Mark 7:31-37

2. HEALING A DEAF MUTE 7:31-37

TEXT 7:31-37

And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it. And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS Mark 7:31-37

354.

Please trace on the map the route of Jesus on this occasion.

355.

What is the meaning of the word Decapolis? How used here?

356.

Who brought the deaf mute to Jesus?

357.

Why did Jesus take him away from the multitudeplease attempt an answer.

358.

How would this deaf-mute feel as Jesus took Him to Himself?

359.

Into whose ears does Jesus place His fingers?into His own or into the deaf-mute? Why do this? Was this sign language?

360.

Please notice the actions of Jesus and remember they were given for the benefit of the deaf-mutethe deaf-mute was intently watching the actions and expressions of Jesuseach action spoke to himwhat did they say?

361.

Did the deaf-mute hear the wordEphphatha?

362.

Why charge them that they should tell no man?

363.

Who gave voice to the thought He hath done all things well?

COMMENT

TIMESummer A.D. 29.
PLACETyreSidonDecapolis.
PARALLEL ACCOUNTSOnly Mark records this incident.

OUTLINE1. The place of the healing, Mark 7:31. Mark 7:2. The man to be healed, Mark 7:32. Mark 7:3. Preparations for healing, Mark 7:33-34 a. Mark 7:4. The healing and results, Mark 7:34 b - Mark 7:37.

ANALYSIS

I.

THE PLACE OF HEALING, Mark 7:31.

1.

Journeyed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon.

2.

Through Sidon to the shore of Galilee.

3.

Into the midst of the district of Decapolis.

II.

THE MAN TO BE HEALED, Mark 7:32.

1.

Brought by his friends.

2.

Deaf with a serious speech impediment.

3.

Begged Jesus to lay His hands upon him.

III.

PREPARATIONS FOR HEALING, Mark 7:33-34 a.

1.

Jesus took him aside from the multitude unto himself.

2.

Jesus placed His fingers in the ears of the man.

3.

Spat on the ground and touched the man's tongue.

4.

Looked up to heaven and sighed.

IV.

THE HEALING AND RESULTS, Mark 7:34 b - Mark 7:37.

1.

He was healed when Jesus said Ephphatha or Be opened.

2.

Ears were openedtongue was loosenedhe spoke plainly.

3.

Jesus strongly urged them to tell no man about thisthe more He urged them the more they did publish it.

4.

They were beyond measure astonished and said, He hath done all things well.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

I.

THE PLACE OF HEALING.

Mark 7:31. According to the text adopted by the revisers, the course of the journey is here quite definitely marked out: And again he went out from the borders (region) of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders (region) of Decapolis. That he visited the city of Tyre itself is not affirmed, but from the course of the journey it seems probable. He did pass through Sidon, which lay, like Tyre, on the shore of the Mediterranean. From Capernaum to Tyre may have been thirty English miles, and from Tyre to Sidon twenty more. Between the two cities were Zarephath (called Sarepta in Luke 4:26), where Elijah was preserved alive in famine and restored the widow's son to life (1 Kings 17). His alluding to the event in the synagogue at Nazareth is enough to assure us that our Lord did not pass the spot without remembering again how it was a Gentile widow to whom the prophet was sent. From Sidon he turned south-eastward, and crossed the upper Jordan, and came down on the eastern side. But he did not merely make the journey downward along the river; he appears to have extended his tour still eastwardwe cannot tell how farthrough some part of the region known as Decapolis, probably visiting some of the cities from which that region took its name. The reasons that determined the route, of course, cannot be ascertained. Thus he made his way down to the Sea of Galilee, reaching it somewhere on the eastern side. The limits of Decapolis are somewhat uncertain, but its extent was such that his journey may have taken him farther south than his destination; so that it is impossible to tell from what direction he approached the lake or what point of its shore he probably first touched. Of course the length of the journey cannot be measured; but it can scarcely have been, from Capernaum back to the lake, less than one hundred and fifty English miles, and it may have been more. On the east as well as on the north this was a tour into heathen territory, but in no part, so far as we can judge, was it a tour of missionary activity. It was rather an episode in his ministry when he was alone with his disciples. By comparison with Matthew it appears that this miracle was wrought, most probably, on some mountain near the lake, where many were gathered about him.

II.

THE MAN TO BE HEALED.

Mark 7:32. They bring unto him one that was deaf. The adjective literally means stricken, or smitten (kophos, from the verb kopto, to strike); the thought is that the person has been smitten in some of the organs of sensation, so as to be deprived of power. Sometimes it is the organs of speech that are thus conceived of as smitten, and the word then means dumb, sometimes it is the organs of hearing, and it then means deaf, as here. The other descriptive word (mogilalos) means speaking with difficulty; not speechless (alalos), as in Mark 7:37. It is used here alone in the New Testament. It cannot be smoothly rendered without paraphrase, and had an impediment in his speech represents it well. Yet the word is used broadly for dumb-' in the LXX. (Isaiah 35:6).The great healer was asked to put his hand on the man; so Matthew 9:18: But come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. But now, as then, the great Healer had a way of his own.

III.

PREPARATIONS FOR HEALING.

Mark 7:33-34. Three peculiarities appear in this act of healingthe privacy of the transaction, the use of signs and physical media, and the unusual vocal utterances of the Healer. These peculiarities all appear again in the other miracle in chap. Mark 8:22-26, already alluded to. In studying them in this case it is to be remembered that this is the only detailed report that we possess of the healing of a deaf man; and, although we may not be justified in inferring that all healings of the deaf resembled this, we may find in the peculiar method now adopted a special significance in connection with the nature of the affliction that was to be removed, In healing the blind, Jesus, so far as we know, always made some appeal to the senses and powers of which the afflicted ones were possessed, drawing out their faith by word or touch or by requiring the performance of some act. (See Matthew 9:29; Mark 8:23; Mark 10:49; John 9:6). So, usually, in healing the lame and helpless. (See John 5:6-8; Mark 3:3; Luke 17:14.) In the case of a deaf man words would be of no avail; and if any such appeal was to be made, it must be done by signs. In the present case Jesus probably saw in the man himself some reason for judging it best that the cure should be private. The withdrawal from the crowd would impress him, though he could not hear its tumult, with a sense of solemnity. Perhaps Jesus saw in him a vanity that would render anything like a public act of healing hurtful to him. In any case, it was a solemn and touching experience to be alone, or almost alone, with Jesus to be healed.As for the signs and the physical media, they were such as he could well understand. Jesus put his fingers into his ears, Not a mere touch, but an insertiona sign of the impartation or transference of something from one person to the other, with reference now to the powerless organs of hearing. This was the laying on of his hand that had been asked for, made definite, appropriate, and instructive by his wisdom. Then he spit, and touched his tonguei.e. touched the man's tongue with a finger perhaps moistened with his own salivaanother sign of the transference of something from himself to the afflicted man, this time with reference to his injured organs of speech. Then he stood looking up to heaven, to indicate that this was an act that depended upon a heavenly poweran act, indeed, of Heaven upon the earth. Of course there had been no opportunity, because no possibility, of preaching to the man, and in his ignorance he may easily have supposed that this was some influence of a magical kind. He may not have known to what power he was submitting himself, and the reverent heavenward look of Jesus may have been intended silently to lift his heart and faith to God. How better could he show a deaf man that he was receiving a gift from above? Then be sighed, or rather, groaned. The word is not used elsewhere of him, but it is found in Romans 8:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:2, where evidently no less a word than groan is needed to represent its meaning. This was no artificial utterance intended for effect: it was a spontaneous utterance of genuine sorrow in sympathy with human suffering. It came from the same source as the tears at the grave of Lazarus. Although the man could not hear the groan, he might be aware of it, for doubtless his eyes were busy in observing what his Benefactor was doing; and if he was aware of it, he must have felt, however dimly, that there was a deep and genuine sympathy in the Healer's heart. This could be no magician's performance to him: this was a deed of love. And then at last he spoke; and, though the man might not hear the word he may have known, as before, that it was spoken.

IV.

THE HEALING AND RESULTS.

Mark 7:34 b. Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. Here, as in chap. Mark 5:41, Mark has preserved the very word in the Aramaic tongue that fell from the lips of Jesus. No other evangelist has done this, except in the case of the utterance on the cross, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. In the other case (chap. Mark 5:41) the Aramaic words that Mark preserves were spoken when of the disciples only Peter, James, and John were present; and it is not unlikely that the same special three were the only auditors at this time also. Whether others were present or not, this must certainly have come down to us from one who heard it. The Ephphatha, Be opened, was addressed to the man with reference to his organs of sense, which are conceived of as closed.

Mark 7:35. It would seem that the moment of the Ephphatha was the moment of the change. Of course we know that the preceding parts of the transaction were in no sense necessary to the cure, and were introduced for the sake of the man himself; and we may judge that he received no new power of speech or hearing until the symbolic or pictorial part was finished and the word was spoken.The cure itself is detailed in Mark's peculiar way. The revisers omit straightway, and thus represent the result: And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain, or rightly, normally.The string of his tongue is an unfortunate phrase, from which a reader might suppose that the man was in some way tongue-tied. But the reference is merely to the bond or restraint that was upon his powers of speech, and there is no indication as to the nature of that restraint.But now the organs of sense were opened, and henceforth all was done (orthos) in the natural or normal way.

It is worth while to look back at this act and observe how beautifully our Lord brought to light all that was essential in a work of healing. Perhaps the symbolic action was all the more beautiful, because it must be made to do the whole work of words. Two signs of the transferring of power from himself to the afflictedthe upward look to heaven, to indicate the source of power; the deep sigh or groan of genuine sympathy with the suffering that is to be removedand the word of power by which the deed is done, and the bond is broken. A beautiful story for deaf-mutes.

Mark 7:36-37. He charged them. Not merely the man himself, but the people who were around. Of course they would quickly know what had been done, and must be included in his prohibition. Often did he thus plead for silence about his works (as in chap. Mark 3:12 and Mark 5:43), and now, while he was in search of retirement and quietness, the request was especially to be expected. But, as usual, it was all in vain: the gratitude of the healed and the wonder of the spectators were too strong, and the story must be told, It seems probable that this miracle was the means of bringing on the great period of thronging that is described in Matthew 15:30-31. Mark's expressions in description of the abundant proclamation and the excessive amazement are of the very strongest character.The final testimony of praise seems to have been called out by the many healings that took place, though first suggested by the one, He hath done all things well (perfect tense)he has been gracious everywhere and successful in everythinghe maketh (present tense) both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak,The dumb. A stronger word than in Mark 7:32. (W. N. Clarke)

FACT QUESTIONS 7:31-37

403.

Read Matthew 15:29-31 and relate it to this record in Mark.

404.

Show how Mark 8:22-26 compares with this incident.

405.

How far from Capernaum to Tyre?; from Tyre to Sidon? What place was between the two cities?

406.

What was the total distance traveled from Capernaum to the place of the healing?

407.

They bring to him one that was strickenexplain the word stricken as here used.

408.

The man to be healed could speakbut how?

409.

Jesus never healed without a genuine personal concern for the one to be healed (if they were present)show how he adapted His words and actions to the one to be healedwith the blind; the lame; the deaf.

410.

What did the deaf-mute think when Jesus looked to heaven?

411.

What is a better word than sigh in reference to Jesus? Why?

412.

Why preserve the very word Jesus spoke?

413.

The man was in no way tongue-tiedhow do we know?

414.

This is a beautiful story for deaf-mutesshow how.

415.

Why would His request for quietness about His work be especially expected at this time and place?

416.

Read Matthew 15:30-31 and show the relation to this incident.