September 8, 2024
Pastor John Hering
Mark 7:31-37
Mark 7:31-37
31 Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis.
32 They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) 35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. 37 They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
The Health Care Industry is the 4th largest industry by income in the USA. 1st is Real Estate. The 2nd professional and business services. The 3rd is State and Local Governments, which just recently took this position from #4—the Healthcare industry that represents 18.3% of the U.S. economy, with $4.3 trillion in revenue. Approximately 14% of U.S. adults are employed in the healthcare industry. This had led to many political arguments such as how many Americans should be insured? With what kind of coverage? And who pays for it? Answers to those questions have stirred emotions that have boiled over into local, state and federal meetings. It seems that health care reform could use some powerful, divine help. We see such help in Mark 7 today – not in the form of a bill that both Republicans and Democrats support, but in limitless power of Jesus. May the Holy Spirit encourage you today with
Heavenly Health Insurance
Created with the Painful Compassion
The behavior of Jesus healing the deaf man with a speech impediment seems a bit strange.
31 Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis.
32 They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).
So This miracle of Jesus seems different from other times when he healed people. Why did Jesus heal in this way? What happened? And what lessen can we learn today?
We are not surprised to see Jesus heal this man as he had healed others. When Jesus sees people who are hurting we often hear the Bible say, “Jesus was moved with compassion” (Matt 20:34). (Pause and stare at the ceiling and see how many people in the congregation will look up, too). I just played a little joke on you. I wasn’t really seeing anything special up there, but when many of you saw me looking up, so did you. Jesus “looked up to heaven,” and Jesus had a real purpose for it. Jesus looked up to heaven when performing other miracles. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves,” before he fed the 5,000 (Mark 6:41). When he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus “looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me’” (John 11:41). In the case of this deaf man, however, it doesn’t appear that Jesus is looking up to heaven for thanks, because when he looks up to heaven “he sighed.”
Here is our first hint why Jesus healed this way. This sigh was not a quick huff, like expelling a bunch of air from the lungs. It is more like a groan. A deep, gut-wrenching groan like you’d hear from a football player lying on the field who just tore an ACL. A pain-filled groan. Yes, Jesus is hurting. Like the Bible says we hurt when “we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for … the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). There’s this pain we have. It doesn’t bleed, it doesn’t nauseate us, it doesn’t make our nerves scream, but it hurts. It’s the pain of sin. Jesus saw the pain of sin in people and groaned with Painful Compassion. Jesus knows the burden we carry because we have not lived up to the perfect life God demands of us and the eternal consequences as the result. Jesus also knows about our broken relationships, disease, guilt, stress, and death to name a few. Yes, these are painful for us to bear, but they were just as painful for Jesus so see in the people he created. Therefore, Jesus approaches this deaf and speechless man with Painful Compassion to reverse sin’s dreadful consequences. It’s a compassion that calls for sacrifice – bloody, painful, deadly sacrifice for freedom of all people. Yes, there are thousands of children who lost a mommy in the war or thousands of parents who lost a son in the war, but this doesn’t compare to the painful compassion Jesus bears for everyone in the world, and in this moment, the miracle he performed. Jesus did this and fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases’”
Matthew 8:16,17
With Painful Compassion Jesus Created Heavenly Health Insurance for this sick man. “He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).” With every healing, and with his very death and resurrection, Jesus reverses the effects of sin with his painful compassion. Do you see why Jesus healed in this way? Jesus healed this man not as a wonder-worker but as the world’s Savior who takes issue with all of sin and its consequences. Jesus’ Painful Compassion gives us all hope with guaranteed Heavenly Health Insurance. And unlike the insurance you have on your home, auto or life, Jesus’ Heavenly Health Insurance is
Sustained with the Perfect Care
When people think of miraculous healings of the Bible who comes to mind? Perhaps the healings performed by Elisha. The ten lepers cleansed miraculously by Jesus, or the demon possessed freed of their tormentors. But don’t forget Job, Jacob, and Paul too. Job was inflicted with boils, and God used those boils to heal Job from his self-righteousness. Jacob limped away from wrestling against God, and it healed him of self-reliance. Paul lived with a thorn in his flesh, and it kept him from being conceited. Today it is this man who couldn’t hear or speak. Jesus gave him Perfect Care:
“35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly.”
We might be tempted to think that being healed means we can put away the band aids, crutches, eyeglasses, medications, or syringes. Or maybe the pain decreases from an 8 to a 3 or the blood counts are stabilized or flu shot works. That’s fine for earthy health, however Heavenly Health Insurance promises the Perfect Care of Jesus in all circumstances. This means when defect, disability, or discomfort remains Jesus uses it as his servant. When Jesus heard that his good friend Lazarus became critically ill he didn’t go to him promptly and Lazarus died. People perceived it as coldhearted indifference, but Jesus explained otherwise,
“This sickness … is for God’s glory … so that you may believe”
John 11:4,15
The temptation for us is to blame God when you or a loved one isn’t healed as promptly as you’d like. Don’t give up on faith in God’s perfect care and the true purpose of his power. The days will come when you or a loved one are taking tests or hospitalized despite your prayers. We have no right to demand from God that he heal us at our time, in our way, according to our plan. Jesus said, “This sickness is for God’s glory.” We don’t have the right to glory that belongs to him, and if he’s going to be glorified by my allergies or your cancer or your bum ankle then who are you to rob him of that right?! It is the time for us to remember that Jesus is Sustaining Us With The Perfect Care with Heavenly Health Insurance. Just to be clear, God does invite us to come to him in prayer and ask him what you’d like him to do. You can humbly request that he grants you health. You can share your fears and frustrations with him in prayer. But be sure to believe that no matter what he answers, he loves you. He has your eternal interests in mind and is sustaining you with Perfect Care.
God speaks to us concerning the True Purpose of His Power through the prophet Isaiah,
“Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong. Do not fear; your God will come … he will come to save you’”
Isaiah 35:4
God’s healing will come. Maybe in your body. Definitely in your soul. Maybe in your character, your attitude, or you skill. Or he may also be reaching out to others through your pain, that they might believe as was the case before us today.
“36 Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. 37 They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
What happened? What lesson can we learn? God used this sickness to open the spiritual ears and mouths of many people to learn about Jesus’ Perfect Care.
Likewise, Jesus Perfectly Cares about You and those around you! The friends of the deaf man with a speech impediment knew enough about Jesus that they brought their friend to him and “they begged him to place his hand on the man.” Jesus didn’t heal the man they way they wanted. Instead, “he took him aside, away from the crowd.” Jesus wanted a one-on-one with this hurting soul. A private moment with just the two of them. And touching the areas of defect, even using his own spit, Jesus healed his way. A meaningful way that spoke to a man who couldn’t hear and couldn’t speak. So, when your life is crowded and Jesus wants to take you aside, go with him. Leave the hustle and bustle, leave the crowd, because he wants to touch you with Heavenly Health Insurance meant just for you.
The Health Care debate will continue in our country. Some claim 46 million Americans don’t have health care, while others say that number is only 30 million. Some say the $1 trillion price tag on health care reform is too expensive and others say it need not increase our budget deficit. Partisan rhetoric continues. But here is a fact. Nobody is without Heavenly Health Insurance. You are not too sick or sinful for it, you are not too old or young for it, it doesn’t exclude you for a pre-existing condition. It offers coverage to the wealthy and the poor and everyone in between. Because Jesus Created it with his Painful Compassion that reversed the effects of sin and Sustains it with his Perfect Care. Jesus’ Heavenly Health Insurance is the kind of coverage we can all live with. Amen.
