Mark 7:31–37 ³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³ And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴ And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

In the name of Jesus, amen.

Bill Nye the “Science Guy” might wish I didn’t start the sermon this way, but I hope you remember Gen. 1 where God creates the world.  Each day God creates something new: Day 1 – light; Day 2 – atmosphere/heavens; Day 3 – land, sea, plants; Day 4 – sun, moon, stars; Day 5 –  fish and birds; Day 6 – animals and humans.

At the end of every day whatever God created is described as being what? (Good).

Finally, when everything was finished on the sixth day, God steps back and looks at everything He created and how is it described?  (Very good).

How did God create all of those things?  (He spoke, and they came to exist).

God did not take things that already existed and shape them with His hands.  God simply spoke and things that did not exist came to be.

The second half of our Gospel text v. 31-37 is very similar.  Jesus, God in the flesh, speaks and the impossible happens, things are created.

The crowd brings a deaf, mute man to Jesus.  What does Jesus do to heal this man?  Well, a couple of things.  He puts His fingers into the deaf man’s ears.  He spits.  He uses His spit-riddled fingers to touch the mute tongue.  Only after doing all these things, does Jesus speak.  Jesus speaks to deaf ears and a tongue that is literally tied commanding them to open.  They obey.

What happens here is a fulfillment of our Old Testament text from Is 35:5–6 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶ then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Jesus is restoring creation.  God created the world and it was very good, but sin caused the world to fall.  Jesus came to redeem all of creation—that includes you.  With just a Word from Jesus, parts of creation which had fallen, a man’s deaf ears and flawed tongue, are restored.

When Jesus’ ministry is summarized by Mark (1:15), you read that Jesus preaches “The reign of God is at hand.”  Jesus’ work is to bring that the rule and the reign of God as He ministers.  As Jesus makes the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap like a deer, the mute sing for joy, all of this shows that in Jesus, creation is being restored.  Jesus is re-creating.

When you confess the Apostle’s Creed, you finish with, “I believe in… the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” or in the Nicene Creed you finish with, “I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  Think about Gen. 1 and how God created the heavens and the earth and each day they were described as good, good, good, good, good, and very good.

Scripture closes by teaching that God will make all things new (Rev. 21:5).  God’s work is to fully restore creation to the way that He intended it to be.  Scripture teaches that your body will be raised from the dead and you will enjoy the eternal bliss of the new creation.  You will be in the presence of God for eternity.  Won’t that be great?

The man in this text got to experience a taste of that as Jesus poked at him, put His divine spit on his tongue, and spoke to him in a region called Decapolis about 2000 years ago.

Do this for me please:  put your fingers in your ears for a couple of seconds, just so you take them out before the end of the sermon.  Stick out your tongue and touch it.  God created those ears and that tongue and all that exists, and He likes them.  And God is still interested in your ears and your tongues.  So, Jesus redeemed them.

Eph. 2:4–6, ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Notice, God made you alive together with Christ.  God raised you up with Christ.  God seated you in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  “When you were dead in your trespasses,” God made, raised, seated (all aorist tense verbs)  Don’t spiritualize it.  Don’t make it symbolic.  Listen to it again and let it sink in:

Eph. 2:4–6, ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved [you], ⁵ even when [you] were dead in [your] trespasses, made [you] alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised [you] up with Him and seated [you] with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

In this text, the crowd gets caught up in the fact that Jesus can make a deaf and mute man hear and speak.  The crowd says, “Jesus has done all things well.”  Again, this is Gen. 1 creation language.  But Jesus is doing things that are greater than the crowd realizes.  Today, that man’s ears are deaf; that man’s tongue is mute because his ears, tongue, and the rest of him is dust.

Jesus is doing more than making the deaf hear and mute speak.  Jesus is re-creating.  Jesus came to save you and all of creation.  He has washed away your sins in your baptism when He buried your sins in His death and defeated them in His resurrection.

Creation began in Gen. 1 with God creating light.  Jesus still creates light.  In Mt. 5:14-16, Jesus says you are the light of the world.  I have heard this taught as though your good works are lamps that you light and place on a stand.  That is wrong.  Jesus says that you are the light of the world.  A lamp cannot light itself; a lamp cannot get itself either under a basket or up on a lampstand.  But God can and does.

God speaks into your darkness and there is light.  God doesn’t light you to put you under a basket, but to put you on a stand.  God puts you on a stand so that people are drawn to the light that God has given you.  As the people see the light that God has given, they give glory not to you but to God.

God has created life in you and placed you in whatever vocation you are to be a witness.  “And God saw that it was good.”  As you obey your parents, teachers, bosses, and superiors, you are God’s hands and feet at work in creation.  “And God saw that it was good.”  As you do your chores, go to school and work, and interact with your family and neighbors, you are a witness to the glories of God.  “And God saw that it was good.”

A church father once wrote, “Remember that you might be the only Bible anyone reads.”  That is true.  But don’t think that you have to be a perfect person either.  You won’t be.  You fail now and you will always fail.  Don’t get overly upset with yourself.

Remember what the crowd said about Jesus, “He does all things well.”  They were right in thinking that—more right than they realized.

Jesus does all things well, and that means—you do too.

Gal. 3:27 ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

It is easy to get upset with yourself.  It is easy to see the ways where you have not been a good witness.  It is easy to see how God would be upset with you because, frankly, what you do all too often does not turn out to be very good.  Satan wants to discourage you and remind you of the ways you fail.

Remember what Ro. 8:28 says, ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  God uses even your failures.  Christ does all things well, and you are in Christ.  Christ still does all things well.

Heb. 13:21 says that the God of peace ²¹ equip[s] you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory forever and ever.

God will do the work in you that is pleasing in His sight.  Because Jesus Christ, the Word of God Who caused all things to come into being (Jn. 1:3) is in you.  Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.