This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
(Mark 7:31-37 TPT)
31 After this, Jesus left the coastland of Tyre and came through Sidon on his way to Lake Galilee and over into regions of Syria.
32 Some people brought to him a deaf man with a severe speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hands on him and heal him.
33 So Jesus led him away from the crowd to a private spot. Then he stuck his fingers into the man’s ears and placed some of his saliva on the man’s tongue.
34 Then he gazed into heaven, sighed deeply, and spoke to the man’s ears and tongue, “Ethpathakh,” which is Aramaic for “Open up, now!”
35 At once the man’s ears opened and he could hear perfectly, and his tongue was untied and he began to speak normally.
36 Jesus ordered everyone to keep this miracle a secret, but the more he told them not to, the more the news spread!
37 The people were absolutely beside themselves and astonished beyond measure. And they began to declare, “Everything he does is wonderful! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. God loves you so much that He will go out of His way to bless you.
After Jesus healed the Syro-Phoenician woman (discussed earlier), He traveled from Tyre through Sidon and came to Decapolis, an area also known as “Ten Cities.” Today’s miracle takes place there.
In Luke 5, we discussed a paralyzed man who could not get to Jesus. So four of his friends carried him to his breakthrough, tearing up a roof in the process. In Decapolis, there was a man who was deaf and could barely speak. His speech impediment was probably tied to his deafness because we develop our speech through our hearing. The text says that “some people” brought him to Jesus and begged Him to place His hands on the man. Looking at the circumstances I see that this man was in a bad situation. Most miracles involved faith. Jesus was approached by people who either acted in faith, spoke the language of faith, or exhibited faith in some form. In the story of the paralyzed man brought by His friends to Jesus, the Bible says that Jesus “saw their faith“. While the paralyzed man could not do much, his friends could and they did. Jesus honored the faith of his friends and provided the paralyzed man with a breakthrough. However, in this story, the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus did not exhibit faith. They simply brought the man to Jesus and asked if He would lay hands on him.
The deaf man in this story was in a bad position as far as faith was concerned. He could not hear the good news about Jesus, nor could he speak the language of faith to get his breakthrough. All he had was his sight. So Jesus would work with that! Jesus took the man away from everyone else and ministered to him in a way he had the ability to receive. The man could see, so Jesus took His fingers and put them into the man’s ears as if to stir up faith in the man to believe for hearing. Jesus then moistened the man’s tongue with saliva from His own mouth as if to stir up faith in the man to believe for clear speech. Jesus then looked up to heaven and said, “Ephphatha!” This word literally means, “Be opened!” Immediately the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue was loosened. The man began to hear and speak clearly.
2. Jesus will meet you where you are, but He won’t leave you where you are!
I love how much Jesus did for the deaf and mute man.
— He took him off to the side, so he could have his undivided attention.
— Jesus used the senses that were working (sight and touch), so the man could understand what He was doing and release his faith.
— Jesus then spoke a word of deliverance, saying, “Ephphatha” (which means, “Be opened!“), even though the deaf man could not hear it. Jesus said this, so heaven could hear Him. Jesus said it, so the spirit realm could hear Him and respond in the natural realm.
— This man came with two issues (he could not hear and he could not speak), and Jesus addressed both. It’s not like Jesus healed the man of one and said, “Well, just be happy for that.” No, Jesus loved him just the way he was, and he loved him so much that He did not want to leave the man that way.
— The man was brought to Jesus without the ability to hear or speak, and he left hearing and speaking. Whatever your issue, God will meet you right where you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way!
3. Just because it is strange, it does not mean it is not from God.
Jesus put His fingers in the man’s ears (in Mark 7) and put saliva from His own mouth on the man’s tongue. If that happened today, people would be talking about Pastor Jesus. But no matter how strange it was, it worked! Once the man was able to hear and speak, he did not have a problem with HOW his breakthrough came.
— Sometimes God will lead you to do strange things, but you must do them (even at the risk of looking foolish) in order to get your breakthrough.
— God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not common in this world. So when God tells you to do something, DO IT, no matter how strange it seems.
— God’s methods may seem unorthodox because He is, literally, not from this world. Remember that when the Holy Spirit is leading you to do something you don’t understand. Just be open to it. God is not a man, and He does not have to do things the way the world does.
— Please don’t miss out on your blessing because it was sitting behind an act that you thought was too strange to perform. This is why I believe miracles are not common in the USA. Desperation is the breeding ground of miracles. When you are desperate, you don’t care how God does it. You just want God to move! But when you are comfortable, you care about what people will say and think about you.
— Our God will get creative if He has to, to find ways to bless you!
— If we put ourselves in Jesus’ shoes for a minute, within the context of this miracle, we realize the extent that God will go to in order to bless someone, and we position ourselves to be the conduit through which the blessing will come; no matter how unorthodox it seems! Just be OPEN to God because He does not have to do things the way the world expects!
4. We serve a God who will break cultural norms to bless one of His children.
In the story of the deaf and mute man, not only was Jesus unorthodox when He put His on saliva on the man’s tongue, but the fact that He was touching the man (even when He put His fingers in the man’s ears), was a violation of Jewish customs. In Jewish culture, people with physical impairments were often considered unclean and were avoided. Jesus’ willingness to touch and heal the man challenged the cultural norms. This reminds us that God cares more about people than He does about religious practices.
5. Jesus has ALL POWER, and it is available to ALL PEOPLE!
I hope that studying the miracles of Jesus is helping to remind you of Jesus’ power.
— His power transcends human limitations.
— There is no limit to what God can do.
— The deaf man with a speech impediment needed two breakthroughs, and he got both in one encounter with Jesus!
— He left with the ability to hear and speak clearly. Why? Because there is nothing God cannot do!
— Sometimes, we just have to be reminded of God’s limitless power!
Jesus’ healing ministry was, and is, for all people!
— Jesus didn’t just heal the deaf man with a speech impediment in Mark 7, but he also healed many others throughout his ministry.
— Jesus healed men and women.
— Jesus healed young and old.
— Jesus healed people with physical disorders and injuries and delivered people possessed and oppressed by demons.
— That same power is made available today to everyone everywhere!
— While Jesus was on the earth, His ministry was primarily to the Jews. But now that He has ascended back to heaven, His ministry is for everyone.
— It does not matter if you are Black or White, Hispanic or Asian, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, General or Private, janitor or CEO, the love and power of God are made available to you!
Everyone needs Jesus; thankfully, Jesus has made Himself, His love, and His power available to everyone everywhere! That’s the gospel, and we must preach it everywhere we go!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
I am open to Your supernatural power like never before!
I know Your ways are above my ways. I know Your thoughts are above my thoughts. That is why my heart and mind are open to whatever You want to do and however, You want to do it!
You can do it TO me or THROUGH me; FOR me or BY me! Whatever You want to do today, Father, I am available to You.
You are creative. You are dedicated. You are limitless. You are God!
I am Your child, and I am ready to be used by You today to share Your love and power with the world.
Jesus died for everyone everywhere, and I get to tell that story everywhere I go!
Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME because I am dedicated to being a conduit for YOU! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
