Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”  +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.             
 
C. S. Lewis once wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Just as the light of the sun makes us able to see our world around us, so in the same way, Jesus, who is the Light of the world, gives us the ability to see and understand God and ourselves more clearly.

Today’s account from St. Mark’s Gospel gives us not simply yet another example of Jesus’ power to heal, it is an example of how Christ has the power to set us free from our prison of sin and death—that is, before we were saved by Christ we were lost in our ignorance, and we could not hear or understand the truth.

You remember that in the scriptures, one of the marks of God’s power and presence was the healing and deliverance of people oppressed by deafness, blindness, and the inability to speak. The Old Testament prophets wrote about how at the great Day of the Lord, the deaf would hear, the blind would see, the lame walk and the mute speak. In Matthew 11, the imprisoned John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He is truly the Messiah. Jesus responds to John’s question by replying, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” All this was to remind John that these were the signs of the Messiah, that God is at work through Him.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, we have St. Mark’s account of Jesus healing a deaf man with a speech impediment. What is noteworthy in this encounter is that Jesus doesn’t simply heal the man by the power of His Words. Jesus uses physical actions to bring healing to the man: He puts His fingers into the man’s ears, and He spits on the man’s tongue. This is a reminder of what I said to you last week; that God can use physical things to effect spiritual results. By using placing His fingers into the man’s ears and spitting on the man’s tongue, Jesus is demonstrating His power and desire to heal or spiritual deafness and blindness.

“And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, be opened. And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” With these words, Jesus not only heals the man’s physical handicaps, but He goes deeper into the man’s heart and spirit to open his understanding of God’s love and truth. Furthermore, Jesus’ words serve to open the understanding of all those present, including His disciples. Jesus is no mere man, no mere prophet, but He is the Messiah, the God-Man who has come to save us from our sins.

“And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” The people wanted a King David style Messiah. They wanted a Messiah to drive out the Romans and reestablish the Davidic monarchy as is described in the Book of Chronicles. But Jesus is so much more. Jesus has come to liberate us from our spiritual bondage, from the prison of sin and self. Jesus wants us to finally believe in Him so that we may understand.

I remember when I didn’t know Christ. I understood nothing. I didn’t know His love for Me. I didn’t know that life was supposed to be so much different and better. I didn’t know that great plans that God had for me. I didn’t know how much I needed saving, how much I needed Him. You might say that I didn’t know what I didn’t know! When Jesus revealed Himself to me, He healed me of my blindness, my deafness, and my inability to speak. I began to see, hear, and to understand. He gave me the Word of truth so that I could speak it to others.

My friends, this is what we all need. We need Jesus to say to us, “Ephphatha, be opened,” so that we might truly come to know and understand who He is, so that by Him, we might truly see ourselves and everything else.
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+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.