Mark 7:31-37 He Does All Things Well

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 7:31-37  He Does All Things Well

Mark 7:31   Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. ³² They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. ³³ 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; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Even today, after all these years, and with all of our scientific and medical progress, we still have tremendous limitations when it comes to our eyes, and ears; with our nerves and our brains. There are so many areas where the medical community is offering its best guess.

Jesus has moved from the last setting, in which He healed the the daughter of the woman who was not an Israelite. Now Jesus has moved back to the region of Galilee. The Decapolis, or “Ten Cities,” is a largely Gentile region on the east side of the sea. Here he is introduced to this man, deaf and largely mute. Jesus is moved with compassion, and gets personally involved with this man. He puts His fingers in His ears, and spits on His fingers and places the saliva on His tongue. This is in sharp contrast to several miracles (not all) where Jesus heals by the speaking of a word. But here, there is much more intimacy. 

Jesus, as we have said before, is Jewish. The lineage is made clear in both Matthew and Luke. Salvation comes to the Gentile people through the Jews. The apostles took the message of Jesus and shared it beyond, way beyond the borders of Israel. But the first messengers were in fact Jewish. They were following in the steps of Jesus.

Jesus, in touching this unclean man - fingers in ears, touching his tongue - this would make Jesus ceremonially unclean. But Jesus desire to be involved with this man made it worth it. We have no such concerns about ceremonial uncleanness, and yet we are worried about germs and diseases. In such a case, we are not just like Jesus.