Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound (Mark 7:31–37)

31 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32 Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

This story of a physical healing is an illustration of that fact that even if people are deaf to God (as the Pharisees were) Jesus can heal them. The actions used by Jesus were intended to make the man understand that this was not healing by magic but healing by God in answer to prayer. Jesus wanted to create faith in the man before he would heal.

I. Ten Towns.

A. The Decapolis, literally “ten cities” , was predominantly inhabited by non-Jews, though many Jews also lived there.

Jesus left the region of Tyre, crossed the Sea of Galilee, and returned to the area of Decapolis, where he had previously cured a demon-possessed man.

Decapolis, a predominantly Gentile region consisting of ten towns east of the Jordan River. Jesus is now moving outside of Israel, a hint of where the church will go. In modern geographic terms he traveled through parts of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

B. Now Jesus was asked to perform a miracle on a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.

Deaf-mutes were protected under Jewish law but classed with other groups (women, slaves, imbeciles, minors) not educated enough to keep the law.

The people begged Jesus to heal him. This showed their concern for their friend, since he could not make the request himself because of his speech impediment. Jesus responded with compassion to their faith.

II. Looking up to heaven.

A. Jesus showed his connection with heaven.

Ephphatha is an Aramaic word that means “be opened, be released.” The man did not hear Jesus speak, but the creation heard the command of the Creator, and the man was healed. Both the tongue and the ears functioned normally again. As usual, Jesus commanded silence, and as usual, he was disobeyed.

The word of command was spoken in the man’s own native Aramaic, which Mark interprets for his non-Palestinian church. This word could easily be lip-read by a deaf person. This Aramaic word may indicate that the man was not a Gentile.

B. Jesus then gave a deep sigh. This showed the incredible empathy of Jesus.

This was an inward groan indicating Christ’s compassionate response to the needs of this man. He not only felt for him—he felt with him . Jesus uttered a one word prayer—Ephphatha—which is Aramaic for “be opened.” Mark felt the need to explain this to his Roman readers. Jesus’ prayer was answered immediately.

This man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosed, and his speech impediment was gone. This miracle is recorded only in Mark. Mark’s Gentile readers could rejoice because the good news was for them as well.

III. Jesus took the man away from the crowd.

A. Jesus communicated with him in a way that he could understand.

This is just like jesus isn’t it. He meets us where we are so he can take us where he wants us to go. Crowds normally gathered to see magicians do their tricks, and this crowd would have preferred to have seen Jesus heal a man in front of them, though he does not do so.

Jesus took the man away from the crowd so that the healing would be private and the man would not become a public attraction. Since the man was deaf, he could not hear our Lord’s words, but he could feel Jesus’ fingers in his ear and the touch on his tongue; and this would encourage the man’s faith.

B. Jesus used sign language and symbolic acts that uniquely suited the man’s needs and caused him to exercise faith.

Notice that Jesus placed his fingers in the man’s ears. This seems to indicate his hearing would be restored. Saliva on the tongue indicated that his tongue would be healed so he could talk. Jesus could not speak to the man, touching him was an important way of expressing concern.

Jesus commanded the people to keep this miracle to themselves, but these people were overwhelmed with what they had witnessed. The statement He has done everything well is the same statement God made in Genesis 1:31: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Only Jesus can restore us to the position and purpose for which God created us. The words He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak reflect a similar saying in Isaiah 35:5–6, which refers to the healing power of the coming Messiah. The Messiah had come, and Mark wanted to show that he had come for the Gentiles as well.