Jesus Helps Us to Hear

Scripture: Mark 7:31-37

Our scripture lesson this morning comes from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7. And as always, let me encourage you to go home and read all of chapter 7 today. That'll help you to understand all that the Lord is trying to speak to our hearts about today. I'll be reading verses 31 through 37.

Mark writes: "Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Decapolis, and they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, 'Ephphatha,' that is, 'Be opened.' And his ears were opened. His tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, 'He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.'"

The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Now, in our scripture text today, Jesus encounters a man who is deaf and mute. And what I want you to do for just a few moments is to imagine that you are the person in this passage, that you are the person in this story, that you are completely cut off from the world of sound.

You cannot hear the sound of your loved ones' voices. You cannot hear the laughter of children, the wind in the trees, the ocean crashing upon the shore, the water rushing down the mountain stream. You cannot hear birds calling, or music playing, or people singing. And you cannot communicate your feelings to the people around you.

That would be a difficult adjustment for any of us to make. Not being able to communicate can be extremely isolating and a lonely experience. It's one thing to lose your sense of smell or taste, like we saw with people during the COVID outbreak, but to lose your hearing and to lose your ability to speak presents many challenges.

And while it can be a real challenge for people today, it was extremely debilitating for people in Jesus' day.

Now, recently, some of you already know this, but I've started wearing hearing aids and not being able to hear—it's frustrating. And sometimes my hearing aids work really well if they're charged up good, and sometimes they don't. And if I don't adjust them to, like, if I'm in a large room like the family life center, I can adjust them so I can hear better in a large room. If I don't adjust them, I don't hear people when they're speaking to me, especially if there's a lot of ambient noise. So it's very frustrating to deal with that.

And I think that sometimes we forget how frustrating that can be for us—that not being able to communicate clearly with someone else can be a struggle sometimes.

Jesus Was Known in the Decapolis

Now, even though Jesus was not teaching or preaching in the region of Decapolis, people still knew him there. You might remember in Mark chapter 5, the story of the man who was possessed by a demon named Legion. His name was Legion, because there were many. And Jesus commands the demons to come out of this man, and he allows them, these demons, to enter into the pigs that are on the hillside. And the herd then rushes down this steep slope into the water and they drown.

And Mark tells us, after Jesus healed this man, this man went all over the Decapolis, telling people all that Jesus had done for him. He was able to communicate with other people what Jesus had done for him. So when Jesus arrives back into Decapolis, the people have already heard about his miraculous powers.

And they bring this man who was deaf and could hardly talk to Jesus. And I see this as another beautiful example of friends who bring their friend to Jesus. This man probably had a hard time communicating with the people in his life. Yet someone in his life cared enough about him to take him to Jesus.

How Do We Bring People to Jesus?

Which raises the question: how do we bring people to Jesus? Well, let me give you a few ideas that you can put into practice today.

First, pray for that person. I've shared this story before. Grady Watson, a friend of mine almost 30 years ago—when somebody walked up to him and said, "Brother Grady, I need you to pray for me," he just dropped down to his knees. And we started praying immediately, right then, in that moment.

And so I will tell you that when someone asks you to pray for them, do it now. Pray for them right now, and then make a commitment to pray for them until they get back to you and say you can stop praying or hear something else you can pray about.

I got a good friend of mine. I worked with him on Gunter Air Force Base back in the 90s, a man named Pat Foley. He still sends out a prayer chain that goes around the world. He knows all these people on Air Force bases around the world, and anytime he sends a prayer request out, people around the world are praying for that person. And he is committed. He retired in 2000. So for the last 26 years, he has been committed to this prayer chain. And he will update it, and he will reach out to me sometimes, and ask me, you know, give me an update on the person we're praying for. So he can put that out too as well.

So pray for them now, and then be committed to pray for them until they get back to you.

Second, share scripture with them. The word of God is powerful. God told Isaiah, "My word will prosper everywhere I send it." Memorize it. Meditate on it, and then share God's word with others.

Third, share your story. Your testimony is powerful. Revelation 12 reminds us that Satan is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Those who have never listened, or who will never listen to a sermon, will listen to your story.

Fourth, demonstrate the love of Christ. Ask the Lord to help you show kindness to others. Our little kindness may open a big door for the gospel to be shared.

Fifth, bring someone to church. If I were to ask someone to come to church, they think, well, that's his job. That's what he does for a living. He invites people to come to church. But if you ask them to come to church—you know what they're going to think? "Wow, this person really cares about me." So invite someone to come to church.

Sixth, pray for divine appointments. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you someone to talk to. And he will answer that prayer. He will put someone in your path. He will put someone in your life that you could share the good news with. But what you need to be is ready for when that happens.

And then lastly, begin doing this today. Stop sitting on the sidelines, quit procrastinating, and get into the game. We all get nervous, but as we obey the Lord, He has promised to help us. And the more often you do something, the more natural it feels when you do it, and the more at ease you will be in doing it. Amen?

What Jesus Did for the Deaf Man

Now, fortunately for this man, he had people in his life who loved him, who cared about him. And when they heard that Jesus was in the area, they brought him to Jesus. They believed in Jesus' ability to heal, and they begged Jesus to lay his hand on this man and pray for him and heal him.

And I think there's several important things that are happening in our scripture lesson this morning that we need to understand.

1. Jesus Took Him Aside

The first is this: Jesus took him aside. I find it very interesting that Jesus took the man away from the crowd before he healed him. Granted, not all of Jesus' healings were private. There were times during his ministry when crowds brought their sick and their infirmed to him, and he healed all of them in front of everyone.

And we saw this a few weeks ago when Jesus was staying at Peter's house, and all night long, people brought people that were sick and demon possessed to this house that Jesus was in. And the Bible says the whole town gathered at the door. Can you imagine all of Wetumpka gathering at your door? Think about that for a second. And everyone wants something from you. And that's what it felt like for Jesus. Everyone was at the door and they all wanted Jesus. And Jesus healed every disease and sickness among the people.

But when it came to individual healings, we do see a pattern of Jesus avoiding the crowds and taking the individual aside. And I believe that part of this was Jesus' concern for the dignity of the individual. Jesus did not want to make a spectacle of anyone. So he took this man aside.

And part of it is also Jesus' humility. Jesus was not looking for admiration from the crowd. That was the last thing that he needed. What he wanted to do was pour out his healing mercies into a person's life.

And another part of this was Jesus' mission. Jesus came primarily to preach and to teach, and his miracles backed up his teaching and his preaching, but he didn't want his miracles to distract from the mission that he was on.

So Jesus took the man aside away from the crowds.

2. Jesus Used Physical Touch

Secondly, Jesus used physical touch. Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. Now, that wouldn't have worked during COVID for us, would it? I mean, think about that. He spit—you know, more likely, he spit on his finger. I think that's what the word is saying. I don't think he just spit on the ground, and then he touched the man's tongue.

Jesus often used physical touch in healing. And we see that from gospel to gospel. And usually he would just lay his hands on that person. And this was more for the benefit of the person than it was for anything else, because Jesus did not need to touch the person that he was healing.

Now, there were times when Jesus spoke the word and the person was healed, without him even being near the person. But the laying on of hands was a personal touch. It demonstrated Jesus' compassion for the person that was needing this healing. And it also strengthened this person's faith because there was also a spiritual connection that was made between him and Jesus. And finally, it identified Jesus as the channel through whom God was working to bring this healing to this man.

In this case, physical touch was extremely important because this man could not hear what Jesus was saying. So to communicate what Jesus was wanting to do, what Jesus was going to do, Jesus put his fingers in this man's ears. And then he spit and he touched the man's tongue.

3. Jesus Looked Up to Heaven

A third thing that Jesus did was he looked up to heaven. This was an act of prayer, a sign of dependence on God the Father. Although Jesus was God, he chose to live his entire human life on this earth in dependence on God the Father.

And Jesus spoke about this in the Gospel of John in chapter 5. He says this: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees his Father doing. Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does."

So Jesus looked up into heaven in an attitude of prayer, and as a sign of his dependence on, and his submission to, God the Father.

4. Jesus Sighed and Spoke the Words of Healing

And then finally, Jesus sighed, and he spoke the words of healing. Jesus looked up to the heavens and with a deep sigh, he says, "Ephphatha," which means "be opened."

And I believe this gives us a glimpse into God's heart concerning all the sickness and the sorrow and the suffering in this world. He is right here in the midst of his people. He is not a God who is far off, some distant location. He is right here with us, and he is a God who cares for us and feels our pain. He is a God who shares our burden. He is the God who took upon human flesh in order to free us from sickness and suffering and sin.

And the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we do not have a high priest who is unfamiliar with our weakness, because he was tempted in every area, and yet he did not sin. So he knows what we're going through. He knows the weaknesses that we have. He knows the temptations that we're under. He knows the struggles that are in our life, and he wants to help us. And when we cry out to him, he responds, and he comes to us in those moments.

Imagine the Touch of Jesus

Now, I want you to imagine something else. Imagine Jesus touching your ear. Imagine what that must have felt like. The touch of the Master's hand. The touch of the great physician. The touch of God. The touch of the Messiah, the touch of the anointed one upon your life.

He clears the resistance that's in your ears. And you hear his love for you, and you begin to hear that still, small voice of God speaking to you. Comforting you. Encouraging you. Reminding you how much he loves you.

And then he touches your tongue, and he gives life to your voice and new freedom to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus gave this command to this man's ears that were shut out to the world. He gave this command to the man's tongue who was bound and could not speak clearly. And he spoke to this man's condition, and he wants to speak to your condition this morning. And Jesus says, "Be opened."

And verse 35 tells us at this, the man's ears were opened and his tongue was loose and he began to speak plainly. This was an amazing miracle. Not only did Jesus heal this man's deafness instantly, but Jesus gave him the ability to speak clearly, to communicate with those that he loved.

And I can just imagine that the first thing he did after he left Jesus was, he turned to his friends and said, "Thank you for bringing me to Jesus. Thank you for loving me enough. Thank you for letting me know that you care."

And the first voice that this man ever heard was the voice of Jesus. And the first person this man ever talked to was the person of Jesus. Think about that for a moment.

The Crowd's Response

So how does the crowd respond to Jesus' healing touch? Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. "Don't you say a thing. Don't say anything about what you've seen here today. Don't go away and start spreading rumors around about me. Y'all keep quiet. Don't say anything else."

But the more they told—the more people kept talking about it because these people were overwhelmed with amazement. And as we've seen before in the gospels, Jesus often told people after he performed a miracle not to go around telling others about it. This was mainly to keep the focus on his ministry and to avoid confrontation with the leaders in Jerusalem.

But good news is hard to keep quiet, and the people just couldn't keep it to themselves. They had to get this out. They had to share it.

"He Has Done Everything Well"

And I love what the crowds say about Jesus. First they say, "He has done everything well." Go and read the first chapter of Genesis today. And you'll see where it says, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

When God does something, he always does it well. He never does substandard work. What he begins, he finishes, and he always does it to perfection.

And that should be good news for us today. Because if you are a believer, God is in the process of working on you. And from time to time, when people come up and they're frustrated by something I might have said or something I might have done, I can say to them, "Be patient with me because God ain't finished with me yet. He's still working on me."

And as we read in the book of Philippians, "You could be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

God does all things well. And what he's doing in your life—he's going to do it well, and he's going to bring it to completion and you're going to be blessed by it. And then you're gonna be a blessing to other people.

"He Even Makes the Deaf Hear and the Mute Speak"

And then the people said, "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

The Lord told Moses: "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes them mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"

God was reminding Moses that he is in control of all aspects of life, including how we communicate. Our preconceived limitations do not hinder God's plans for our life. Just because you don't think you can share the gospel doesn't mean that God's not planning for you to share it one day.

Like Moses, we must trust in his power rather than our own abilities. And when we do that, God can use us in powerful ways that we never thought possible.

Application: Are You Walking Closely with God?

So, how do we apply this message to ourselves today? What if I were to ask you about your relationship with God? Are you walking with God? And I'm not talking just, you know, walking with God, but I'm talking about in close proximity with God. Are you walking closely with God?

Are you listening to him? Are you listening to that still, small voice? As he speaks hope into your life, as he speaks encouragement into your life, as he speaks love into your life—are you listening to God?

And are you talking with him? Are you in prayer? Do you spend time in prayer? How much time do you spend in prayer? And when you do spend time in prayer, before you say amen, do you stop talking and begin to listen for a while, to see if God might want to say something else to you that morning?

And are you obeying him? It's one thing to know the word of God. But it's another thing to obey his commands, his precepts, the things that he has told us to do.

Or have you cut yourself off from God like this deaf and mute man was cut off from the people around him? He was, you know, present with them, but they weren't communicating with each other, not very well anyway.

The Miracle of Redemption

And I think at one point, we were all cut off from God, separated from him by our own sin. And we were just as helpless to change our condition as this man was in our passage today to change his condition.

But if you are a believer today, somehow, God got through to you, just as Jesus got through to this man. And you had a heart of stone and your ears were deaf to the spiritual things of God, but God spoke to your ears, "Be open." And he transformed your heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. And it was a miracle that God worked in your life.

And there is nothing that compares to the miracle of redemption. There is nothing that compares to a person being redeemed, to a person being transformed, to a person enjoying new life, eternal life.

Jesus Says to You: "Be Opened"

Perhaps you've been a believer for some time. But you've deviated from the path that God had put you on. You're not on the road that God wants you to be on. You used to be, but you're not anymore. And you're not talking with him as much as you used to talk with him, and you're not listening to him as much as you used to listen to him.

This morning, Jesus says to you, "Be opened." Open your ears to the wonderful truth of God's word all over again. Open your mouth and confess your sin to God and let your lips speak forth his praises. Say aloud to the whole world: "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, who died and rose again for me." Confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord. Get back on the path that God wants you to be on this morning.

Is God calling you to do something? Perhaps to step out in faith or to trust him in new ways? Then hear Christ say to you this morning, "Be opened." Be open to God working in your life. Be open to God's Spirit working in you. Be open to God's will for you, no matter what it is.

That's your word for the day: Be open to Jesus.

He does all things well. And what he's doing in your life, he will bring to completion. But we got to work with him. Amen.

And let me remind you that when Christ is leading your life, no matter how rocky the path may get, all things work together for the good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Be open. Be open to God and his amazing love to you this morning.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your love for us. We thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes, and opening our ears, and opening our hearts, and opening our minds so that we can understand you better, so that we can communicate with you better, so that we can understand what you have called us to do and to be, so that you can help us, so that you can encourage us.

Lord, we want to hear a word of encouragement from you today. We want to hear a word of hope from you today. We want to hear a word of peace from you today.

And Lord, as we walk in your way, I pray, Lord, today that you will use us in ways we could never imagine, that you will help us to be the people you have created us to be. And that, Lord, we will be the church outside the walls of this building. And each and every day, we'll look for opportunities to share you with everyone we meet.

And we pray all this in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

First Methodist Church Wetumpka
February 2, 2026