Jesus Heals a Deaf Man – By Ritchie Way

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Jun 12, 2015 3967

‘Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon to Lake Galilee, to the area of the Ten Towns. While he was there, some people brought a man to him who was deaf and could not talk plainly. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him. Jesus led the man away from the crowd, by himself. He put his fingers in the man’s ears and then spit and touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to the man, “Ephphatha.'” (This means, ‘Be opened’.) Instantly the man was able to hear and to use his tongue so that he spoke clearly.’

Jesus commanded the people not to tell anyone about what happened. But the more he commanded them, the more they told about it. They were completely amazed and said, “Jesus does everything well. He makes the deaf hear! And those who can’t talk he makes able to speak.’ (Mark 7:31-37 NCV).

Jesus travelled by a roundabout route, through Phoenician territory, to the ten Greek cities on the eastern shore of Lake Galilee. While there some people brought him a deaf-mute. Because this man could not hear how words were pronounced he had not been able to learn to speak properly. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him.

It’s one thing to ask the Lord for help; it’s quite another to tell him how to do it. How often we fall into the trap of telling the Lord what to do. Several years ago, after completing my assignment in another country, I packed my bags to catch a flight back to New Zealand. Before leaving the home that my absent friends had graciously let me use, I washed my linen and hung it on the line to dry, but rain set in. I couldn’t leave wet linen so begged the Lord to stop the rain. But it rained even harder. The more I prayed the more it rained. Just then a neighbour dropped in and offered me the use of their industrial clothes drier. The Lord answered my prayer his way.

Jesus took the deaf-mute aside from the others, put his fingers in the man’s ears to signify the removal of the blockage, then he spat and touched the man’s tongue. Because in those days spit was regarded as having miraculous power, the deaf-mute understood the significance of what Jesus was doing even though he couldn’t hear a word.

Isaiah 35:5-6 said of the Messiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” The Messiah was at work in Galilee.

– Ritchie Way