Jump Start # 3015

Mark 7:32 “Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.” (CEB)

Our verse today surrounds the healing of the deaf mute. This miracle doesn’t get a lot of attention. But there are some great lessons for us to see here. Jesus is in Gentile country. He had just cured the Canaanite or Syrophoencian woman’s daughter who was demon possessed. Now, a deaf man, who had difficulty speaking was brought to Jesus.

Notice, that Jesus takes this man aside, away from the multitude. This was not done before all. Just Jesus and the deaf man.

Notice, what Jesus did. It would make most of us very uncomfortable. Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then Jesus spit on those fingers and touched the man’s tongue. The spit of someone else on your tongue. Have you thought about that? And, that is after those fingers were in your ears.

Notice, in the following verse, Jesus looks to Heaven. That indicates both prayer and power. It wasn’t in the spit that healed this man. It wasn’t putting fingers in the ears. It was the power of God that did these things.

Notice, as Jesus looks Heavenward, He sighs. In fact, many translations will state, “a deep sigh.” We sigh when we are bothered, disgusted, bored, or want someone’s attention. I don’t see any of those things in this. What I see is the emotions of Jesus. I see that the Lord put His all into this.

Notice, Jesus told them not to tell anyone about this. Likely, this is why Jesus took the man away from the crowd. Many times Jesus told the healed, not to tell. How could one keep this quiet? Jesus was on a time table and news getting out too quickly would mess things up.

Those are the “noticeable” items. What do we learn from this miracle?

First, Jesus cares about everyone. He is up in Gentile country and he is helping people there. The Gospel would be taken into all the world. Every person matters to God. You matter to God. Your life. Your problems. Your struggles. Your sins. They matter to God.

Second, Jesus did not use one standard way of healing people. The immediate miracle before this centered around a girl who was demon possessed. Jesus never saw that girl. She was cured from a distance. But here, Jesus is touching and spitting. Other times, He tells a person to go dip in water. In our miracle today, Jesus looks Heavenward. It appears that He prays. The miracle before was not like that. There was not just one way He healed. But there is one central common denominator and that is Jesus. It is Jesus who heals. It is Jesus who has the power.

Third, there is no problem presented to Jesus that He cannot make better. From demon possession the text flows to a deaf person. Doesn’t matter what the problem, or who the person is, Jesus can make life better. And, so it is for us. We are not all the same and we do not all have the same problem. Marriage issues. Prodigals away from home. Addictions. Attitudes. Jealousy. Hatred. Prejudice. Anger. Unloved and unwanted. Worry. Fear. Doubt. Keep naming the problems. There is not one that Jesus cannot conquer and there is not one life that he cannot make better, including yours.

I find it interesting that the people Jesus healed and cured did not request a way for Jesus to do that. Our deaf man did not reject Jesus touching his ears and tongue. Jesus did not give this man a choice. He did not say, I’m going to spit on my finger and touch your tongue. Most of us would say, “How about another method, Jesus?”

Fourth, there is a wonderful contrast here as well. Jesus spit on His finger and touched the deaf man’s tongue. Later, crucifiers would spit on Jesus. The spit of love and the spit of hatred. One to heal and one to condemn.

Do you think this deaf man told his friends, “He spit on me. I can’t believe that He spit of me.” Doubt that. I expect he was so thankful to hear and speak that he didn’t care how Jesus did it. He was restored, healed and made whole again. And, that’s exactly what Jesus can do for you. He won’t spit on you, but He needs you to believe and be immersed in water.

Jesus’ way works. It did here. It will in the forgiveness of your sins. It will in restoring your heart to God. It will in building back trust and healing broken relationships. Jesus works.

Roger