LOCATION
Jesus travelled 20 miles North from Tyre and passed through Sidon, which was deep into Gentiles territory. From there he went to East, crossed the Jordan and travelled South along the eastern shore of the sea of Galilee. Decapolis is a league of ten Greek – influenced (Hellenized) cities in the East of Jordan River.
SIGNS OF HEALING
* Jesus put His finger in his ears is His own form of sign language to tell him that he was about to heal the man’s deafness.
∗ When we put our finger in the ear, we hear the sound of our touch.
∗ That might be the sign that Jesus used. (It is not given in the text, but it is an assumption. You too can try.)
* Jesus spat and touched his tongue – it’s also a form of sign language in which He offered the man hope for the restoration of speech.
* Why does Jesus spit? Our text doesn’t say the reason, exactly.
* There was an old tradition that spittle could convey healing.
* But it also could mean that whatever was binding the man’s tongue was now about to be loosed, since the spit emanates from the mouth.
* Both are awkward situations for the humans to put our fingers into the ears and to spit and touch the strangers.
* But Jesus did it to a Gentile. His love for us has “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8 : 39)
* Jesus’ love is divine love which looks at the affluent and the indignant, the old and the young, the believer and the sinner in the same way. There is no disparity.
THE PROCESS OF HEALING
* Then Jesus looked up to Heaven and sighed because as He was in flesh and blood, serving this world, the power of healing came from Heaven where God abides.
* There were three actions before He healed the the deaf and mute.
* He looked up to the Heavenly Father because Jesus’ healing power has to come from there.
* He sighed because Jesus is compassionate and He had the longing for rescuing and saving him.
* He said, Be opened because God had given Jesus His authority.
* These three actions prove that He is the Son of man in this world, who is receiving the power of healing and authority from God who abides in Heaven.
*Thereby, Jesus proves Himself to be the Son of God, the Messiah.
THE FAITH OF THE PEOPLE
* The deaf and mute was brought by a group of people who had the steadfast faith in Jesus.
* The Holy Bible says, But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, ….. (James 1 : 6)
* The group begged Him to heal the man because of their faith.
* People on the streets beg with the expectation and certainty that they would get the help.
* The people who brought him were very sure that His touch would be enough to heal him.
* That’s why, they begged Him and asked for His touch.
* This is a divine healing, which is similar to the healing of the paralytic man who was lowered his bed through the roof by the men of faith.
“Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” (Matthew 9 : 2)
THE PRIVACY OF JESUS
* Jesus took him aside from the crowd and did the miracle privately.
* It could be a public affair to have the name and fame for Himself or could be a publicity for Jesus among the crowd and outside the world.
* But Jesus wasn’t looking for cheap popularity.
* Jesus was going to heal the man, but He did not want the people to misinterpret the miracle.
* The miracle would be a sign authenticating Him as being the Messiah, not an indication of earthly Kingdom of God.
* It’s not an indication of earthly Kingdom of God, which had arrived in its fullness.
* It’s not that everyone could expect to walk around in perfect bodies.
* This miracle illustrates a running theme in Mark: Only those who have ears to hear can speak with faith.
∗ Jesus has opened the ears to hear and loosened the tongue to speak.
∗ His ears were opened and he was able to hear the Word of God and his tongue was loosened and he was able to speak the truth plainly.
* After the healing, Jesus commanded them, to tell no one.
* Contrary to His command, the good news spread like wild forest fire among the people saying, He has done all things well.
* Jesus is true. Truth has no boundary.
* As a result, we could read in the next chapter that the multitude being very great to be fed…. ∗ Isn’t it an awesome and mighty ministry of the Minister?
THE POWER OF JESUS
∗ Jesus really did open the deaf man’s ears and loose his tongue. This was a physical healing.
∗ God cares about our bodies as well as our souls.
∗ The fact that our bodies are messed up and don’t work right is a sign and a symptom of our deeper spiritual problem.
∗ Jesus has mercy upon us. That is why Jesus came to this world, isn’t it?To heal our souls and our bodies, to redeem us from sin and to save us from all its terrible consequences.
∗ And so Jesus’ healing this deaf and dumb man’s infirmities is in itself a sign.
∗ It is a signal as to who this man Jesus is and what he has come to do. It is telling us–and it was telling, and it will be telling to anyone that He is the Messiah and He has brought the messianic age of blessing in this world.
∗ It’s the reading and prophecy from Isaiah 35, the promise of the signs that would accompany the arrival of the Messiah: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”
∗ That’s exactly what Jesus was doing in our text. The message is clear: This man is the Messiah.
∗ He’s come to do the work of healing our bodies and restoring the creation and ushering in the age of blessing.
God has mercy on us, in our misery. He is our Redeemer and Saviour!
Let’s pray:
Our Heavenly Father, we look up on You, we sigh and we submit our supplications at Your Sovereign feet, for we know that You are Holy God, who work on us with Your Holy Spirit. Strengthen our faith in You, Lord. Have mercy on us, O Lord in our misery. Amen.
Glory be to God
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