impediment to speech?

 

Sometimes I wonder. As I see on social media sites, so many people that only want you to copy, paste and post stuff with an “Amen” attached; I have to really wonder if this attention is to focus on the disciple or to Point to Jesus.

 

Stop all that stuff! Say it in your own words! Don’t go about professing Jesus with memes! Come on!

 

It seems to me when disciples do this, they are being cautious, perhaps prudent and or even worse, just plain cowardly.

 

Speak of Christ in your life yourself, with your own words, in your own situations. Speak and testify to all your neighbors and friends what healing Jesus has brought to you. Use your own mouth, your own ears and your own tongue, and your own fingers on the keys, BOLDLY! Go beyond copy, paste and Amen. I mean really? Do you really want to Point to Jesus, or are you trying to look good to your neighbor?

 

God wants our voice speaking, our fingers typing, so that His Word will spread to all those God gives to you each and every day… today… tomorrow… and forever.

 

Point to Jesus, yourself!

 

Lord, correct my faults when I chicken out. As I place my trust in you for everything, created in me the faith that will produce the works of love for all my neighbors, that they may see you and your healing power of salvation for all the world.

 

I invite you to enjoy this YouTube Music Video that accompanies this reflection…

Speak O Lord