Mark 7:31-37
October 13
Lauren J. McFeaters
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It’s an unusual story from beginning to end.
Jesus returns to the Sea of Galilee by way of Sidon, ending up in the area of the Decapolis or the “Ten Towns.” That would be a little like going from Princeton to Richmond, by way of Boston, and ending up in Atlanta.
And the crowds in this vast area, are again and again, bringing to Jesus people needing significant healing. Today, people bring Jesus a deaf man who could hardly speak; and they implore him for a laying on of hands.” [ii]
Who is this man? He has a name. We don’t know it. What we do know is his deafness is profound, his speech distorted, and tongue tied.
The first time I remember experiencing this story was in Mrs. Mahaffy’s 3rd grade Sunday School Class. This was in my home church in Mount Lebanon, PA and Mrs. Mahaffy always had us sit on the floor where there was a big blue flannel board. This is how we learned Biblical stories in those days. Mrs. Mahaffy would use precut, 8 inch, felt characters of the Bible and she would tell the story across the flannel board.
Enter stage right, Mrs. Mahaffy introduces Felt Friends bringing the Felt Deaf Man to Jesus.
- Felt Jesus bids them a bright welcome and asks what’s the problem.
- Jesus warmly takes man aside. Hands on ears. (I don’t think we heard about Jesus’ Spit on the man’s tongue.)
- Healing is complete. Man can hear. Man can speak. All rejoice.
- Felt Children jump for joy. Lambs and puppies sound out their delight. Jesus is cheerful.
- All go home.
I loved it. I loved it so much I still remember it.
But when we peel away the felt and move to a complex, multi-dimensional Jesus, what we learn is Jesus – rather than delighted, is exhausted and burdened.
He’s trekked over miles, preached, prayed, healed without a break. By the time we encounter him, he’s in serious need of Sabbath. There’s such a hunger for his word and his touch, Jesus is enveloped by masses of people. He’s full of emotional ups and downs, has a frayed temper, and is overwhelmed by the weight of his call. There’s no Felt Jesus here. No one-dimensional, perpetually blissful guy.
- He’s exasperated by the foolishness of the disciples.
- He’s overcome by the neediness of humanity.
- He’s tired of having to be “on” all the time. [iii]
- And now a man who can not hear. Cannot speak. Cannot be understood, lands at his feet.
I don’t know the experience of being deaf and can’t imagine being deaf in first century Palestine. For millennia, all over the globe deafness is treated as a severe deficit. In our own country, deafness has historically been treated as a disease, a disorder, a condition.
More recently, we know deafness is not a deficit, but is a unique culture with a spatial and visual language, and it is one of strength and creativity that emphasizes hands, faces, bodies and eyes. [iv]
Where did our contemporary deaf culture have it’s beginnings?
In the church. And in particular at the Methodist Camp Meetings of Martha’s Vineyard. For most of the 18th and 19th centuries, long before it was a vacation spot, Martha’s Vineyard was center of Christian Education. It was a multi-racial and bi-lingual community. It was bilingual because everyone spoke both English and – not French, not Spanish … but sign language.
You see, deafness was a recessive hereditary trait, and Martha’s Vineyard had a pretty isolated genetic population — which meant that any given person on the island could have both hearing and deaf siblings. In the mid-1800s, 25% of the population was deaf. So deafness was just a trait some people had, like brown eyes or tallness. And everyone spoke sign language. It was a bi-lingual, abolitionist, Christian community that went on to shape the beauty of expression through the body.
We don’t know how the deaf man who was brought to Jesus communicated. But there was language enough that:
- The intrepid man and his friends moved to the front of the line.
- The man and his robust friends came to Jesus face-to-face.
- The man and his friends pleaded strongly enough that the exhausted Jesus reached out with compassion.
And here’s the thing I find most beautiful. The deaf man also became a healer for Jesus. By stepping away from the fray, finding a quiet, calm, and private spot: Jesus took a breath, Jesus found stillness. Jesus enjoyed some serenity. Perhaps the deaf man put his hand on Jesus shoulder in an act of mercy. Jesus could catch his breath. Jesus could breathe. Jesus could savor solitude.
And as Jesus opened himself to the power of the Holy Spirit; he lifted one hand to the man’s ears; spit on his other hand and touched the man’s tongue; raised his face to the breeze; looked to heaven and sighed – oh how Jesus sighed – and said to the man – “Ephphatha,” “Be opened.”
Are those not the most beautiful words for healing? “Be opened.”
Jesus sticking his fingers in all of our ears and saying, “Be opened.” Sanctified fingers burrowing down to our eardrums, “Be opened.” Anointing our mouths with spit, “Be opened.”
- Be opened to a life where you aren’t the broken one anymore.
- Be opened to the possibility that there is healing in the world, and it might not look like you think it would.
- Be opened to knowing that your own brokenness doesn’t need to be hidden.
- Maybe that’s what healing really is.[v]
And there’s one more thing I want to tell you. One more note about Openness. One more thing to share.
The most famous school in the world for the deaf is Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. There’s nowhere else on earth where deaf culture is more celebrated, advocated, and encouraged as it is at Gallaudet.
And Gallaudet University has a motto. And the motto is this:
‘Ephphatha.’ ‘Ephphatha.’
Jesus’ words:
“Be opened.’ ‘Be opened.”
And it’s not because they’re a community of the deaf.
It’s because we are.
Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and sighs for us:
‘Ephphatha.’ ‘Be opened.’
Our ears are opened.
Our tongues released.
Our healing begins.
Thanks be to God.
ENDNOTES
[i] Scripture Lesson: Mark 7:31-37 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’
[ii] David Lose, “In the Meantime: Mark 7:31-38.” June 25, 2012, davidlose.net.
[iii] Charlene Han Powell, “Mark 7:24-30: Desperate Belief.” September 6, 2015, day1.org.
[iv] A note on Deaf Culture. The American Deaf community values American Sign Language (ASL) as the core of a culturally Deaf identity. Through ASL, members are given a unique medium for personal expression, a spatial and visual language that does not require the use of sound and emphasizes hands, faces, bodies and eyes. Members of this community share a common history, values, morals, and experiences. Deaf individuals come from diverse backgrounds and influences, and as a result that variation is reflected in the community. Different types of sign systems are used to varying degrees, and the Deaf community welcomes this variety. Handsandvoices.org.
[v] Nadia Bolz-Weber, “Sometimes It Hurts; A Sermon on Healing.” September 11, 2012, sojo.net.