Mark 7:24-37 (NRSV)
Read Mark 7:24-37 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
Verse 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
Verse 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.
Verse 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."
Verse 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Verse 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
Verse 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
Devotion
Jesus sighed. Did you notice?
For a second day, he was asked for a miracle. Yesterday, a mother begged Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter, and we know how that ensued. Today, it is a group who bring their friend to Jesus, a man who is unable to hear or speak. And Jesus sighed.
This was not another rejection, or an outward rebuff of the man. It was much more than that! Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed. It was deep empathy for the man, shared between Jesus and his Father in heaven. Then he said to the man, “Ephphatha!” Be opened.
Mother Theresa was once asked, “How do you respond to the starving people in your midst?” She replied, “Well, we pray for them (long pause), and then we feed them.” And so does Jesus.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, in our grief, in our loneliness, in our distress, you sigh for us. We hold that promise close to our hearts today, Lord. Yet in our busy-ness, we often miss the stranger that you send our way. Sharpen our empathy, that we may sigh and comfort a child of the King. Amen.
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