Trinity
12
Mk
7:31-37
9/4/22
During
the first two years that I was pastor at Good Shepherd, I visited a homebound
member, Bev Chapman. I had not
experienced anything like Bev during my brief time in the ministry up to that
point, nor have I seen anything like it since then.
Bev
had mobility issues, which unfortunately, is not unusual for someone in their late
eighties. But what was entirely unique
about Bev was that she was unable to speak.
I never was given an exact explanation about what had happened – Bev
certainly couldn’t provide it to me. However,
it was apparent that she had experienced some kind of stroke that had damaged her
brain.
Bev
was completely alert and her mind was still sharp. Her smiles and nods indicated that she
understood everything that I was saying. However, she was completely unable to
speak in response to anything I said. You could see the frustration on her face,
because while she had thoughts she wanted to share, her brain simply would not
allow her to articulate them in speech.
Visiting
with Bev was truly a one way conversation.
I would tell her about things at church and about my family, and she
nodded and smiled. But she could not
respond and say anything to me. I could only
imagine how frustrating it had to be for Bev – to have thoughts you wanted to
share but not be able to speak them.
In
the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus encounters a man who is deaf and has a
speech impediment. No doubt communication for him had to be nearly impossible
since he could not hear what others said, and his ability to speak was severely
limited. Our Lord heals the man with
this touch – a touch that brought the saving reign of God to this
individual. In the miracle, Jesus
demonstrates that he is the presence of God’s end time salvation in this world.
Our text begins by saying, “Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through
Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.” Immediately before our text, Jesus had been
in the area of Tyre and Sidon – northwest of Galilee on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea. There he had healed
the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman.
Now, Jesus had returned to the Sea of Galilee and had ventured into an
area that was east and south of there.
The name “Decapolis” refers to the ten Greek cities that had been
founded in that region during the previous centuries. This was an area that had mixture of Gentiles
and Jews, but with the Gentiles certainly being the majority.
Mark tells us,
“And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech
impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.” The reports about Jesus’ healing ministry had
spread far and wide. The presence of
Jesus in that area prompted friends to bring this man to Jesus. We learn that he was deaf and had a speech
impediment. It becomes apparent later in the text that the man was able to
speak, but that he could only do so with great difficulty – his speech was not
clear. We don’t learn anything about how
this condition had come about, but obviously it was a great burden for this
man.
The friends who brought the man
asked Jesus to lay his hand on him.
There are numerous occasions in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus heals by
touching someone. This man certainly
received the full treatment. We learn that Jesus took him aside from the crowd
privately. He put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched
his tongue. Then looking up to heaven he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” which
means, “Be opened.” Then, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was
released, and he spoke plainly.
By healing the man, Jesus
demonstrates that he is the presence of God’s saving reign in the world. Jesus is the presence of the kingdom of God
which is overcoming sin, death, and the devil.
Mark tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: “Now after John
was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and
saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
In word and deed, Jesus Christ was the presence of God’s end time action
to bring salvation.
In our text, the Greek word used to
describe the man’s speech impediment helps to make this clear. It is a rare word – in fact it only occurs
twice in the New Testament and the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The
other place it occurs is in Isaiah chapter thirty five where the prophet speaks
about how God is going to bring his salvation.
Isaiah writes: “They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”
Isaiah
was right. Our God did come and save
us. It happened as Son of God was
conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. The Son of God entered into our world in
order to bring God’s reign. In the incarnation he became man, without ceasing
to be God. Jesus Christ came to bring
release from sin and all that it has caused.
Certainly, we
see the sin in our own lives. Earlier in
this chapter Jesus described this when he said, “For from within, out of the
heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride,
foolishness. All these things come from within, and they defile a person.”
We
also see the impact that sin has had through the fallenness of this world. We
see it in the physical ailments that afflict us. We see it in the cancer, diabetes, and heart
disease. We see it in the anxiety and
depression that burden our lives. Yet all of these things are merely symptoms of
the death that sin is working in us.
Because of sin we are in the process of dying all the time. Sin brings death. And even more importantly, sin brings the
eternal death of God’s judgment. It brings the holy God’s wrath that damns.
The
Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in the world to bring God’s reign that overcomes
sin and death. His miracle demonstrates this as he frees the man from deafness
and the inability to speak. However, all
of the miracles performed by our Lord point to the single great act by which he
has dealt with sin that is the root cause of all that is wrong in our lives and
world. And all of the miracles point to the act of God in Christ by which he
has defeated death.
In
our text we learn that the man’s friends begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. However, the Son of God was in the world with
human hands to do more than heal individuals.
He was here with hands to be nailed to a cross. In the next chapter, Peter confesses that
Jesus is the Christ. Then Mark tells us:
“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes
and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
The
Son of God was in the world to die. His death on the cross was the means by
which God provided the answer to sin.
Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Christ suffered and died for our sin. Through
his crucifixion he has won forgiveness and freed us from sin.
Jesus
won forgiveness for us through death. He
was buried in a tomb. Yet this death was different. Everyone else who has ever died, died because
of their own sin. Jesus, the sinless Son
of God, died because of our sin. His
death was not only means by which the Father has given us forgiveness, it was
also the way God has defeated death forever.
On the morning
of Easter, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the
tomb with spices to anoint Jesus’ body. But the stone was rolled away and an
angel said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” God the Father raised Jesus from the dead
with a body that will never die again.
Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, death will
never be able to hold on to us. As the
forgiven children of God, to die is to be with Christ, and our Lord will return
in glory on the Last Day to raise our bodies and transform them to be like his.
In
our text, Jesus Christ is the presence of God’s reign as he touches the
man. The Lord continues to do the same
thing for us today. Christ, who is still
true God and true man, comes into our midst in the Sacrament of the Altar. In
the Sanctus we sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” because
that is exactly what happens as Jesus’ powerful word is spoken over the bread
and wine. The true body and blood of the
risen Lord are present on the altar. Our
Lord is present in his body and blood, given and shed for you for the
forgiveness of sins. He touches us as we eat his body and drink his blood.
When
he does this, he gives you the forgiveness that he won on the cross. He gives you food for the new man, so that
you are strengthened in faith and can continue in this pilgrimage of life. The risen Lord gives his body and blood into
you, and so you know that your body will share in his resurrection.
At
the end of our text we learn, “And they were astonished beyond all measure
saying, ‘He has done all things well. He
even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”
By healing the man, Jesus Christ was the presence of God’s saving reign
– the kingdom of God. Our God has come
in the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. He
has not only made the deaf hear and the mute speak, but by his death on the
cross and resurrection from the dead he has given us the forgiveness of sins
and the defeat of death. He has done all
things well. He is doing all things well as his reign continues to be present
with us through his Means of Grace. And he will do all things well on the Last
Day when he returns in glory.
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