Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

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What is the answer to the theological mystery and spiritual purpose of JESUS’ healing of the non-communicative man (a deaf-mute) in today’s Gospel Lesson from St. Mark seven? What are we to draw from it for our Christian lives?   

The principal matter to keep in mind is that JESUS did not perform miracles as parlor tricks, nor did He exemplify His heavenly powers to draw attention to Himself. Some commentators believe this miracle is recorded in Mark’s Gospel, not as something out of the ordinary, but rather a representative of what was quite common in JESUS’ miraculous ministry. JESUS made no attempt to impress anyone to hasten into his Kingdom.  

In fact, brothers and sisters, JESUS’ mission was to conquer the world, not with power and might, but with love. — We know that He disdained brute force and man’s adulation, because we read early in JESUS’ ministry how, “many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But JESUS did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of [Him], for He knew what was in man” (St. John 2.23-25). Instead, we should understand how JESUS’ miracles were meant as signs, pointing toward spiritual, theological, and heavenly realities, particularly to His glory as the revelation of life and light of the knowledge of GOD the Father.  

In another place in the Gospel of St. John, after redeeming the woman caught in adultery, JESUS says the following, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (St. John 8.12). — What is the light that JESUS emits that leads people out of the darkness and into life? — Is it the radiant energy that comes out of a body, like a light bulb or the sun, lighting an otherwise lightless space? — Radiant energy enlivening darkness with visible light is certainly a form of JESUS’ glorious light. – We saw that expressed in His transfiguration, where St. Matthew tells us that “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (17.2). — Or is the light of Christ that leads His followers into paths of righteousness and into the way of life, as the classic thinkers of the Greco-Roman world thought? That is, is it the light of knowledge that enlightens man’s mind to the truths that liberate him unto a virtuous life, and away from the archaic, dark realities of ignorance that otherwise leave man debilitated, corrupt, and vile? For it was believed that “In a world marked by uncertainty and upheaval, the wisdom of ancient Greek philosophy served as a guiding light, illuminating man’s path toward truth, virtue, and enlightenment.”¹ — Again, this is a form of the light that JESUS came to lighten the world with, but it only qualifies certain aspects of the LORD’s light.  

The best New Testament explanation of the fullness of this light of Christ can be found in 2 Corinthians 4.6. There, St. Paul writes: “For GOD, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD in the face of JESUS Christ.” — The light that JESUS Christ came to reveal is not only emanating brilliance that can be seen in His face, but it is also the knowledge that enlightens the heart of man unto devoted communion with GOD ALMIGHTY. In a word, JESUS’ light is the glory of GOD that leads people out of sin and into eternal life, as was seen in the life of the woman caught in adultery, and like the non-communicative pagan man that JESUS healed in today’s Gospel Lesson. For each of these people, and all like them who look into the face of “the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the same image (Christ’s image), from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the LORD.” (2 Corinthians 3.18).  

Leaving the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile port on the Mediterranean Sea, JESUS travelled to the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a Greek term for ‘ten cities’, and although it was near Jewish territory, it was a region heavily influenced by the Gentile communities that populated it. — The Scriptures tell us that while JESUS was there, “They brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude…” (St. Mark 7.32-33a). — It was JESUS’ practice to engage with the sick, needy, or even dead while alone with a few of His disciples, laying His hands on them to heal them. We sense in this our LORD’s desire to be personal and intimate with those who have true faith in Him. Let us note, secondarily, JESUS’ desire for private devotion with us, is a prime reason why we should consider strongly what He says in the Sermon on the Mount: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (St. Matthew 6.6).  

Now in His private conference with the man, JESUS does some odd things – at least odd to us – but which had their several applications in first-century Israel. First, “JESUS put His fingers in the deaf/mute man’s ears, and then He spat and touched his tongue” (St. Mark 7.33). –It was forbidden in the Law of Moses (cf. Lev. 19.26) to use enchantments, divination, or magic, and so by physically manipulating the man’s tongue and ears, the man, a pagan, would know that what was happening to him, was a function of the Person standing in front of him, not a magical soothsaying spell. Such was the typical practice in Israel and in the heathen lands when medical remedies were honestly applied; viz., a physical manipulation of the enfeebled area would be administered. The idea of releasing and opening an obstructed canal was communicated by what JESUS did to the man’s ears – it was as if He was manually pulling out the deafening obstruction with His hands.  

Further, the idea of sanctification or regeneration would have been understood when JESUS spat and touched the man’s tongue. — Spitting was seen in two ways in ancient Israel. First, it was a sign of disgust and loathing, but it was also seen, by Rabbinic tradition, if applied by the eldest son, to have medicinal properties. — “While Scripture never endorses folklore as efficacious in itself, the LORD JESUS occasionally accommodated familiar cultural symbols to teach deeper truths [about Himself and His ministry; i.e., the efficacious, life-giving spittle from JESUS’ mouth, the elder Son of GOD, was the source that loosed this man’s tongue and gave it life again.”²    

Now, what we cannot fail to notice is what JESUS does and says, just before the deaf and mute man is healed. First, in compassion for the effects of sin in the world, JESUS looks to Heaven, sighing at the condition that mankind finds himself in, which is represented in the deaf and mute man’s maladies. Mankind, due to sin, is spiritually deaf and dumb to covenantal communion with his Creator, and JESUS has come to open man’s ears and loose his tongue that we might be reunited in consensual fellowship with our GOD. And then, as JESUS speaks, “He looks upward, giving an acknowledging glance to the Father, thereby situating the miracle within Trinitarian harmony – GOD the Incarnate Son, operating in the power of GOD the Holy Spirit, at the command of GOD the Father, then speaks in Aramaic dialect, Ephphatha – Be opened!  

Those who understood Him, would have been stirred to contemplate the Messianic promises that Israel was expecting – those foreshadowed by the Old Testament prophets. One of those promises was recorded in the book of the Prophet Isaiah, which we heard read just a few minutes ago. In his prophecy from GOD, Isaiah wrote: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth (Ephphatha) in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35.5-6). — Isaiah’s imagery captures the imagination, allowing it to render visions of a cloud opening wide beneath its weight of water, or wineskins bursting forth due to their fullness.  

Christ JESUS’ command ‘to be opened,’ serves as a direct enactment of the promises of His Messiahship, affirming the coherence of Old and New Testament revelation, not only that JESUS is the Redeemer of Jacob (faithful Israel), but also, ‘a light to the nations’; to the Gentiles. — In another part of Isaiah’s prophecy, we read of GOD the Father speaking of His Anointed One, saying, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel; [thus], I will also make You a light to the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (49.6). — Isaiah’s vision was of GOD’s redemption of all of mankind, Jew and Gentile alike.    

In this common but glorious miracle of JESUS in the Decapolis, Isaiah’s vision is realized, and the blessings of Heaven burst forth, causing the parched and thirsty hearts and souls of the land to be quenched and satisfied. “The heathens in the land so near to, and yet so far from, Israel, trusted that JESUS was the Anointed One of GOD, and so they brought to Him ‘the lame, blind, dumb, maimed,’ and many others,’ and laid them at His Feet. — Oh, what wonder! All disease vanishes in the presence of Heaven’s Own Life Incarnate. Tongues long weighted are loosed, limbs maimed or bent by disease, are restored to health; the lame are stretched straight; the film of disease and the paralysis of nerve-impotence pass from eyes long insensible to the light. It is a new era — Israel conquers the heathen world, not by force, but by love; not by outward means, but by the manifestation of the Light and Life from above: JESUS! Truly, this is the Messianic conquest and reign of GOD’s Christ: And under His Lordship, the heathens glorified the GOD of Israel. They saw the glory of GOD in the face of JESUS Christ and passed from one state of faith-filled glory to the next state of faith-filled glory.]”³  

So again, what is the answer to the theological mystery and spiritual purpose of JESUS’ healing of the deaf-mute man in today’s Gospel Lesson from St. Mark seven? — One way to understand the miracle of the healing of the deaf and mute man is to understand him to represent sinful mankind, not only Gentile, but Jew also. Much like the Decapolis, wherein this man lived, a mix of the nations with Jacob. And though deaf and mute, his eyes could see the Glory of GOD in the face of JESUS Christ, and by the LORD’s work of mercy and grace, placing His fingers in his ears, and sanctifying his tongue with His spittle, the man’s scorched soul is opened and the wild wilderness of sin’s degradation is washed away, and his desert-heart rejoices and blossoms as the rose hears and speaks with his GOD again.   

This is what it means to change from glory to glory, and it is an opportunity for refreshment for you and me today, if we will claim it, expectantly, hopefully, faithfully. The glory of the knowledge of GOD can be seen in the emanating light cast by the bright face of JESUS Christ. And for those who look upon it, offering their ears to be unstopped and their tongues to be loosed, deep, personal, and loving communion is available with our GOD. Ephphatha, be opened! — May the ministry of GOD the Son, by the power of GOD the Holy Spirit, at the command of GOD the Father, fill our hearts with the knowledge of the love of GOD today, so that we might obtain joy and gladness, while sorrow and sighing flee away. Amen. 

1 GreeceHighDefinition.com. “Unveiling the Wisdom of Ancient Greek Philosophy”. Accessed 2 September 2025. https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2024/2/23/unveiling-the-wisdom-of-ancient-greek-philosophy  

2 BibleHub.org. “Lexicon review of the word ptuó (to spit)”. Accessed 2 September 2025. https://biblehub.com/greek/4429.htm   

3 Edersheim, Rev. Dr. Alfred, The Life and Times of JESUS the Messiah, (New York, Longmans, 1899), 46.