September 6, 2015

Sometimes I think that as I get older I am going deaf. My wife thinks so too. So I am interested in today’s Gospel lesson where Jesus in a special way heals a deaf man who had a speech impediment.

The man could not hear, so Jesus did some special sign language for him. "Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven (This would be a prayer, and it was a sign to the man that the healing is from God.) and with a deep sigh (a word spoken from the depths of Jesus' heart) said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means "be opened!" (in Aramaic)). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly."

When Jesus spoke the word "Ephphatha," the deaf man should not have been able to hear it. So, in the word was the healing power of Jesus, "Ephphatha, Be opened,” and the man was healed and did hear it. The command of Jesus healed him completely and immediately as the word was spoken. Maybe Jesus shouted the word because it seems that it was heard not only the formerly deaf man, but it seems that it was heard by many people all over the village. Because that word not only opened the ears of the deaf man, but also opened the ears of the village people, and also their hearts. They saw in Jesus a wonderful prophet from God. And just as the man's tongue was loosened, their tongues were loosened also. They also began to speak clearly, “This man does everything well!" Jesus kept telling the people not to tell anyone, "But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement." "This man does everything well!" Maybe the power that healed the man's speech also spilled over into them, so that they couldn't stop speaking the good news!

Deafness is a disease of the ear, but there is a spiritual sickness of the heart that will not listen to the Word of God. In Mark 4:9, Jesus speaks of this: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

There is an old saying, "There are none so blind as those who would not see." ("There are none so blind as those who do not want to see.") We could also say, "There are none so deaf as those who do not want to hear." People shut their ears to things they don't want to hear. Sometimes that is good if it is a loud noise or the talk of a fool or the voice of temptation. But there is a stubborn streak in people that will not listen to wisdom. They prefer their own imagination about God, for example, rather than the clear revelation about God in the Bible. They prefer not to hear the words that condemn their sin.

No, I think it is worse than that. It's not that they don't want to hear, it is that they cannot hear. Sin makes so much noise and static that the Word of God does not penetrate the heart. For example, when a boy is listening to cartoons on TV, or when a man is watching a game on TV, and mother says, "Dinner is ready, come and eat," the boy or man does not hear her. "Come to the table. Didn't you hear me?" And the boy or man honestly says, "No, I did not hear you." They are so absorbed in the TV that they honestly do not hear mother calling. Sin is the same. We get so absorbed in sin that we do not, cannot hear the Gospel. And even if we do hear it, it doesn't make any sense.

It is not enough just to hear the Word of God with out ears, we have to hear it with our heart. But what word will penetrate our thick skulls and hard hearts? What word will penetrate the noise of our everyday world? What word will penetrate the barriers set up by sin, the devil, and our stubborn minds? What word will be in a language or use vocabulary words that we can understand?

Sometimes the effective word will be as simple as “love” and “peace.” Other times the word will be threats of hell and damnation and death. Sometimes the only things that will break into our hearts are disease, the loss of loved one, a crisis, shame, fear, the wrath of God, the sting of the Law, or a guilty and sinful conscience. And at that time we need a strong, loud word that will shout and proclaim the work of Jesus Christ. In the cross of Jesus Christ, God the Father knows all about the loss of a loved one, shame, fear, guilt, and death. The cross of Christ shouts “Ephphatha” into our hearts and souls and lives. “Be Open!” And as the tomb on Easter was opened, so our hearts of faith are opened. This is the word of resurrection, hope, love, and peace. “The Cross” is the word that creates faith.

In the Gospel reading, the deaf man with a speech impediment was completely healed. Verse 35, “At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.” And so it is when our hearts are opened. We plainly speak the Good News of the love of God.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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