And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
There are many times when the presence of a crowd isn't conducive to healing. It may lead to self-consciousness that makes one unwilling to be fully vulnerable to the Lord. Yet many of us are unwilling to be led away from the noise and confusion into a place of stillness where we can be alone with Jesus. Even if we can't effectively communicate with the crowds, we refuse to unplug so as to become plugged in to something better. We can't, or can only barely, hear the crowds through our own filters and preconceptions. What we often do hear sounds more like cacophonous unintelligible noise. When we try and speak into this milieu is it any wonder that our words don't come out as we intend, that we are unable to make ourselves completely intelligible, or to have the impact we desire? Yet, we think, better the devil you know than the messiah you don't. The world may be filled with noise, but we are used to that noise, even if it deafens us. Who knows what might happen alone in the silence with Jesus?
He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")
Had he healed the man if the presence of the crowd it might have seemed, even to the man healed, like it was more of a publicity stunt than an act of mercy. But by his one on one engagement with the deaf-mute man he demonstrated that his action was entirely for his sake. Not only that, but the way in which Jesus healed the man was deeply intimate. He touched him in a way both physical and spiritual, once again shaping the elements of creation, as he had done with Adam, but this time to restore and to heal him. Just as we are often afraid to come away from the crowds, so too are we often afraid to allow Jesus to touch us so deeply. But when we are willing, and let him have his way in us, we will hear in a new way. We will listen to God's word first, with none of the crowd to distract us, and will learn to speak in accord with that word.
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
Only once we've had this encounter with Jesus can we hope to have useful communication with the crowds of our world. Only then will we know how to listen with compassion. And only then will we have something worth saying in response.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
"He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
It is true that there was no practical way to keep the crowds from realizing what had happened. But by telling them not to proclaim it he perhaps at least caused them to more fully appreciate what exactly the event was about which they desired to speak. It was not merely a miracle, much less self-promotion. It was in fact God fulfilling the promises that he had made through the prophets (see Isaiah 35:5-6). It is he alone who does all things well.
Sonicflood - I Want To Know You
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