Mark 7:31  And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.
32  And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33  And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
34  And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
35  And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36  And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;
37  And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Jesus did not waste time during His short public ministry. He had much work to do in proclaiming the truth prior to laying down His life for the sheep. He now left Lebanon and came across northern Israel and east into the region of Decapolis. This area was called this because of the ten cities in that region from Damascus to Gadara.
We read that they brought a man that was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus was in great demand wherever He went. Again, most people were interested in His healing powers. Jesus was not an entertainer. The many healings He did continued to prove that He was the Messiah. Jesus used different methods to heal people. His healings were unique to Him. In this instance He put His fingers into the deaf man’s ears and spit and touched the man’s tongue. This man could not hear and Jesus demonstrated what He was doing for him. He put His fingers into his ears and spit and touched his tongue. This man would feel what Jesus was doing, since he could not hear Him at that time.
Jesus also prayed for the man. Jesus sighed and then spake: “Ephaphatha” which is Aramaic for “Be opened.” Aramaic was the common language of that region. It was the language the people would have understood. Jesus spoke in a language by which the people could understand Him. People need to hear the truth.
Jesus wanted the people to know His power was unique to Him because He was from heaven. That is why He looked up to Heaven. That is where His Father was. He worked together with His Father. Prayer needs to be directed to Heaven. Jesus touched both of the organs that had failed on this man and He looked to His Father and spoke one word that was all that was needed.
We read that straightway this man’s ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed. This man was now able to speak plainly and he was also able to hear what Jesus said. Once again we read that Jesus did not want this miracle spread abroad. He wanted this kept quiet so that there would not be large crowds gathered unto Him. However, we read that the more He charged them, the more they published this good news abroad. The people did the exact opposite of what Jesus had commanded them to do.
It is difficult for us to keep good news to ourselves. We want others to know of the good things that happen in our lives.
We read that the people were astonished beyond measure. They had never witnessed anything like this before. The Pharisees certainly could not do this. The Pharisees did not want to help the people. They loved to keep the people bound in their sin and bound to their false teaching.
The greatest news that man could ever hear is the Gospel of Christ. Most people are spiritually deaf. They do not want to hear the truth. Many people also lack the ability to speak the truth. For many people, it would be good if they could not speak because what comes out of their mouths is not worth hearing. We need to be saved in order to speak things that honour God. The good news is that even though we are born lost sinners, God has still kept us in a place where we can hear the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was there to grant healing to this man. God is here to grant spiritual healing to us today. Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The healing we need most is the spiritual healing. We need our sins forgiven and we need God’s truth to loosen our tongues to praise His name. We see in the Bible, that God did not allow the devils to praise Him. They knew Who He was, but He wanted those who knew Him to praise Him. We need to take His Word to learn how to praise Him. It is a shame that so many take the world’s music and try to cram God’s Word into that. It is not possible to praise God with the devil’s actions.

Mark 7:6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

This man was set free to praise God. The people who witnessed this event also glorified God in their response to this miracle. This man was changed and it was obvious that he was changed. This will be the same for those who are truly born again. When God saves a person, they are fundamentally changed. There is much growth that needs to take place after salvation, but the heart is changed and the desire is to know the Lord. It is different than those who just put on an outward show. The changes that God makes are good for the soul and the body. They are also good for society. We need that change and those who are saved need to exemplify that change in our dark and dying world.
Today is the day many have been looking forward to. It is the day when we will find out who our future government will be in Canada. The hope of man is not in our government. Those who are trusting in that will be disappointed. There will be celebrations later tonight. There will also be mourning. Those who are truly born again have a much greater hope than this world can offer. We should be excited about telling others of this glorious hope.
Pastor Bartel