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 as we observe the 15th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Mark 7:24-37. Here we see that Jesus does not remain at a distance from our suffering. He fully enters it and bears its burden. The message is entitled, “Jesus Bears our Burdens,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. John’s Gospel is famous for its opening. “The Word becomes flesh” (John 1:14). When John speaks about the Word becoming flesh, he paints a vast landscape. We are there at creation, watching as God’s Word brings the world into being. God speaks and things are created by the power of His Word. Then, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, becomes flesh and dwells among His people. John’s vision is large, expansive, covering all of creation.
3. What happens at the beginning of John’s Gospel, with far-reaching splendor, is hidden away in the Gospel of Mark. Buried amid the travels of Jesus, we find the word become flesh in another way. Humble. Hidden. But filled with the compassion of God. Consider the second of the two miracles in our text. Jesus enters the region of the Decapolis. He is in Gentile territory. He has been here before, earlier in the gospel in Mark 5:1-20. In the graveyard, Jesus encountered a demon-possessed man. When Jesus cast out the demons, they entered a herd of pigs and drove them into the sea. Seeing the power of Jesus and the destruction of their livelihood, the people begged Jesus to leave. But, the newly healed man fell at His feet. He begged to follow Jesus. Jesus, however, instructed him in Mark 5:19, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”
4. Jesus told him to speak a word and now, later in the Gospel of Mark, we see how that word has taken on flesh. The man did what Jesus asked. He spoke to his friends. He spoke to others in the Decapolis in Mark 5:20. Word traveled fast and now, when Jesus arrives, that word takes on flesh. A crowd gathers. Rather than beg Jesus to leave, they welcome Him in. They bring to Him a man who is unable to speak and unable to hear and ask for His healing.
5. What Jesus does next is astounding. He heals the man. But more astounding than the healing is the way in which Jesus does it. In the previous miracle, Jesus brought about healing by speaking a word at a distance. The Syrophoenician woman didn’t bring her daughter to Jesus. She left her daughter at home. Jesus spoke a word and the woman goes home to find her daughter restored in Mark 7:30. Jesus heals through a word at a distance. But, now, Jesus doesn’t speak a word at a distance. This time, Jesus literally becomes the word which heals. Mark slows down his narration of the healing so you can see this wonder. Consider the details of how Jesus heals here in Mark 7:33-34.
6. Jesus takes the man away from the crowd. By removing distractions, Jesus makes it easier for this man to focus on Him. Jesus then puts His fingers into the man’s ears – the place in need of healing. He spits and puts His fingers on the man’s tongue – again, the place in need of healing. Jesus has touched the man where he is most vulnerable. He communicates to the man that He knows. He knows his suffering. Then, Jesus reveals He also knows the man’s salvation. He looks up to Heaven, the source of this man’s healing, and He sighs.
7. In John’s Gospel, John does not say how God spoke His Word at creation. I imagine it would have been with boldness. A creative Word spoken with courageous love. But, here, when Jesus restores His creation, He sighs. His word is touched with sorrow. He experiences our pain. Jesus does not remain at a distance from our suffering. He fully enters it and bears its burden. Having become the Word without words that communicates to the man – “I know your suffering and I know the source of your salvation” – Jesus then speaks. Mark records the literal word. He wants us to hear it. “Ephphatha, which means be opened.” With that word, the man is healed.
8. This is the wonder of the Word becoming flesh. Jesus uses sign language to communicate with this man. Jesus becomes the Word that brings healing. But, such wonder isn’t limited to the man. It touches all of us. In Mark, Jesus repeatedly speaks to His disciples about His passion. He offers three passion predictions. What Jesus says ultimately happens. His word becomes flesh as He dies on the cross. Jesus has told His disciples that, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), and, on the cross, we see the promise come true. Jesus has taken on our sin, borne its punishment in His flesh, that He might give us life and salvation in His Kingdom.
9. The question for us, then, is how does this word and work of God take flesh in our lives? In our world, it is becoming harder and harder to speak about religion. People are not inclined to listen. Our beliefs are considered fantasy by some and hate-speech by others. It is hard for us to speak a word that gets heard. But, we can still touch the lives of other people. With compassion, we can show we know the source of pain. The loneliness that keeps people up at night. The fractured relationships that litter their past. The struggles of just getting by in a land of plenty. We know things are broken by sin in this world. In action, we reveal that not only do we know, but we care.
10. This text from Mark’s Gospel also gets us to ask. Have we lost a sense of amazement when it comes to our God? Our text tells the story of a deaf man brought to Jesus by some friends (Mark 7:31–32). With a word of command, Jesus heals the man (Mark 7:33–35). 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).
11. In contrast to the crowds here in Mark 7, we often seem to find it easy to keep our mouths shut about our God. Are we no longer amazed by him? We seem to find it easier to talk about sports news or the latest television show than we do about the true God. The word translated as “deaf” in today’s text can also be translated “dull” or “blunt.” Has your faith become dull? Does your conscience no longer bother you when you do wrong? Has going to worship, attending Bible study, or reading the Word become a chore?
12. 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. 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 devotions, to sign up for Bible class or Sunday School. Through his Word, Jesus speaks his powerful, life-changing “Ephphatha, 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.
13. Through his Word, our Lord is able to amaze when no one else can. Hearing what God has done in Scripture opens our eyes and ears to the wonderful things Jesus did in his death and resurrection and is even now doing in our lives. In our text, the people were so amazed that, like the deaf man, their tongues were loosed and they couldn’t stop talking about what they had seen Jesus do. Even so can God amaze us, so that we can’t help talking about what Jesus has done. God is doing incredible 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!
14. Our lives have been touched by the Lord of creation. Even without speaking, we can become God’s sign language to others. God has compassion for His broken world and reaches out through us to touch and to restore. Yes, we desire to speak the words which give life, but when the world will not listen, we can still act. We can put God’s love into action. His word may be humble and hidden, but it will work and ultimately be heard. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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