God is serious when it comes
to the illumination of His Word. We see a great example of this in Mark 7:31-35: Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf
and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. After he
took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears.
Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a
deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which
means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was
loosened and he began to speak plainly.
A number of great things
are happening here.
1. Jesus is intimately
involved with the care and healing of this man. There is no doubt where the
healing came from.
2. Jesus tells where to look
for help (looked to heaven).
3 Jesus sighed. He had
compassion and empathy for this man and His human condition.
4. Jesus said the word
“Ephphatha” which is from another language, but one the man could understand,
and was healed.
How are we impacted when
Jesus says to us, Ephphatha?
Maybe we need to be open to
doing things His way and not our own. To have open ears to what He wants us to
hear. Open minds to give us His wisdom. Open eyes to see His illumination
of the Word in our lives.
Be wise today and always – Ephphatha.
