Listen here.

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.

If this healing sounds strange, you are reading it right. In fact, this miracle sounds even stranger in Greek. The strangeness starts with the location. Jesus is in the region of the Decapolis; in other words, He is outside of Israel and among Greek-speaking Gentiles. That is important later; keep that in mind.

While Jesus is there, a man is brought to our Lord who is deaf and has a speech impediment. I’ll probably just say ‘mute’ through the rest of the sermon since it fits with the crowd’s reaction (v. 37), and it’s one syllable instead of five. Jesus takes this man with shut ears and a shut mouth off to the side privately. He throws His fingers into the man’s ears. (It’s the same word Thomas uses after the resurrection when Thomas refuses to believe until he throws his fingers and hand into Jesus’ hands and side. It doesn’t just mean to carefully and politely poke around.) Jesus throws his fingers into the man’s ears. Jesus spits. He touches the guy’s tongue. Our text says Jesus sighs (more on that in a minute) and says one word. The man’s ears and mouth are opened. Then, Jesus immediately tells them to not say anything.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on why Jesus tells them to not say anything. Jesus repeatedly does this in the Gospel of Mark. It isn’t reverse psychology. When people disobeyed Jesus’ commands to not publicize their miraculous healings, Jesus’ ministry is hindered (see Mk. 1:38-45).

The whole thing is strange, odd, and weird. Shut, spit, open, shut. But two other components make this whole thing strange.

First, our text says that Jesus ‘sighs.’ The Greek word that gets translated as ‘sigh’ is stronger. This is the only place where the ESV translates the word as ‘sigh.’ Elsewhere it is translated ‘groan.’ And, yes, it’s an important difference. Sighing is a usually an intentional thing. We sigh when we are weary or frustrated. Groaning, however, is an involuntary response to being hurt or wounded. Every time the New Testament uses this word ‘groan’ it is from sorrow or suffering because of sin. And, in the New Testament, only four things groan – creation groans, believers groan, the Holy Spirit groans, and Jesus groans twice.

When the deaf man is brought to Jesus, our Lord does this odd ceremony of shoving His fingers into the man’s ears, spitting, touching the man’s tongue, and then He groans in pain.

What this teaches us is that these miraculous healings were not simple tricks for Jesus. They cost Him and caused Him pain. Remember Isaiah (53:4-5) says that Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yes, Jesus’ main work – His main miracle – His death and resurrection cost Him and caused Him pain, but so do these other miracles. When Jesus does any miracle, He is committing Himself to the cross. These miracles are not a raw display of divine power, they are all redemptive. Jesus changes places with the cripple, the lame, the blind, the dead, and here the mute and the deaf.

The second thing that is strange is the one word Jesus says, “Ephphatha.”And there are two strange things about this word. Mark translates it for us into Greek – it means ‘be opened.’ But Jesus says, “Ephphatha,”in Aramaic. Consider that. Not only do these ears not hear, but they also wouldn’t understand Aramaic. If they worked, they would have understood Greek words, not Aramaic.

The second strange thing about this word from Jesus has to do with grammar. Jesus doesn’t speak words of prayer to His Father asking Him to open the man’s ears. Jesus speaks to ears that don’t to ‘ear-y’ [sic.] things. They don’t hear. And (for you other grammar nuts) Jesus speaks a passive imperative.

We can’t hardly do this in English. After our dishwasher has run and cleaned our dishes, I can’t command it, “Be emptied.” No. I have to command my kids, “Empty the dishwasher.” Think about the last time you were stressed and worried about something and someone told you, “Calm down.” It’s a command, and it is helpful. But you need to do something. You need to take a breath, collect your thoughts, and relax. Imagine, instead of someone telling you to calm down, they just said, “Be calmed,” and you were. That’s what’s going on here.

Jesus speaks to deaf ears in a language they wouldn’t understand to be passively opened. And they are. What had been broken because of sin is put back into place by Jesus. Some rough touches, saliva, a groan, and one word is all it takes from Jesus to restore this man’s hearing and speech.

Jesus still does this. He’s doing it now. Just like in the creation, God acts by speaking. God’s words are His actions. Now, Jesus isn’t here among us in His body fixing all our physical problems. No, but we’ve got something better. Jesus is among us loosening our tongues to sing His praises. He is here opening our sin-stuffed, deaf ears to hear His absolution. And He no longer groans in pain when He does it. The price has been paid. Your forgiveness has been purchased and won on the cross.

“Be forgiven,” says Jesus to you here. And in His speaking, it is done. So, dear saints, go out in confidence not trusting in your own sufficiency, but in the sufficiency of God’s declaration, God’s proclamation, and Christ’s absolution. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds inChrist Jesus. Amen.