In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
If
an earthly gift brings joy, consider our heavenly Father’s gift of His
Son Jesus Christ. Jesus takes on flesh to give us the gift of
forgiveness of sins and eternal life. When Jesus walked among men as a
man, He often gave gifts to other men and women. Today’s Gospel
features Jesus giving the gift of hearing and speaking to a deaf-mute
man. We expect miracles from the Son of God. What is unexpected about
this particular miracle is how Jesus heals the man’s deaf ears and mute
tongue.
Saint Mark says Jesus took him aside from the
multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his
tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him,
“Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened,
and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. There’s no
doubt this miracle was an unexpected gift. No other man but
the Son of Man can heal someone’s deaf ears and mute tongue. How Jesus
healed the man is peculiar. The crowd begged Him to put His hand on him.
Jesus does more than lay His hand on him. He sticks His fingers in the
man’s ears. He spits and touches the man’s tongue. He speaks a word.
That’s much more than merely laying a hand on the man. Jesus invades
the man’s personal space.
We treasure intimacy. We flinch when
someone touches us. Someone crossed the boundary of intimacy. It’s one
thing when a family member crosses that line. We trust them. We know
they want to show affection. However, when a stranger or someone we see
occasionally invades our personal space, we might be offended or at
least embarrassed. What would you think if instead of putting the Body
of Christ on your tongue, I touched your tongue and said, “Be opened”?
You would think I’m crazy. I invaded your personal space in a
disgusting way.
Maybe that’s why we sometimes shy away from our
Lord’s public displays of affection. The rites and ceremonies of the
Church stimulate the senses. We use ceremonies to fill the eyes with
what we believe because doctrine cannot be seen. Things like crosses,
candles, incense, vestments, laying on hands, gestures, bread, wine,
water, and the spoken word convey our Lord’s gifts. Yet we might be a
bit skittish about pastor touching his hand to my head, or pastor
putting something directly in my mouth. We crave a personal Savior, but
that personal Savior must come to me on my own terms. Don’t touch me.
Don’t stare at me. Don’t put anything in my mouth or my hand. Try not
to look so handsome. Just wave your hand and say something in my
general direction. That’ll be good enough.
If we were to say
something similar to someone giving us a gift, Emily Post would roll
over in her grave. It’s poor etiquette to gripe about a gift in the
giver’s presence. That’s exactly what we do when we tell God how He is
supposed to deliver His gifts of forgiveness and salvation to us.
Perhaps that’s why our Lord takes the deaf-mute man apart from the
crowd. Perhaps another reason why is so He may give the man what he
desires up close and personal.
Jesus breaks through the barriers
we put up to protect our personal space. Rather than just laying on a
hand, He puts His Means of Grace upon us and in us through His called
and ordained servants standing in His stead. As we sang a moment ago in
the Chief Hymn:
Word that caused blind eyes to see,
Speak and heal our mortal blindness;
Deaf we are: our healer be;
Loose our tongues to tell Your kindness.
Be our Word in pity spoken,
Heal the world, by sin now broken.
(LSB 545:3)
Naaman
thought Elisha was a fool when the prophet told the Syrian leper to
wash himself in the Jordan seven times and he would no longer be
leprous. Naaman’s servants reassured him that he would be healed. If
the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done
it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Jesus gives
the man hearing and speech. He receives the gift with no
word of complaint. Jesus gives us deliverance from the evil foe. We
receive His gift and say Amen. Gift received. The Word of the Lord
through the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled in us. In that day the
deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall
see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall
increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel.
The Word of God comes down to earth
today to release us from the chains of sin and death. The ministry of
life casts out the ministry of darkness. The veil of Moses is lifted
today in order to see the Lord our Righteousness. Christ’s blood and
righteousness is sufficient to deliver us from death to life. Psalm 34
describes the joy we have in our Lord’s gift of deliverance. I
will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my
mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be
glad.
The Lord has done all things well. As Jesus
brought hearing and speech to a man who could not hearnor speak, so He
heals our deaf ears to hear the Voice of the Good Shepherd and loosens
our tongues to speak a word of praise and thanksgiving. The God Who
saves violates our personal space to deliver His lavish washing away of
sin in baptism, His forgiving Body and Blood in the Supper, and His
Word of peace and joy in preaching. These glorious mysteries pass
through the transitory things of this world to prepare for the glory
that is yet to come in heaven.
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
___________________________________________________________________________
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