Mar 7:31-37

Again He went out from the region of Tyre,
and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
within the region of Decapolis.

They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty,
and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.

Jesus took him aside from the crowd,
by himself, and put His fingers into his ears,
and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;

and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him,
“Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

And his ears were opened,
and the impediment of his tongue was removed,
and he began speaking plainly.

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone;
but the more He ordered them,
the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

They were utterly astonished, saying,
“He has done all things well;
He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

As we saw yesterday, Jesus took the man aside, away from crowd, to Himself.

Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears.
Jesus spit, apparently into His hands.
Jesus touched the tongue of the man with His saliva
Jesus looked to heaven.
Jesus sighed deeply and said “Ephphatha!” - “Be opened”.

Very graphic.
Very organic.
Rather offensive to our minds.

What was Jesus doing?
What Father told Him to do.

The Creator, Jesus, was recreating the mechanism of speech and hearing in the man.

Fingers in ears.
Spit on the tongue.

But, there was more.

Jesus looked to heaven.
He looked to Father.

Jesus sighed.
A picture of something.
His dependency upon Father?
His awareness of the battle?
His awareness of His humanity in the midst of the fullness of the Godhead?

Yes…and more…

What was the outcome?

The man’s ears were open.
The impediment on his tongue (demonic? likely) was removed.
He began to speak plainly.

The response of the people?
Utterly astonished at Jesus…”He has done all things well…deaf to hear, mute to speak”.

The response of Jesus?
Do not tell anyone.

They did not listen.
They told everyone!

Such would occur today, if we believed.
If we looked to heaven.
If we lived by faith.

The Word Podcast - Today’s Episode…
https://dalemoore.podbean.com/