Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Sunday July 28, 2024}

Matthew 15:29-31, Mark 7:31-37

Father, there are countless people to whom Jesus has ministered that we never hear about. There are millions, if not billions, of stories of encounters with Jesus that cannot be read on the Internet. Jesus is still doing ministry today, touching lives privately in every community on earth. He does not rest. I thank You that Jesus came into my life on a mission to save me. Father, lead me to bring the physically and spiritually lame, the blind, the mute, and the deaf before You in prayer. Give me a heart of compassion so that I'm the one that connects someone in need with the Son of God who can heal them. Father, as a follower of Jesus, help me to do all things with excellence. However, help me also to give all the glory to Him and not receive it for myself. Amen.

Father, the text tells us that Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre. His destination was the Decapolis, about 50 miles to the southeast if one traveled by aircraft. However, the text tells us that Jesus went about 20 miles north to the region of Sidon before reversing course and heading south. Many have used this 40-mile geographic error by the writer of Mark to question that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. They claim the writer could not be familiar with the geography of the region. If he was, he would not write about Jesus going to Sidon and then going to the Decapolis. Therefore, it is charged that the writer was making things up.

However, there are at least three problems with this textual criticism:

1. Jesus may have traveled to Sidon for purposes of ministry. The absence of a description of what He did in that region, how long He was there, or who He encountered, does not mean He didn’t go there intentionally. In John 21:25, we read that Jesus did many more things than were reported in the gospels. It is reasonable to conclude He touched lives in the area of Sidon that were not recorded in the gospels.
2. In Mark 7:26, the writer of Mark describes the Canaanite woman, who pleaded for Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter, as a Syrian Phoenician native. In other words, the writer was familiar with the region of Syria Phoenicia, which would include the location of Sidon.
3. A simple look at the map reveals that there is a mountainous region between Tyre and the Sea of Galilee. One either travels a circuitous route north or south to avoid the higher elevation. It is likely that Jesus took the southern route to travel to Tyre. Jesus has spent a great deal of time already in the area to the south, which included His hometown of Nazareth. The gospels do not report Jesus had spent much time in Sidon so far. When faced with the choice, it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus chose to go north to a people He has yet to minister to.

Jesus eventually arrived in the Decapolis. He likely passed by the area of Gadara where He had sent the legion of demons into the 2,000 pigs. The text tells us that Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down.
Great crowds of people came to Him, bringing their friends and loved ones who were lame, blind, crippled, and mute. The text tells us that people with other health issues were also brought to Him.  Some people boldly laid their loved one at Jesus feet.

The text tells us that Jesus healed them. Specifically, Jesus healed the:

1. Mute. Father, open our mouths so that Your church shares the gospel of Jesus Christ with their neighbors. Open our mouths so that we share our testimony of what Jesus has done for us.
2. Crippled and Lame. Father, remove from Your church all things that paralyzes us from obeying the Great Commission and ministering to our neighbors in need.
3. Blind. Father, remove the spiritual blindness from Your church. Open our eyes to see, understand, and apply Biblical truth. Help us to see where we have been deceived and led astray by false doctrine.

A man who was deaf and nearly mute was brought to Jesus by people who obviously had compassion upon him. They cared enough, as a group, to orchestrate his coming to Jesus for healing. They begged Jesus simply to touch the man and he would be healed. What a beautiful portrait of what it is like to pray for our neighbors in need! We bring our neighbors’ plight to Jesus and ask Him to heal them. This is truly loving our neighbor.
Father, I believe that Jesus desires a personal relationship with each and every person. We are not mere numbers. We are not mere faces in a crowd. No, Jesus knows us and wants to fellowship with us. This is illustrated by how He treated this deaf and mute man.

He took the man to a private place where it was just the two of them alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. He spit onto one of His fingers and then touched the man’s tongue. The text tells us that Jesus looked up to heaven and, after He expressed a deep sigh, He said “Ephphatha!”, which means “be opened.”

The man could hear and speak. When the two returned to the man’s friends, they must have been jumping with joy, delighted their loved one had been healed. Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone what had happened. However, that’s exactly what they did. The people were amazed at all that Jesus had done. They praised Him for His excellence.

Father, Jesus does all things well. He is the example for excellence for every one of us. Jesus did nothing without giving His best. Every detail was addressed by Jesus in all that He did. He never overlooked anything. There was never any room for improvement in anything He did.

However, such praise may have further grieved Jesus. Let me illustrate. A wealthy man rents a truck. He fills the truck with vegetables. He hires a driver to drive the truck to a remote village where the people are starving. The food is distributed, and everyone eats. Instead of praising the wealthy man for what he has done, the people are praising the driver. It was the compassion of the wealthy man, and not the driving of the truck, that fed this village.
Similarly, You sent Jesus to minister to these people. Your Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to heal these people. I am confident that, from Jesus’ perspective, You alone deserved all the credit. He wanted You alone to be glorified. Therefore, I believe Jesus was uncomfortable with the praise He received for His excellence. He wanted You to receive all the glory. I believe this is one of the major reasons why Jesus continually told people not to share what He has done for them. He doesn’t want to steal the limelight from His Father in heaven whom He loves so much. Amen.