Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Our Gospel text seems very plain and simple. Jesus heals a man who was deaf and mute. Ok, we know this happened. We believe it’s true. Jesus has the power to open the ears and mouth of the deaf. No believer questions that. But what about this story is so important that the church fathers thought it should be read on the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity every year? Every Gospel reading of the year is meant to teach us one of the core doctrines of the faith. Jesus heals a deaf man. What important teaching do we learn here?

First, we ought to consider the miracle of hearing and speech. When a miracle happens every day, we tend to forget how extraordinary it is—until you encounter someone who can’t hear or speak. These abilities are a gift from God our heavenly Father. We confess this in the Small Catechism: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and senses, and still takes care of them.”

Of all the senses, Martin Luther said that hearing is the most important. Why? “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). The ears are the organ of faith. Only after we hear can we learn to speak. And this too is important. The Bible tells us that “with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom 10:10b). The devil would love nothing better than to close the ears and mouth of every person on earth, so that no one could hear of Christ, believe, confess, and be saved. Our enemy uses every tool in his arsenal to accomplish this wicked task, including physical disability.

This is why Jesus sighs when he sees the deaf and mute man, because of pity for this poor man, burdened by the snares and deceits of the devil. He had come to take sincere pity, not just on this man, but on all the hurts of the whole human race. Jesus was concerned not only about one tongue and set of ears, but over the tongues and ears of all people. Yes, he sighed over every heart, body, soul, and all people from Adam to the last human being who is yet to be born.

Christ saw how the devil had brought great harm in Paradise, made people mute and deaf, and caused the children of Adam to suffer under sickness, disease, sin, and death. He sighs as if he were stuck in the sins and harm in which we are stuck. He sighs because of the devil who has brought about this suffering. He sighs out of compassion for the whole sorry human race, including the poor man standing before him. But that’s not all Jesus does. He didn’t come to earth only to know our suffering and experience our pain. No, he came to break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hear God’s Holy Word or let his kingdom come. He came to remove the impediments from our ears, to loosen our tongues, and to open our mouths.

Jesus is especially occupied with the ears and the tongue, because the kingdom of Christ is found in the Word of God. He rules in the hearts of people by his Word and faith. The ears grasp the Word, the heart believes it, and the tongue confesses what the ears have heard and the heart believes. So, if we do away with the tongue and ears, there is no significant difference between the kingdom of Christ and of the world.

Think about it. What’s the difference between you and most unbelievers? You get up and go to work in the morning? So do they. You love your children and provide for your family? So do they. You try to be a kind person? So do they. You haven’t killed anyone, committed adultery, or robbed any banks. Most unbelievers could say the same. Then what’s the difference? Only the mouth and the tongue make a difference between Christians and unbelievers. A Christian has ears that hear the words of Christ and a tongue that gives praise and glory to God.

This is why the devil’s chief aim is to keep us from hearing Jesus. He will do anything he can to keep God’s Word from transforming people into believers. And what tools does he use? Certainly, sickness and physical impairment. Some people are born without the ability to hear. Can they become Christians? Yes, they can, but they must learn to hear God’s Word without the aid of ears. Deaf people learn to hear with their eyes, and they speak with their hands. But the devil uses many other tools. It’s possible to have ears in perfect working order, but be unable to hear what Jesus has to say. How? Simply by being too busy. There are a thousand things in life to be concerned with other than hearing Jesus: entertainment, work, sports, even family – all good things if the Word of God comes first; but good things turn into idols if we put them first.

As far as I know, everyone here today was born with a functioning pair of ears. And yet, each one of us was born unable to hear Jesus. Why’s that? Because your ears were blocked by sin and unbelief. It’s not only that we were incapable of hearing, we also didn’t want to hear. The carnal mind is at odds with God. It can’t hear the things of God. It doesn’t want to hear what God has to say. You were just like the man in our Gospel text: spiritually unable to hear and unable to speak. And nobody could help you except Jesus. Our text says, “They brought the man to Jesus.” Who brought him to Jesus? Who brought you to Jesus? Perhaps it was your parents, or your grandparents, or your friends. Thank God that they did, because only Jesus can make the deaf hear and the mute speak.

And what did Jesus do? He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Sounds kind of strange! If the man could have talked, what would he have said? What would you have said? Hey, Stranger! Get your hands out of my ears! Sure, I let all kinds of junk into my ears – gossip, crude jokes, filthy words, but don’t you put your fingers in my ears. And looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened” (Mk 7:36). Where have you heard this word before? I’ll tell you. It’s part of our baptismal liturgy. The pastor places his hand on the child or the person being baptized and says this same word of Jesus, “Ephphatha.” With this word Jesus commands ears that are blocked to hear. He hinders the evil plan of the devil who did not want that child to come to Jesus or to hear and learn his words. He breaks open the hard ground of our hearts and plants the seed of faith within us. He loosens our tongues so that we may confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. “Ephphatha!” And remember what happens when Jesus says something? What he says is what happens.

Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly (Mk 7:35). This is what our Lord does, and he does it for anyone who comes to him—or rather, who is brought to him. Jesus loosens what the devil has bound. He opens what unbelief has shut. And he fills the empty mouth with his praise. It’s what he did for the poor man who was brought to him. It’s what he did for you when you were brought to him. Oh yes, our Lord does all things well. He gives us ears. He opens those ears. And then he fills them with the Word of Life. Amen.