MARK 7:31-37
I'M HARD OF HEARING. AS
I GET OLDER, IT SEEMS TO BE GETTING WORSE, EVEN WITH MY HEARING AIDS.
I KNOW I PROBABLY WON'T LOSE ALL MY HEARING; MY MOTHER AND MANY OF
HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE HARD OF HEARING, BUT EVEN AT 90 THEY
COULD STILL PARTICIPATE IN A CONVERSATION. BUT IT IS ANNOYING,
ESPECIALLY TO PEOPLE LIKE MY WIFE, WHO SPENDS MUCH OF OUR
CONVERSATIONS REPEATING WHAT SHE JUST SAID. SO I SYMPATHIZE WITH
PEOPLE WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING. LIKE THE THREE MEN WHO WERE SITTING
ON A PARK BENCH. THE FIRST SAID, “IT'S WINDY, ISN'T IT?” THE
SECOND SAID, “NO, IT'S THURSDAY.” THE THIRD SAID, “ME TOO,
LETS GO GET A BEER.”
WE HAVE JUST LISTENED TO
THE ONLY TIME IN SCRIPTURE THAT JESUS HEALS A DEAF MAN. THERE WAS A
CASE WHERE HE CAST OUT A DEAF AND DUMB SPIRIT, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY
NOT THE SAME THING. MOST OF JESUS OTHER MIRACLES OF HEALING TAKE
PLACE AT HIS COMMAND, OR AT HIS TOUCH. IN FACT, THAT IS THE REQUEST
OF THE MAN'S FRIENDS – FOR JESUS TO LAY HIS HAND ON HIM. BUT IN
THIS ONE, JESUS ACTS DIFFERENTLY, AND MARK TAKES PAINS TO RECORD
EVERY DETAIL. SO WHAT IS GOING ON?
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF
SPECULATION ABOUT THIS. MARK IS THE OLDEST GOSPEL, AND IN THIS STORY
AND A FEW OTHERS, MARK DEPICTS JESUS ACTING LIKE OTHER ITINERANT
HEALERS. MARK SEES THIS IN A POSITIVE WAY, BUT MATTHEW, WHO
INCORPORATES ABOUT 90 PERCENT OF MARK, LEAVES OUT THIS MIRACLE AND
ANOTHER WHERE JESUS USES HIS SALIVA TO MAKE MUD WHICH HE APPLIES TO A
BLIND MAN'S EYES. MATTHEW, WRITING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER FOR A
DIFFERENT AUDIENCE, MIGHT HAVE FELT THAT FOR JESUS TO ACT THIS WAY
WAS NOT IN KEEPING WITH THE FACT THAT HE IS NOT JUST A HEALER, OR
EVEN A GREAT HEALER, HE IS QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT.
BUT SOME THINK MARK IS
TELLING HIS READERS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY WE ALL GO
THROUGH; IT GOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
FIRST, THE MAN IS BROUGHT
TO JESUS BY OTHERS. ALL OF US KNOW JESUS ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE
SHOWN HIM TO US – PARENTS, TEACHERS, CLERGY, PEOPLE WE ADMIRE. BUT
JUST AS WE WERE BROUGHT TO JESUS BY OTHERS, WE HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO
BRING OTHERS TO HIM. IF NOT US, WHO?
SECOND, JESUS TAKES THE
MAN AWAY FROM THE CROWD. HE IS DEMONSTRATING THE ISOLATION OF THE
DEAF MAN, BUT ALSO THE ISOLATION AND LONELINESS THAT SIN BRINGS
ABOUT. A PERSON IN SIN DOES NOT HEAR WHAT GOD WANTS TO TELL HIM.
JESUS ALSO TAKES HIM AWAY SO THAT A RELATIONSHIP CAN FORM; IT IS ONLY
IN RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS THAT WE CAN HOPE TO BE HEALED, HOPE TO BE
SAVED; AND RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS IS CULTIVATED AWAY FROM THE CROWD,
AWAY FROM NOISE, AWAY FROM THE CONSTANT DEMANDS OF LIFE.
JESUS PUTS HIS FINGERS IN
THE MAN'S EARS. IF YOU ARE DEAF, YOU CAN'T HEAR JESUS ASKING YOU
WHAT IT IS YOU WANT, OR TELLING YOU WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO. THE
FINGERS IN THE EARS IS A FORM OF SIGN LANGUAGE; YOUR EARS ARE STOPPED
UP, BUT I WILL UNSTOP THEM. THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE SALIVA ON THE
TONGUE; THE MAN CAN'T SPEAK INTELLIGIBLY, A PROBLEM WHEN YOU'VE BEEN
STONE DEAF A LONG TIME. YOU CAN'T HEAR OTHERS, AND YOU CAN'T HEAR
YOUR OWN VOICE, SO YOU FORGET WORDS, FORGET HOW TO PRONOUNCE WORDS,
AND EVENTUALLY NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. SALIVA WAS
CONSIDERED TO HAVE HEALING PROPERTIES, SO JESUS, AGAIN USING SIGN
LANGUAGE, IS SAYING, I WILL HEAL YOUR SPEECH AS WELL.
JESUS LOOKS UP TO HEAVEN.
HE CALLS UPON THE FATHER FOR HEALING, BECAUSE ALL HEALING COMES FROM
THE FATHER. IN LOOKING UP TO HEAVEN HE SHOWS THE DEAF MAN THAT THE
POWER HE WILL EXPERIENCE COMES FROM GOD, NOT FROM MAN.
FINALLY, JESUS GROANS, OR
SIGHS – BUT GROANING IS A MORE ACCURATE TRANSLATION. WE DON'T HAVE
A GOOD REASON FOR THIS; WAS IT BECAUSE HE FELT DEEP SYMPATHY FOR THE
MAN? OR BECAUSE WHENEVER HE WORKED A MIRACLE IT TOOK A LOT OUT OF
HIM, AT LEAST IF YOU GO BY MARK. OR AS ONE SCHOLAR SPECULATED, WHEN
HE GROANED, HE ENTERED INTO THE DEAF MAN'S WORLD BY TAKING ON HIS
INABILITY TO SPEAK, JUST LIKE JESUS ENTERS INTO OUR WORLD TO TAKE ON
OUR HUMANITY AND ULTIMATELY OUR DEATH.
FINALLY JESUS COMMANDS
“BE OPENED!” IN ARAMAIC – WHY DOES MARK RECORD THE WORDS AS
JESUS SPOKE THEM RATHER THAN SIMPLY HAVE JESUS SAYING “BE OPENED”
IN GREEK, LIKE THE REST OF WHAT MARK RECORDED? WAS IT BECAUSE THIS
HEALING TOOK PLACE IN A BORDER AREA, WHERE THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO
SPOKE GREEK, AND WHERE HEBREW WAS THE LANGUAGE OF THE JEWS? IF JESUS
USED HIS OWN ARAMAIC TONGUE, MAYBE FEW PEOPLE HEARD HIS COMMAND.
AND SUDDENLY THE DEAF MAN
HEARS AND SPEAKS PLAINLY AND WITH THAT IS RESTORED TO HIS FRIENDS.
SO WE HAVE A LITTLE PLAY THAT TELLS US IN GRAPHIC TERMS THAT WE ARE
SINNERS (THE DEAFNESS, THE MUTENESS) AND OUR ONLY HOPE IS JESUS.
THAT WE HAVE TO BE BROUGHT TO JESUS BY OTHERS WHO KNOW OF HIM. THAT
WE HAVE TO ENTER INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND EVEN HERE, HE
INITIATES IT. THAT IN ORDER TO HAVE THAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE TO SET
ASIDE TIME TO BE ALONE WITH JESUS.
AND IT IS IN THE
RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS THAT HE WILL HEAL US, HE WILL REMOVE THE
CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINFULNESS, HE WILL RESTORE US TO WHAT WE ARE
MEANT TO BE, AND WITH THAT WE BECOME FULLY HUMAN, WE BECOME PART OF
THE PEOPLE JESUS IS GATHERING TOGETHER FOR HIS FATHER.
AND JESUS SAYS, “TELL
NO ONE...” NOT BECAUSE HE IS BASHFUL AND DOESN'T WANT TO BE SEEN AS
A GREAT HERO OR WONDERWORKER, BUT BECAUSE ULTIMATELY EVERYONE HAS TO
UNDERGO THE DEAF MAN'S JOURNEY BY THEMSELVES; YOU DON'T INHERIT YOUR
FAITH, YOU DON'T GET A RELATIONSHIP UNLESS YOU WANT ONE. JESUS DOES
NOT FORCE THIS ON YOU. AND WHEN YOU ARE HEALED, WHEN YOU CAN SPEAK,
WHO KNOWS? DID THE DEAF MAN GO ABOUT PROCLAIMING WHAT GOD HAD DONE
FOR HIM? DID HIS PROCLAMATION PREPARE THE SOIL FOR THE GROWTH OF THE
CHURCH AMONG THE GENTILES? WHATEVER HAPPENED WITH THE DEAF MAN, WHEN
WE CAN SPEAK AGAIN, LET US PROCLAIM WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR US.
