Crumbs 108

 

Crumbs 108

Crumbs

Scripture Mark 7:31-37 NIV Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a] 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.”

1. Crumbs Deafness isolates. Information is missed and nuance is unperceived. In extreme cases it can lead to difficulties with speech. I was told as a boy if I grazed myself to put spit on it. It is tempting to think that the Lord is using traditional remedies. The observers of this miracle did not see it that way. They recognised the healing as miraculous. They confessed that Jesus not only did good things but did them well.

Look at the way Jesus did this miracle. He looked to heaven. Christ’s miracles were a link with Heaven and the earthly, the physical and the spiritual. At earth’s creation and on other occasions it was the Word of God that delivered. Here the Lord speaks the word and wrong is put right and wholeness replaces brokenness. There is also the sigh. Our Lord seems to have a heightened empathy for human suffering. There was no charity fatigue with Him. He grasped the enormity of the least damage to the ideal divine order on earth.

Throughout His ministry Jesus tried to avoid attention arising from the astonishing and joyful nature of his restorative acts. He was a deeply humble man. He tried to prevent folk shouting about His achievements but did not use His divine authority to suppress them. Such is our Saviour.

Questions

1. What kind of a man emerges from this passage ?

2. In this passage what kind of a man is our Lord shown to be?.

3. What patterns for Christian service are exemplified in this text ?