Disciples Must Hear Properly to Speak Properly

Here we are again. Welcome back to our study of Mark’s Gospel. As we’ve been learning throughout this series, this book is about discipleship. You see, Mark doesn’t just tell us what Jesus did; he gives us the real life experiences of men who followed the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. And while none of us today are physically following the Lord on dusty roads or sitting with Him by the sea of Galilee, there are parallels between the lives of those first disciples and our own. The question then becomes,

How is our discipleship journey similar to the original disciples?

Our journey’s are similar in at least three general areas of life. What are they?

Learning

Testing

Serving

Let’s briefly touch on these areas, and as we do, you should to be thinking to yourself are all of these three areas present in my life. Am I learning more about Jesus as I study the Bible? How am I responding to the trials and obstacles that I face in my life? Am responding with faith or with fear. And finally am I putting what I’m learning into practice. Am I serving in church? Am I having Biblical conversations with people in my life? You see, as disciples you should be taking what you learn in here, and giving it to the people out there. And don’t think you have to go on a mission trip overseas to talk to people about Jesus. Talk to the people at your work. Talk to your friends. Talk to your family. All of us have unchurched people in our lives and we all have opportunities to have spiritual conversations everyday. Focus on the people you know.

So, now let’s talk about the three different areas. First and foremost the life of a disciple is about learning. The Greek word for disciple means a pupil or a learner. As a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ you will be a student for the rest of your life. I know that probably bums a lot of people out to hear that, but it’s the truth.

And believe me when I talk to people about this I get all kinds of push back. I hear things like, “I don’t like to read. Or I can’t ever remember what I study so I focus more on prayer.” Listen, you have to get rid of that mindset. God has given every person in this room a brain with the ability to learn, but not only that we have the Holy Spirit within us teaching you. You have the ability to learn, and you have God’s indwelling presence within you.

What would you say if I asked you to describe you Christian life in one word? What would be your one word answer? If you asked me to describe my life as a Christian in one word. I would say, Student. I am a student before I am anything else. That is where is all begins. All of us as disciples have to get from the Lord before we give out. We saw this modeled in the miraculous feeding of the 5000. The disciples don’t have the resources to feed the crowd so they go get the bread and fish from Jesus and then they gave it to the crowd. Discipleship is about receiving from the Lord, giving it out to people , and then returning to Jesus for more.

Secondly, just like the original disciples our faith is going to be tested. Every one of us in this life will have our faith tested. We are going to have trials and tribulations over the course of our lives. We are going to have moments of deep despair. We are going to have situations that cause us to throw our hands up and say why God? Why did you let this happen?

But do you what the Biblical response is to these trials?

I’ll give you a hint. James tell us. What does James say? We should count it all joy.

James 1:2–4 NKJV

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

You see, when our faith is tested by the various trials in life we shouldn’t complain. We shouldn’t let these situations lead us into the depths of despair. We should face them and say, “this testing is of my faith has a positive and highly beneficial purpose in the plan of God.” That should be our response We should realize God is using these painful circumstances to produce something in us. James says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. That Greek word translated patience could more accurately be translated as perseverance or endurance. James is saying the testing of our faith produces steadfast endurance. Here is a great quote.

The Epistle of James: Proven Character through Testing A. By Welcoming Them (1:2–11)

God is in the business of building up strong Christian men and women who can “persevere” in hard times without fainting.

The point is when we face these various trials we need to view them with the eye of faith. We need to be able to count them as joy knowing that this process is building us up so we can endure without falling away. And the ultimate goal of these trials is i to produce a mature complete faith. That is what James says in verse 4.

James 1:4 NKJV

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

What James is saying is that we should also be patient during our trials so that they can have the desired effect. We could translate the first part of verse 4 this way. “Let endurance have its complete work… You see, so often in our struggles all we do is beg God for them to be over as fast as possible. But what we should be praying is that we are able to patiently endure them and gain every possible bit of spiritual benefit from them. James says, let endurance have its end goal. Be patience and let endurance keep working so that you get every bit of spiritual benefit you can from the trial you are facing. Then he finishes by saying, “So that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing”. Of course perfect doesn’t mean sinless perfection. It means mature, complete, and without deficiency.

So, looking back at our 3 elements of discipleship.

Learning

Testing

Serving

We talked about learning, and testing. The third element is service. I’m not going to spend much time here, but this is what the learning and testing are driving towards. Disciples are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said I came not to be served but to serve. Disciples should mirror that attitude. Ultimately, the goal of all of our discipleship training and testing should lead to service. All disciples have the privilege of carrying on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me summarize all of this in a statement.

Discipleship is truth learned, faith tested, and obedience lived out.

And all three of these areas are found throughout Mark’s gospel. We see Jesus teaching, testing, and sending out His disciples. And the Lord is still doing these same things in the lives of disciples today.

OK, there is a quick ten minute lesson on discipleship. Now, let's quickly review f where we are in Mark’s Gospel so we can tackle our Scripture for today.

Jesus is nearing the end of His public ministry. We’ve seen Him fiercely opposed by the Jewish religious authorities—and now, they’ve turned up the heat. Their constant hounding and spying have driven Jesus into the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.

As we learned last week, these cities were no friends of the Jewish people. Yet in this unclean, Gentile territory, we encountered a woman of great faith—someone who not only believed that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel, but who also believed that His mercy and grace would extend beyond the Jewish nation.

So, for the next couple of weeks we are going to see Jesus expand His ministry to include the gentiles as well. Simply put, this next section of Mark’s Gospel makes it unmistakably clear: Jesus is the bread of life for both Jews and Gentiles. To put it plainly, Jesus offers eternal life to the whole world, not just the Jews.

Now, in today’s passage, we’ll witness the Lord heal a man who was both deaf and unable to speak. But what’s truly remarkable isn’t just the miracle—it’s the response of the Gentile crowds. They received Jesus and responded to Him the way the nation of Israel should have. Where Israel resisted, the gentiles received.

So, this is what Jesus is teaching HIs disciples by journeying into these gentile areas.

The Jewish nation was rejecting its King, so Jesus went to people who would listen.

Simply put, the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ would include Gentiles too. Yes, Jesus came to the nation of Israel first—that was always the plan. But ultimately, His eternal kingdom would reach beyond Israel and include the Gentiles as well.

Now, even though this truth was spoken of in the Old Testament, it wasn’t being taught by the religious authorities. In other words, the disciples would never have thought to include Gentiles as part of their ministry work. That idea wasn’t even on their radar. They could not have imagined the nations being included in God’s redemptive plan. But Jesus was about to change all of that by showing them, step by step, that God’s redemptive plan was never meant for Israel alone, but for all people everywhere. To the Jew first and then the gentile

Ok, with all that being said, we are ready to dive into today’s text, but first let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.

Mark 7:31 NKJV

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.

Ok, as we get rolling here let’s take a look at our map.

Map Slide

Last week we saw Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and more than likely He made it to Sidon up top here, and then turns around and follows this path marked on the right side of the map. What I want you to notice is that Jesus steers clear of Galilee, and stays on the east side of the sea of Galilee. In other words, Jesus’ route keeps Him in predominately gentile areas. And we see he comes through this region of Decapolis and finally to the sea of Galilee. Which is what verse 31 says.

Mark 7:31 NKJV

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.

Now there’s something I want you to remember about this region of Decapolis. It was mentioned back in Mark chapter 5. If you recall, Jesus had crossed over to the east side of the Sea of Galilee—and that’s where He encountered the man possessed by a legion of demons.

This is when Jesus cast out a legion of demons and sent them into a herd of two thousand pigs, and the pigs rush down the cliff and drown themselves in the sea. Well, the people were so shaken by what happened that they begged Jesus to leave. And He did — but He left the demonic behind as a witness.

So, this man who had been possessed, wandering naked among the tombs, was now clothed, calm, and in his right mind. And Jesus gave him a mission: “Go home to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

So this man didn’t just tell his people what had happened — he went further. He spread the news throughout the whole region.

Mark 5:20 NKJV

20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

Here’s what’s amazing: Jesus used this man as a missionary to the Gentiles. In many ways, he became a kind of John the Baptist to the Gentile world — a voice preparing the way. So when Jesus now returns to the region of the Decapolis, the people already knew who He was. Why? Because of the faithful witness of the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. His testimony had far reaching effects, so that when Jesus came again, they were ready to receive Him.

In fact, listen to how Matthew records Jesus experience in the Decapolis region.

Matthew 15:30–31 NKJV

30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

So, this gives us the background information for the healing we are about to study in our passage. Mark’s account zeros in on the healing on one particular man, and Mark is the only Gospel that records this particular healing. Let’s pick up at verse 32

Mark 7:32 NKJV

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.

Here we see the people bringing Jesus a man who could not hear and who had a severe impediment in his speech. Now, many commentators point out that where our English Bible says, “he had an impediment in his speech,” the Greek text actually uses a single, and it’s a rare word. In fact, this is the only place in the entire New Testament where that word appears. What’s even more fascinating is that in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, that same word shows up only once — in Isaiah 35.

Isaiah 35:5–6 NKJV

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.

Now you might be thinking, “Well, that’s interesting, William, but what’s the big deal?” Here’s the point: Isaiah 35 is a prophecy about the coming Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a vision of the day when all things will be made right — when the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, and the mute will sing for joy.

So what’s happening here in Mark 7 is more than just a healing. This miracle is a preview — a foreshadowing — of the Kingdom to come. And notice this: it’s happening in Gentile territory. In other words, Jesus is showing His disciples that the blessings of His Kingdom are not limited to Israel. The deaf man in Decapolis is living proof that the Kingdom of God will include the nations as well.

So they have brought the deaf man who could barley speak to Jesus, and moving on to verse 33 and 34 its,

Mark 7:33–34 NKJV

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.”

Now, I love the picture that these verse gives us. Remember this man is deaf so Jesus couldn’t speak to Him. So, He pulls the man aside, and it is almost like He is using sign language to communicate. He puts His fingers in the man’s ears. It is like he is showing the man by touching his ears that He was getting ready to heal them.

Next it says He spat and touched the man’s tongue. It is most likely that He spit on His finger and then touched the man tongue. Again, Jesus is letting him know that He is getting ready to heal His speech, but Here is the best part. Verse 34 says, “Then looking up to heaven”.

You see, Jesus wanted this man to understand where the healing was coming from. He wanted him to know that this was not some kind of magic ritual, not a trick, not superstition. No — this was the power of God. By looking up to heaven, Jesus was pointing the man to the true source of his healing.

But notice also what Mark tells us: when Jesus looked up to heaven, “He sighed.” The Greek word used here is rare — it only appears about six times in the New Testament. One of those occurrences is in Romans 8, where Paul describes all of creation groaning as it waits for God’s kingdom to come, when every effect of sin will finally be undone.

That connection is powerful. It suggests that in this moment, Jesus Himself is groaning — not out of frustration, but out of deep sorrow over the brokenness of His creation. He feels the weight of a fallen world. And then He speaks a single Aramaic word: “Ephphatha” — “Be opened.”

With that command, ears that had been closed are opened, a tongue that had been bound is loosed, and a life that had been silenced is set free. Then verse 35 says,

Mark 7:35 NKJV

35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.

How amazing. Think about the power of the Lord’s speech. We have seen Him speak to the wind and the waves telling them to be still, and they obeyed. Now we see Jesus speak to this man’s ears telling them to be opened and they are. This is truly God in the flesh. This is the man who spoke the worlds into existence. This is God who created us. This is Jesus who is coming again to establish an eternal kingdom, and when we does all of creation will no longer groan under the weight of sin because all will be made right.

This is the coming King who will rule from the throne of David, the One who has defeated sin, the One who crushed the serpent’s head, and the One who triumphed over death. And in this book (the Bible) we have eye witnesses accounts of the men who walked with Him, talked with Him, and saw these miracles first hand. And God is speaking to us through His word today. The question is, Will you listen?

Will you hear what God’s word is saying to us?

Will you hear the testimony of God’s word telling us to believe in the name of His son. For whosoever believeth in Him shall never perish but has everlasting life. Jesus Christ has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is the only One who has the power over life and death. The only place to find eternal life is in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to the Father. We must hear and believe in the Son.

You see, this man’s physical healing teaches us a deep spiritual truth. Man can harden His heart against God’s word, and wind up just like this deaf man, unable to hear truth and unable to speak truth.

In fact, I think this deaf man is a picture of unbelieving Israel. Their Messiah had come. He had offered them the kingdom, and yet they haven’t heard a word He had said. And because they hadn’t heard, they were unable to proclaim that their Messiah had come. Instead of the religious leaders proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah, they accuse Him of being possessed by an unclean spirit. They speak out against Him saying, that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan. You see, the Jewish religious authorities couldn’t speak properly because they couldn’t hear. So here is a take away for us.

Defective speech is caused by defective hearing, both physically and spiritually

Here is the tragedy of all of this. These gentiles were “listening” while Jesus own people were not. They were hearing Jesus, and so they are able to speak properly regarding Jesus. Look back at what verse 35 says,

Mark 7:35 NKJV

35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.

It says the man’s ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Let me point out another detail here. Whatever speaking ability this man had was extremely limited. His tongue had never properly learned to pronounce the sounds and syllables correctly. But notice it says after Jesus’ touch that He spoke plainly. Under normal circumstances these man would have to undergo years of speech therapy learned how to speak properly. But He needs none of that. This man can hear, and He can speak plainly. And this tense of the verb in Greek means he “was speaking plainly”. In other words, this man was continuously speaking.

Now look at how the gentiles react.

Mark 7:36–37 NKJV

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.”

Notice what the Gentiles are proclaiming about Jesus in verse 37. They said, He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Remember what we learned earlier—opening deaf ears and loosening mute tongues were prophetic words spoken by Isaiah about the coming Kingdom. And here’s the major takeaway: these Gentiles are truly hearing. And because they are hearing they are able to speak correctly about Jesus. And their hearing and good confession are possible only because their hearts were open.

These gentiles are “listening” while many in the Jewish nation are not. Just like the deaf man, their ears are opened to what Christ was teaching, and as we will see next week they will come by the thousands to listen to Him. What a stinging rebuke to the nation of Israel. The very people who had the promises, the prophets, and the Scriptures are missing the moment. While outsiders—Gentiles—are recognizing the Messiah and responding in faith.

So, as I work to close here, I want us to take note of something.

The nation of Israel was in bondage to religious tradition. Centuries of legalistic teaching had weighed them down so heavily that they couldn’t hear what Jesus was saying. Even though they had the Scriptures—clear prophecies about what the Messiah would do—they couldn’t recognize Him. They couldn’t hear Him.

Why?

Because He didn’t fit the mold their tradition had built. When Jesus didn’t follow their legalistic rituals, they assumed He was defiled. In their minds, there was no way centuries of highly respected rabbis could have gotten it wrong, while this Carpenter from Nazareth got it right. So when Jesus taught things that challenged tradition, it simply fell on deaf ears.

As disciples we cannot make this mistake. Just because we have been taught things our entire life doesn’t make them true. You know what makes something true. Finding it in the word of God. Here is my final point.

Disciples must hear properly, to speak properly

If our ears aren’t open to the voice of Jesus, our mouths won’t proclaim the truth of Jesus. If we’re listening to tradition more than Scripture, we’ll end up echoing religion instead of declaring redemption.

So let’s be disciples who hear well—who listen with open hearts, who test everything by the Word of God, and who speak with clarity, conviction, and grace.

Because if we are truly hearing Jesus, then we can speak properly to others about who Jesus is. He is the savior of the whole world. Amen.

Let’s pray.