Week 35: Day 4
Join Lauren today as she reflects on Jesus healing a deaf man in Mark 7!
There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Intro: Welcome back to Orbit, I’m author Lauren Windle and I’m going to give you a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life today.
Bible: Today's reading comes from Mark chapter 7, and we’re looking at verses 32-35:
There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Thoughts: Here we’ve got Jesus performing another one of his incredible miracles. Throughout the gospels he heals people of various horrible aliments (also let’s bear in mind that this wasn’t a time where you could nip to your GP so most of these people would have expected to suffer these things for their entire life). But despite there being many instances of Jesus working in this way, there’s something unique we can learn from each of them.
Firstly if you take a look at Bible commentaries or study it at all, you’ll see the incredible way the old and new testament weave together. This miracle was prophesied by Isiah around 700 years before Jesus was born. In Isiah 35:5 it’s written: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.”
Second, this bloke’s friends begged Jesus to heal their mate. This is the true power of intercession, don’t think for one second because you can’t physically turn up and knock on a door to ask for Jesus’ help that he can’t transform your friends’ lives in the same way. Praying for those around you is powerful and you have the ability to partner with Jesus in improving their circumstances in line with his will.
Lastly, let’s address the elephant in the room. This is a weird – and maybe even a bit gross way to heal someone. If you went to a doctor today with the same problem and they stuck a finger in your ear and spat on your tongue you’d report that person to the appropriate regulatory body. But this wasn’t just Jesus being in a weird mood. There was a point to this.
Jesus is never formulaic about the way he heals people, sometimes they approach him, sometimes he approaches them. Sometimes he uses a word, sometimes he doesn’t talk at all, sometimes he heals someone in response to their faith and sometimes in response to the faith of another. If ever time Jesus had healed someone he had used the same five words, we would all be chanting them over and over again. We would think the power lay with that magic combination of words. But it doesn’t the power lay with God.
With this guy in particular, he was popular, friends had probably been praying for him. But Jesus wanted to show that he was different. He didn’t have cookie cutter methods, but he tailored them to the individual he was speaking to. And quiet frankly, the fact that Christ would bother, the fact that the son of God would care enough to not only heal that man but offer him a bespoke interaction based on what he discerned of his character, that is spectacular and available to each of us today.
Pray: Jesus, thank you for the way you adapt yourself to my needs so that I can understand you better. I want to know more of you and grow in your likeness. Show me who I can be praying for and give me the wisdom to speak to them in a way that will specifically touch their heart. Amen
Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.
Action: As you know on Orbit there’s a little challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's:
Today, I want you to pray for a friend. That could be someone who, like the man in today’s passage is physically unwell or it could be someone who is struggling in another way. It could even be someone who doesn’t outwardly seem to be struggling at all, everyone is processing something even if it’s not apparent from the outside. Pray for God’s guidance on how to support them but also on how to pray for them. Then set aside some time to petition to God for him to work miracles in their life and abundantly bless them.
Outro: That's all for Orbit today. Check back in tomorrow and when we’ll be back with another reflection.