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Ephphatha!


There is, hidden within the passage from Mark 7:31-37, a powerful one-word command from Jesus.  In fact, it is the one and only word he spoke in this event of healing a deaf man who was also mute.

We see what Jesus accomplished in verses 33-35, “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.”

Jesus spoke in his native language, which was Aramaic, a word that meant “be opened.” Jesus uses this word to heal a man who could not hear nor communicate. Ephphatha (ef-fah-thah). Jesus commands the man’s ears to open and his tongue to loosen. The man can now hear and speak because of Jesus!

May we, too, receive the gift of Ephphatha? This gift that we can receive was part of the mission in which Jesus came to accomplish. He came to heal the many forms of deafness that plagues his people and his church.

Jesus visits us and helps us to open our ears, minds, and spirit to where we have become deaf to the world, others and our own sins and waywardness in order to say to us “be opened!” Jesus shows us that we cannot stand idly by and remain deaf to the needs, cries and concerns of our brothers and sisters. We cannot turn a deaf-ear to the voice of the Holy Spirit guiding us and confronting us of our own sin.

May we never be silent or deaf to the plight of human suffering and not turn away as if we do not see it or have time to engage it with compassion. Jesus challenges our state of denial and any excuse we may come up with to focus more on our own issues of life than those of others.

Jesus also says “be opened” to our own deafness to repent, change or rid ourselves of sin that weighs us down and hinders our relationship with God (Hebrews 12:1). Through crafty excuses and well-defended justifications, we can become deaf to our own conscience.

Our minds can go numb and our hearts cold. We can become callous to the ways of God and more accepting of societal norms. We can even become deaf to the voices of loved ones and friends around us who try to love, mentor, warn, and guide us back to the narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14). Slipping back into the ways of the world can be spiritually dangerous.

Jesus does not want us to become consumed with “self” that leads to isolation and destruction. Jesus speaks and says “Ephphatha…be opened” to hear the concerns of others and to see where we can speak the life-giving words of Jesus to someone around us. “Ephphatha…be opened” to hear the Holy Spirit guiding us closer to God and further from the darkness of the world that bids our demise.

Embracing “Ephphatha” helps us to become so aware of those around us that we begin to see the face of God in each person especially the most vulnerable, the outcast, and many who live on the fringes of society. We will even begin to see that those who were once written off and marked as unlovable or unwinnable are still redeemable through the blood of Jesus Christ.

We need to trust in the power of Jesus contained in the word “Ephphatha!” Be opened to trusting that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit where our ears are opened and our tongues loosened to love others and minister to them in the way Jesus shows it to us. We can be opened to trusting the Holy Spirit to forsake unrighteousness and “self” to become more like Christ. Be opened!! Ephphatha! 

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