Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “ Ephphatha !” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”'
This miracle is recorded only in Mark with enough detail to lead one to believe it was an eyewitness account. Jesus left Tyre, a Gentile city, and traveled through Sidon, another Gentile territory, before reaching the Sea of Galilee in the Decapolis, another primarily Gentile area. Jesus had previously been in the district of the Decapolis and had cast out unclean spirits from a man sending them into a herd of swine. The townspeople asked Jesus to leave the area (Mk. 5:1-20).
This time the townspeople welcomed Jesus and brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to him demonstrating their faith in Jesus' ability to perform miracles. Jesus, in an effort not to draw attention to what he was going to do, took the man away from the crowd and performed a healing ritual that could have been misunderstood by the pagans as a magic rite. Jesus often used physical gestures to convey spiritual truths and to communicate his power to heal. We were not told if the deaf-mute was a man of faith but the people that brought him to Jesus believed that Jesus could cure him and begged Jesus to lay hands on him. Jesus looked up to heaven before performing the miracle signifying his dependence on the Father who was the divine source of his power. Why Jesus performed the healing ritual is unknown because he could easily have healed the man with a word (Mt. 8:8-13). The man was immediately and completely healed of his infirmities demonstrating Jesus' authority over physical infirmities.
Jesus ordered the Gentile crowd not to tell anyone (Messianic secret), but the prohibition had the opposite effect. The crowd responded to the miracle with wonder and awe and acknowledged that he did all things well. Mark ended the story with a reference to Isaiah; “Then the eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened; Then the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue sing for joy (Is. 35:5-6).” The evangelist presented Jesus as more than a healer whose full identity would be revealed through the cross and his resurrection.
Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, and we trust in his Divine authority to heal and restore us to physical and spiritual health. Grant us the humility and wisdom to recognize our need to depend on you and the courage to proclaim the wonders of your works. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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