23/07/2021
"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." -- Mark 7:33-35
This passage is maybe one of the weirdest things that Jesus did. Yes, He healed a person, but He did it in such a fashion that would raise eyebrows. When He raised the girl from the dead, He just spoke "Little girl, get up!" (Mark 5:41). When He healed the centurion's servant, He actually just talked to the centurion and the crowd, and they found the servant healed. And when He healed the bleeding woman, the woman just touched His clothes.
But this passage (along with the blind man in Bethsaida, Mark 8 ) saw Jesus more involved. He first placed His fingers in the ears, then touched His tongue with a spit-covered finger, sighed, and said (to the man) "Ephphatha!" which means "Be opened!". Looking from outside, the fingers in the man's ear probably felt uncomfortable and the finger with spit is unsanitary and too intimate.
That's what this is: Intimacy.
Now, those observations are from an outside point of view. Think about the man who was deaf and could hardly speak (some say he was mute, well there's a bit of difference). He must have looked for other healers and was never healed. He lived in a gentile region with gentile beliefs - it could be that his situation was looked upon as a curse from the gods, something that might be contagious, or even downright demonic. His deafness and muteness are a source of not insignificant insecurity, especially in that culture. People probably avoid his ears, don't look at them, maybe avoid the man altogether because of them.
Then comes Jesus. He's never known Jesus. He can't hear, and at the time, they were probably isolated from society. When people (family and friends most likely) brought him to Jesus, he was confused and felt a little more than the usual anxiety. Who is this stranger?
Jesus placed his fingers on his ear and touched his mouth with fingers covered in spit. Jesus here is meeting the man. He is communicating to the man, "I know you." Who else would touch the man's ear? Who else would touch his mouth? Jesus is touching the most hurtful, embarrassing part of his life in the most intimate way possible. Then Jesus heals him.
When you open up your insecurities to people, doesn't it hurt when they avoid and try not to talk about it? Doesn't it hurt when they look at you with pity, yet do nothing about it because they don't want to deal with it? Doesn't it hurt when they ignore it?
Jesus touches your insecurities in the most intimate way possible. He doesn't just "know" you intellectually, He feels you by experiencing your hurt. The way Jesus dealt with the man is a picture of the cross. On the cross, Jesus knows you. He knows your sins, your shame, and your deep-seated emotions, those deeply buried insecurities you fear people might find out.
And in the cross, He heals you.
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This post is heavily inspired by Mike Winger's Video:
The Spit Healing of Jesus: The Mark Series part 25 (Mark 7:31-37)
link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35_3uD7XbVc&list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuGenHwUdeiQ5M-uj5XW4sF&index=25
