Physical & Spiritual Miracles (Mark 7:31-37, 8:1-10)

We're back studying two more miracles in the book of Mark. As we near the end of our journey through Mark, we're discovering how each miracle points us to the kingdom, authority, and character of Jesus. In this episode we'll learn together:

• Why Jesus touched the deaf man's ears and tongue,
• How Jesus understands our physical limitations and needs, and
• Why the disciples didn't get the answer right...again.

As we study the physical and spiritual miracles of Jesus we'll learn together that Jesus meets all of our needs in himself. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to Hanging on Every Word. This season we’re studying through the miracle in the book of Mark and on this episode we get to explore the 13th and 14th miracles in Mark together. Which means we’ve studied a lot of miracles so far, friends. I hope you’ve seen how they point us deeper toward Jesus’’s authority, identity, and kingdom. 

Our first miracle today Jesus heals a deaf and mute man. So let’s get into it. Our first passage today is found in Mark 7:31-37, and as we do on this Bible study podcast, I”m going to read it to you. 

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a]32 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.

33 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. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

After healing the syrophoencian woman’s daughter, Jesus leaves that place and went back toward home, to the See of Galilee, but before heading into Capernaum, he goes into the region of the Decapolis. Maybe this word sparks a memory from a previous episode, when Jesus healed the man with the demon named Legion for they were many. When he was healed and begged to go with Jesus, Jesus refused, and the text says he went to the Decapolis sharing about Jesus. I think it’s very cool, then that Jesus makes his way to the Deacoplis. We don’t know, and the text doesn’t say, but perhaps the healed demon possessed man did get to see Jesus again. 

In this region a group of people brought Jesus a deaf and mute man and begged, there’s that word gain, Jesus to place his hand on him. There’s a few significant things here. First, we see a group of friends advocating for their sick friend like we did with the paralytic who was lowered to Jesus on a mat. The faithful intercession of friends on our behalf is invaluable to us when we are sick or needy, which means, when we aren’t, when we full perfectly fine and are busy with our own lives, we should be careful to still invest in community so that we don’t find ourselves alone in time of need. 

Second we see that the man is deaf and mute which likely implies he was deaf from birth as deaf people also struggle with speech. It’s helpful to imagine ourselves in his shoes as someone who cannot hear or speak because this is really important detail in this account. What would it be like to go through live never hearing a conversation and never being able to contribute to one with words? 

Ok, and finally we see that they ask Jesus not to heal their friend, but to lay his hands on him. This is what the priest might do in the temple, just to acknowledge the suffering of the person.This request is basically asking Jesus to do whatever he sees fit to do, but to see the suffering of this man. Which of course, Jesus does. 

Now, this miracle is very different that others that we are told bout. While most of Jesus’s miracles are public and without show, this miracle is private and includes some rituals that seem strange at first reading.  

He pulls this man aside so that they are in private and then Jesus  puts his fingers into his mans ears where he is deaf and spits and touches the mans tongue where he can’t speak. This is a very physical interaction and also very intimate. So why did Jesus do this for this man, why is this miracle so different?

I think it’s deeply loving of Jesus. Think about it. This man cannot hear. And every miracle we’ve seen done by Jesus so far has been done by the word of God. But this man won’t hear Jesus’ words and so instead, Jesus acts out physically what he can do. He uses both sight and touch to perform this miracle so the deaf and mute man can experience it. 

And then, continuing with the visual, Jesus looks to heaven, likely drawing the deaf man’s attention heavenward as well, and sighed a deep sight, Be Opened. And they were. His ears were open to hear and his tongue open to speak for the first time ever. 

This is miraculous, but it’s what Jesus doesn’t say that speaks even louder. This miracle is pointing to his kingdom that the King of Kings, the awaited savior has come to open the eyes of the blind and the ears of deaf. 

Listen to Isaiah 34:4-5

    “Be strong, do not fear;
 your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
 with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

In Jesus, God has come. And he’s the only one who can open our eyes and unstop our ears to see and hear the word of God made flesh. The word of God who dwelt among us. The word of God who is Jesus. 

After this miracle, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. He’s continuing to use the Messianic Secret theme, urging people not to spread the news about what he had done until the time of his death is at hand. But regardless of his commands, they couldn’t stop telling people about what Jesus had done. 

And in this case, it’s easy to understand why. This man had never talked before. And now with his first words he gets to declare the goodness of Jesus. Their testimony stirred up the people in Decapolis toward amazement. And they said of Jesus, he has done everything well. 

And we affirm that too. He has done everything so very well. 

Ok, let’s shift gears and head into our 14th miracle in the book of Mark which is the feeding of the 4,000. It’s found in Mark 8:1-10

8 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

We see an account that has many similarities to the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus has been teaching a crowd who has been with him for 3 days straight. Already we see the passion of the crowd to hear Jesus’s teaching. They were hungry and yet they stayed. They weren’t making plans for lunch after church or trying to figure out how they might travel home. 

Knowing this, Jesus has compassion on them, acknowledging their limitation. Jesus sees that some of them have a long journey and they would collapse on the way without food. There’s the really beautiful provision we see from Jesus to look not just on their spiritual needs, but to their physical needs as well.

It can be easy in religion to give people spiritual sustenance - a good sermon, another Bible verse to help encourage them, but we forget to give them the physical sustenance they need as well. The truth is, we are souls within a body and both physical and spiritual needs must be met. My husband and I run a nonprofit where we feed free meals to people in need and share the gospel. At one of our events a man came up to us who had served as a missionary for many years and gave us a post it note. It simply said “an empty stomach has no ears.” And it’s so true. 

Jesus acknowledges their humanity, and get this, not just because he loves us from afar and knows we have needs, but because he himself felt it too. He was human so he was hungry. And he let’s his own physical need draw his attention to the crowd. Instead of gratifying himself, he seeks to fill them first. His compassion is so vast, his servanthood so humble. 

We also get this great interaction with Jesus and his disciples in this miracle. It says he calls his disciples to him and tells them about the problem - the people are hungry, we can’t send away like this. I love this because Jesus is presenting a problem that he obviously knows exactly how to solve. I think Jesus invited his dicisiples into the problem to give them a moment to think through it for themselves.

Back at the Feeding of the 5,000, they said it was impossible to feed the people because it would cost too much money. We learned after that account that they didn’t understand the miracle of the loaves and their hearts were hardened. This time, they get a second chance. 

And they come up with a different excuse. For why feeding 4,000 people on a hillside would be impossible. They say, where can we get enough bread?  Meaning, there was not enough to eat in such a desolate place. This time it wasn’t bout money, it was about availability. 

Sure, they had seen Jesus provide, but could he makes something out of nothing. Of course this seems ridiculous after the feeding of the 5,000 when they literally witnessed Jesus making bread and fish but somehow, instead of answering, You could just feed them like you did before, Jesus, they answer with a confused question. 

And though the disciples get it wrong again, I am thankful for the honesty of scriptures because I do it too. I see God work in my life but I doubt him the next time I Have a problem. I know he has been so faithful to me, but I question him when I come to a new challenge. 

So Jesus, knowing the human heart simply asks them, how many loaves do you have. 

Seven, they reply, maybe realizing in this moment what they should have before.

 Jesus then proceeds to feed the crowd in almost the exact same manner as he did for the 5,000, having them sit down, blessing the food, breaking it and having the disciples distribute it. And just like the feeding of the 5,000, there were leftovers - seven basketful. 

Jesus says nothing more about it to his disciples, his actions are loud enough. And after yet another miracle they climb in the boat together and head to a new location. 

And I want the disciples to encourage us to remember Jesus’s faithfulness. I know it’s so easy to forget. I forget all the time. But this miracle is a call to remember. What he has done in the past, he can do again, in a new way. We can trust him to provide not just for our spiritual needs but for a very practical physical needs as well. He satisfies with a surplus.

Ok, friends, that was a good one, I hope it encouraged you and I can’t wait to study with you again.