Mark 7:31–37

Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. ³²They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. ³³Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) ³⁵Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. ³⁷They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”  (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

There are times in our lives when we can be overwhelmed by the feeling that nobody really cares. There are even times when we may feel like God doesn’t care, and worry that everything is going to end badly, unlike the movies they used to make where all ends well. The devil loves to put those awful feelings of despair into our heads.

But then God reminds us of His promise to make all things work out for our good in the end. He gives us hope—and hope in Christ doesn’t disappoint! Today we get a glimpse at a real-life situation, where Jesus made everything work out for good for a man who seemed to have little going for Him. And the crowed exclaimed, “Jesus Does Everything Well!” What a perfect thing to say, not just on that day, but every day! It wasn’t just true that one time. It’s true about how Jesus personally takes care of you today.

He Cares for Each of Us Personally

Mark tells us Jesus was in the Decapolis region, beyond the Jordan River, outside the borders of Israel, on the far side of the Sea of Galilee. He had come there from another foreign territory where he had healed the daughter of a foreign woman in Lebanon showing His disciples that He came for all people, not just Jews, to be their Savior. Chances are pretty good that this deaf man was not a Jew either. Mark is the only evangelist to record this story and was writing for Roman gentiles, and therefore liked to emphasize the fact that Jesus came to be everybody’s Savior, not just for the Jews.

Jesus does want to save all people, but that doesn’t make His love and care for us any less personal. Jesus sought out this individual personally. Jesus once said “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

This deaf man in Decapolis was worth more to Jesus than many sparrows. And so are you! Jesus knows you personally. He knows your exact needs. And Jesus went looking for you just as individually as He went to meet the deaf and dumb man that day. You and I were born deaf to His Word and unable to speak His Name. But He came to just where you were. He found you and opened your ears with His Word, so that now you can really hear what He says.

And now that He’s found you, He doesn’t just move on. He doesn’t just add you to His ‘client list.’ No, He made you a member of His family. He’s got your birthdate and baptism date memorized. He continues to count the very hairs of your head! There may be times in your life when it seems you can’t find God. But He always knows exactly where to find you! David wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,  even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7–10).

Jesus knew this man brought to Him for healing before He even saw Him. Jesus had already cared about Him every day of His life—both before that day and every day thereafter. Jesus knows everything about you, too. He knows every single thing that happens to you—every thought, fear, concern, situation, and temptation you face. He cares personally about just you!

He Cares for Each of Us Compassionately

When Jesus found the man He went looking for, He treated him—a handicapped man others in those days may have ignored—with dignity and compassion. Jesus “took him aside in private, away from the crowd.” When charlatans and showmen say they’re going to heal, they pull a man to the front and center of their stage in front of everyone—because it’s all about them and “the show must go on!” But for Jesus, this was all about the man who needed Him. He wasn’t about to embarrass him or make a show out of him.

And the extra time Jesus took is amazing. He didn’t check his smartphone or pocket calendar. He didn’t glance at His watch, thinking ‘what’s the most efficient way to quickly be done with this and move on.’ When you consider how burdened and busy our Savior was, that’s truly remarkable, too. Despite the fact that He knew the needs of a whole world of people were on His shoulders, Jesus tuned out the world for the moment and entered this man’s world—one on one, with His undivided attention. He does that for you too!

The man’s friends asked Jesus to lay His hand on Him. He did them one better. He looked this man whom He loved in the eyes. Then Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears [and] he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus did more than the man’s friends asked for—more than the deaf and dumb man himself would ever have dared to request had he been able to speak. You could even say Jesus was using ‘sign language’ with him!

And then Jesus did something else. He looked up to heaven … with a deep sigh…. He sighed over His created order, now fallen. He was moved to compassion as He saw—eye to eye—one more profound piece of evidence that His world that once was “very good” was no longer very good. How sad for the Creator of a perfect world to see firsthand the destruction and havoc sin had wreaked on His creation. People don’t have disabilities or sickness because of some personal sin they committed. Yet, all disease, every birth defect, the whole mess we live in, was brought about by Adam’s sin. And Jesus sighed.

Jesus’ deep sigh wasn’t a sigh of hopelessness, though. Far from it! He’s the One whom God sent into the world to end hopelessness and begin the process of recreating all things “very good” once again. He sighed out of compassion, the same deep and indescribable compassion that moved Him to put His own health—even His own life—aside, and sigh far louder to His Father: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” as He hung dying for us on the cross.

Do you see how much Jesus loves individuals like you, whether they’re deaf and mute, blind or lame, or just you with your own ailments, pains and problems? Sometimes we think “how could anyone love me?” We put on masks and pretend to the world we’ve “got it all together” while inside we’re fretting over all our secret, unlovable faults. Jesus knows them all, but … He loves us anyway—unconditionally! He sighs over us! And His love is more than sighs. As loudly as He sighed in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying not to suffer, still He had too much love and compassion on you to turn back and leave you in your sins. When God’s silence told Him it was the only way, He stuck to the plan. He willingly marched to death because of His love and compassion for you!

Our sins still make Him sigh in sorrow. But our helplessness, sorrows and suffering make Him sigh even deeper—in compassion! He never shudders and turns away, even if we got ourselves into whatever mess we’re in. When we hurt Him by what we do, or what we don’t do that we should… He sighs. But He doesn’t run away. He does the opposite! He calls out to us. He runs to us and pardons us and heals us!

And when you are praying for others, He listens to those petitions just as intently as He listened to the men who brought their deaf friend to Him. Hasn’t He in fact told you Himself to come to Him and ask for anything in His name? He means it! In fact, He’s ready to go farther than you even ask, just as He went above and beyond the request of the deaf man’s friends.

“Jesus does everything well” the crowd exclaimed, and He continues to do all things well for you and for every believer. He first laid His hand on you at your baptism and He hasn’t left. He still touches your ears with His Word. He touches your tongue with His body and blood. He has taught you to speak His language—the language of prayer and praise, and He listens to every word you utter in prayer.

He Cares for Each of Us Powerfully

Jesus is compassionate, merciful, and loving, but don’t let that fool you about His strength and power. He is the all-powerful Son of God. His miracles proved that. Only Jesus could touch a man’s ears and tongue and make him speak, who could never speak before. He looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) ³⁵Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly.

When Jesus speaks, heaven’s power comes down and touches the earth. When God first spoke, the world came into being out of nothing. When Jesus said, “Be still!” the storm was stilled! And when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven!” they are! When He says “Be opened” a whole new world of possibility opens to you! Jesus’ Words are filled with the power to bring about just what they say. And one of the things Jesus said is: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, … you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:21–22). 

With words so powerful, Jesus needs to be careful what He says. He uses His power with discretion. Not everyone was healed by Him when He was on earth. He knows what’s best for each person in each moment of their life. His plan is not to prevent all suffering, but rather to direct every circumstance for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Nevertheless, His healing of the deaf man does give a foretaste of what is to come for all of us on the day He returns. On that Day He will restore all things. It’s no mere coincidence that they said of Jesus, “He has done everything well,” words which mirror the pronouncement of God Himself over His perfect creation in the beginning. At Jesus’ return, God will once again speak His creating Word, and all things will once more be “very good” as they were at the beginning of time, including you!

What a comfort to have a Savior who Does Everything Well. What blessed assurance that He knows you so personally that He sought you out in the crowd and made you His own. What a relief to know what compassion He has for you. What confidence is ours,remembering He has the power to take care of all your needs, at the proper time, according to His infinite wisdom.

Now that you have been healed of your natural deafness to His Word and can hear and understand it, listen to what He says and put your complete trust in Him! Believe whatever He tells you—especially when He tells you that your sins are forgiven, but also that He knows you, and that He cares about you personally and compassionately.Remember that He is at your side ready to help with all His almighty power.

It’s all true! Amen.