Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for our meditation is written in the 7th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark: Verses 31 – 37:
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
In his Gospel St. Matthew reports (Matt 15:30-31) that “great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet and he healed them… And they glorified the God of Israel.”
That’s a summary version of the healing that Jesus does during His ministry. Matthew is a ‘big picture’ man. He doesn’t give us too many of the individual stories of those who were brought to Jesus and healed. Matthew wants you to get the ‘big picture’ which is that Jesus is doing exactly what the prophets said the Messiah would do when He came into the world. (Is.35:5-6) “Then the eyes of the blind will 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.” Matthew wants you to know that Jesus is the One, the Messiah that the whole Old Testament was pointing to. He wants you to know that the Kingdom of Heaven has broken into this world in the person of Jesus Christ.
But our Gospel reading for this morning doesn’t come from Matthew’s gospel. It comes from Mark’s. Mark has the same goal as Matthew. He wants you to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer, the fulfillment of God’s promise, the only hope of mankind to be saved.
But Mark is a details man. Mark rarely talks about ‘great crowds.’ Mark loves to single out men and women from Matthew’s “great crowd,” and tell their unique story. We hear one of those stories this morning.
“They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech.” I remember many years ago, when Carol and I and the girls lived in Melbourne, there was a theatre production of “The Life of Helen Keller.” Helen Keller of course was the deaf, mute and blind girl that the brilliant teacher Anne Sullivan taught how to live with her handicap and eventually gain a university degree. It’s a marvellous story. But the thing that that made this particular performance so special was that the person who played Helen in the play was really deaf, mute and blind. She wasn’t just acting. So this play was both a story about someone long ago and about this particular girl in the play. And she did an outstanding job. I don’t know how she knew just when and where to be on stage and how her deformed speech was always right on cue. At the end of the play when she came out everyone stood and applauded. The director said, ‘she can’t see or hear you. But if you stamp your feet, she will feel the vibrations.’ And that’s what the audience did and she smiled and bowed. And in the words of Mark’s Gospel, everyone was “astounded beyond measure.”
Helen Keller is a great story about a particular individual who learned how to live with the incredible challenges of being blind, deaf and mute. Maybe you know people who have broken through the limitations of their particular handicap. The Paralympics is an amazing example of human triumph over tragedy.
But Mark wants us to see something this morning that transcends every story of personal triumph over whatever limitations we might be faced with. Jesus doesn’t teach the man how get along in life with his handicaps. He takes them away. (Vs 35) “And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” Mark wants us to see that this Jesus has the power to ‘turn back the clock’ and reset the human condition in a way that no one else can.
Undoubtedly some read these verses and say, ‘If Jesus healed this man, why can’t He heal everyone?’. Jesus did heal this man, privately and respectfully, but that was not, and still isn’t His God sent purpose. When Jesus came, bringing healing to people's bodies and salvation to their souls, he had begun the work of creation all over again for all to see. In the beginning everything had been good; mankind’s sin had spoiled it all; and now Jesus was bringing back the beauty of God to the world which mankind’s sin had rendered ugly.
This is the healing we all long for and are freely offered by Christ. The healing of the heart into eternity. In our earthly bodies, an encounter with Jesus always has the power to bring healing. When love is present, healing is present. It won't always look miraculous, but it will always make a difference.
You see, the question that Mark and all of the New Testament writers wants us to consider is this, ‘just how far back will this Jesus turn the clock?’ ‘How completely will He reset the sinful human condition?’
(Vs 32). “They begged Jesus to lay his hand on [the man].” It was common for a Rabbi to be asked to lay his hand on someone…………. To ‘lay hands’ on someone is to give them a blessing. And the Rabbi would offer a blessing something like, ‘May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be with you always.’ Today we would say something like, “the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always.”
That’s all that those who brought the deaf, mute man to Jesus were asking for, a blessing for their troubled friend. But Mark wants you to know that this is no ordinary Rabbi and the blessing that He gives is unlike any other blessing. “(Vs 33): “He took him aside in private”. The Rabbis liked to make a big show out of this, a little razzle-dazzle to draw attention to themselves. But not Jesus. This was not going to be a ‘photo-opportunity’ or a chance to make a spectacle out of Himself or this man.
Isaiah and Matthew and Mark and all the other writers of the Scriptures all want you to see the divinity in the humanity of Jesus. They want all want you to see that all of the promises of God are being met in Jesus and that He, and He alone, is our hope and our salvation.
All this is true; But in this instance Jesus is not interested in any of that. He has completely put aside the ‘big picture’ and His entire attention is focused on this one, individual person who is caught in the net of life in a fallen and sinful world; the net that has entangled each and every one of us. ….
For this moment, however long it lasts, the entire Godhead of the Trinity, dwelling in the person of Jesus Christ, is focused on this one man.
Jesus communicated to him in sign language that this man could understand. “He put his fingers into his ears.” “I understand that you cannot hear. I am going to fix your ears.” “He spit and touched his tongue.” “I understand that you cannot speak. I’m going to fix your tongue.”
“And looking up to heaven, He sighed.” I mean does Mark capture the details or what? Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven.
Today, when we pray, our custom is to close our eyes and bow our head. But the prophets and saints of old had the habit of lifting up their eyes to heaven when they prayed. The Psalmist writes, (Ps.123:1) “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”. Jesus is praying.
“He sighed…” The word in the Greek of the New Testament is “sten-ad'-zo.” The same word is also translated “to groan.”
It could mean that Jesus “sighed,” or “groaned” just as Paul says we all do as long as we live in this sinful and fallen world. Paul writes, (2 Cor 5:2,4) “For in this tent we GROAN, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling…”. Or (Rom.8:22-23) “And we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, GROAN inwardly as we eagerly wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”. It could be that Jesus ‘sighed,’ ‘groaned,’ because He identified so closely and intimately with this man and with all men and women that He ‘groaned’ with us all.
But surely if Jesus is who all the Scriptures say He is, He has come into the world and to this particular man to do much more than just identify with him and ‘groan’ with him.
As I followed this word “sten-ad'-zo” through the New Testament, I discovered that it is the same word that St. Paul uses to describe the prayer of the Trinity within Itself. Paul writes, (Rom.8:26) “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with GROANINGS too deep for words.”. …….. In the same way, the Son intercedes for us all.
“He lifted up His eyes and sighed…” The Son is interceding for this one, particular individual, in the Spirit to the Father, “with GROANINGS too deep for words.”
Now, there is nothing left for Him to do but say the word. The Word must always be said. Apart from the said word, nothing happens. But when the Word is said, it always does just what it says. “Ephphatha!” “Be opened.”
In the beginning, God spoke the Word into the void, not in “groanings too deep for words,” but in a spoken, proclaimed word for all to hear. “And God said…” “Let there be…” And the Word did what it said. “And there was light.” “And God saw all that He made and it was very good.”
“As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.” Whenever God speaks His Word into His creation, His Word does what it says. “Ephphatha!” “Be opened.” “And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”
Jesus is the ‘spoken’ Word of God, in the flesh, dwelling among us. Through Jesus, God is ‘turning back the clock’ and resetting our lives and His whole creation to a new beginning. He has not come to teach us how to make the best of our miserable lives in a fallen world. He has come to overcome the world and to “make all things new.” ……. The same Word proclaimed to the deaf and mute man is proclaimed to us, today.
“I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You heard these words spoken to beautiful little Chelsea today. And the Word does what it says, one, particular, individual at a time. “Ephphatha!” And ears that were closed to His gospel are opened and faith is created in the human heart. And the tongue that was tied and unable to call upon the Lord is loosed and with our tongue we confess and believe.
We heard the words earlier in the service … “I forgive you all of your sins.” And the Word does what it says. This is not a word that shows you how to overcome your sin. It is the Word that takes your sin away, as far as the east is from the west. It is the Word of the Judge who declares His “Ephphatha” upon you because His Son has paid the full price for all of our sins. For His sake we are ‘forgiven,’ ‘free,’ ‘good and pleasing in His sight.’
Soon you will hear the words of grace; “This is my body, given for you.” “This is my blood, shed for you.” And the Word is what is says it is. The same Jesus who touched the deaf and mute man in the region of the Decapolis, touches your tongue with His body in the bread and His blood in the wine. “Ephphatha!” And we speak plainly, “He has done all things well.”
The day is coming when Jesus will speak His glorious “Ephphatha” once again. When He does, it will not be spoken privately, to one, particular individual at a time but publicly, to everyone all at once, to those in heaven, on earth and under the earth. And every ear will be opened. And every tongue will be loosed, and all will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. And there will be a ‘new heaven and a new earth,’ the clock turned all the way back to the beginning, everything reset to it’s original “very good”.
Rejoice and be assured; today we have victory over sin, suffering and death; Jesus has touched us and spoken His word. We are healed. Amen
The love and peace of our Great triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment