1.
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word this morning
comes to us from Mark 7:31-37. When it
comes to God’s Word we realize that we are so often spiritually deaf, we
stubbornly refuse to hear God’s Word.
But, the Savior opens our ears to hear through the good news of His
death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus has now opened our mouths to praise Him
both now and forever. Today we learn
that our Lord Jesus, “Still Says
“Ephphatha: Be Opened!” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Sometimes
a door remains shut for good reasons. A
new pastor moved into a town, and he went out one day to visit his parishioners.
All went well until he came upon this one house. It was obvious that someone
was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several
times. Finally he took out his card, wrote on the back "Revelation
3:20" and stuck it on the back of the door. Revelation 3:20: "Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me." Later in the week, the counters noticed that
the Pastor’s card was in the offering plate that he had left at the
parishioner’s door. Below the pastor’s message was the notation "Genesis
3:10." Genesis 3:10: "And he
said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked: so I hid myself."
3.
Sin
is like that. It makes us want to hide
behind locked doors. It makes us want to
hide from God. How often have we felt
like we need to hide our guilt, our shame, our feeling of sinfulness from each
other? But, the more we try to hide our
sins, the worse our lives can get. God
wants to move us to repentance so that our sins may be forgiven.
4.
Our
text tells the story of a deaf man brought to Jesus by some friends. Mark 7:31-32 says, “31Then he returned
from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the
region of the Decapolis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a
speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.”
With a word of command, Jesus heals the man. Mark 7:33-35 says, “33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his
fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34And looking up
to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And
his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly His ears are completely opened. The man begins to speak plainly.”
The crowds who witness the miracle are said to be so amazed they won’t
stop talking about what they have seen Jesus do. Mark 7:36-37 says, “36And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged
them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond
measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and
the mute speak.”
5.
In
contrast to our text from Mark 7, we often seem to find it easy to keep our
mouths shut about our God. Are we no longer amazed by him. In fact, we seem to find it easier to talk
about sports news or the latest hot TV show than we do about the true God.
6.
It’s
interesting that the word translated as “deaf” in today’s text can also be
translated “dull” or “blunt.” A dull
knife is one where the blade is no longer sharp. A blade gets like that when
it’s used and used and used but never sharpened. That happens to our faith when
we live in this world but not in God’s Word. When faith isn’t constantly being
sharpened by the Word, it gets worn down by the sin in our lives. Our faith
becomes blunt and dull. When you have a sharp knife, it cuts through things
with ease. But when the blade is dull, you can hardly cut anything at all. In
the same way, when our faith is blunted and dull, it loses its power to amaze
us. Going to church, attending a Bible study, and reading the Word become a
chore. We feel imposed upon when asked to serve in some ministry. Our
conscience no longer troubles us when we do wrong. When our hearts are deaf to our amazing God,
then it is no wonder our witness is mute as well! When that happens, there is only one place to
go.
7.
This
deaf man’s friends brought him to Jesus.
They plead for Jesus to lay hands on the man. Through his word of power, Jesus opens the
man’s ears and loosens his tongue. Our
Lord still works in people’s lives through his Word! That’s why you are encouraged to worship, to
be in the Word in your daily devotion, reading your Portals of Prayer, to sign
up for a Bible class.
8.
Through
his Word, Jesus speaks his powerful, life-changing “Be opened” to your heart
and mine. With the Law, he exposes our
spiritual deafness. With the Gospel, he
tells the amazing story of his love for us in manger and cross and empty tomb.
With that message, he is able to open your heart. He makes your sin-dulled ears
to hear clearly again the Good News of his love and forgiveness.
9.
Through
his Word, Jesus says, “Ephphatha, be opened.”
Hearing what God has done in Scripture opens our eyes and ears to the
amazing things Jesus did in his death and resurrection and is even now doing in
our lives. It’s amazing to see how Jesus has transformed people’s lives. There was
a couple in a Christian church whose marriage had been growing cold because of
a conflict lying beneath the surface. They had neither the desire or the
knowledge to deal with this conflict and heal their marriage. But then Jesus,
through a study of his Holy Word, opened their eyes not only to the friction
that this conflict was causing, but also to the freedom that his death and resurrection
brings by freeing them to face this conflict and forgive each other. And today
they stand together—healed—changed by Christ’s death and resurrection. A business executive who had been attending
church for awhile had been been wrestling with the corporate mind-set that
pervades his every business decision. He came to a moment of decision between
uprooting his family to climb the corporate ladder and staying here to reap the
rewards of a stable family and spiritual life. Christ opened his eyes to see
that his purpose in life is so much larger than a paycheck and a title. Jesus’
death and resurrection have changed him. And today his family lives for Christ
together—with purpose—changed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Each realized
that God’s love isn’t just an idea. God’s love has changed them.
10. “Ephphatha … Be opened,” Jesus said to
the deaf-mute in our text as He miraculously restored his hearing and speech. Aren’t
these words descriptive of what Jesus achieved in His ministry on earth? What
Jesus did for a deaf-mute in respect to hearing, He did for all people in
respect to heaven. When Jesus kept the Law in our place, He opened the heavens
for us—“Ephphatha … Be opened.” When
Jesus suffered the penalty of the Law in our place, He opened the heavens
for us—“Ephphatha … Be opened.” Isn’t
that what His Baptism in the Jordan signified? “And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened,
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him” (Mark 1:10). Remember what
Jesus told Nathanael? “Truly, truly, I
say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:51). That’s the way
Stephen saw it moments before his martyrdom: “Behold,” he said, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man
standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). That’s what John the
Apostle on the isle of Patmos saw in a couple of his visions—an open heaven
(Rev. 11:19, 19:11). And that’s what we see, too, with the eyes of faith—an
open heaven: We yearn for that day when, like John, we shall see “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev.
21:2). Jesus did more than open the ears of a deaf man. He opened the heavens
for all people. That’s what His ministry was all about. “Ephphatha … Be opened.”
11. Jesus is doing amazing things
in our lives. “Ephphatha!” he says to you and me. He has opened your eyes and
ears to be amazed! He will unloose your tongue to tell the world what he has
done for you! Amen.
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