***
Gospel:
Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” —
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
A few weeks ago, I saw a delivery driver coming to drop off a package here at church.
Instead of coming to the office, however, he was heading towards the main doors of the church. So, I went outside to grab his attention.
After a few attempts of saying, “Sir! Sir! Sir!” I became increasingly frustrated, thinking he was ignoring me. So, I started walking towards him. When he turned around and saw the look on my face, he apologetically signaled that he was deaf.
My heart sank. I was quick to judge. Humbled. Embarrassed.
That moment made me consider how difficult it must be to be deaf, because nobody can immediately recognize your condition. You have to interact with a deaf person – hopefully in a kinder manner than I did – before you realize they cannot hear you.
***
In today’s Gospel, Jesus does more than heal a deaf man. He shows great compassion, something this man was often denied.
To be deaf in the first century was like a scarlet letter; people associated it with sin. You were deaf because you were a sinner. God was punishing you.
Today we know that isn’t the case. But you can imagine how unfairly this man must’ve been treated by others his whole life.
While Jesus could’ve easily healed him from a distance, he pulled him aside, and touched the most wounded parts of his life, literally digging his finger into this man’s ear and spitting on his tongue.
Touching the source of this man’s pain, Jesus looks up to the heavens, groans, and cries out, “Ephphatha!”
Be opened.
***
This is one of only three scenes in the Gospels where Jesus is recorded speaking in his native tongue, Aramaic.
The second time comes when he’s standing next to parents who’ve just lost their daughter. Moved with grief, Jesus touches the dead girl and cries out, “Talitha kum!”
“Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
Like the deaf man, instantly, she’s healed.
These two scenes – the pain of a deaf man and the death of a little girl – struck a chord in Jesus so deeply that his words were never translated.
When is the final time we hear Jesus speaking in his native tongue?
While hanging from the Cross. There, he takes on the pain of every human being – not just the pain of a deaf man or a young girl’s family. Carrying all of this weight, he cries out:
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
***
***
When we look at what’s happened in the world this week – from Afghanistan, to Haiti, to the wildfires, to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ida – so many have cried out with similar words, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Our world is in dire need of healing.
Physically, homes, businesses, and entire communities must be rebuilt. Beneath the physical destruction, though, is the emotional pain of loss, something that everyone feels from time to time.
Yet like the man who was deaf, we can conceal what burdens us most.
Nobody walks around with a t-shirt, saying: Deaf. Cancer. Broken inside. Difficult marriage. Addict. Frazzled. Doubting. Financially unstable. Insecure. Or, lonely.
But if we allow Jesus to pull us aside, and dig his finger into our wounds, he will surely say, “Ephphatha!”
Be opened!
***
How we wish that our healing were as immediate as it was for the man in the Gospel.
But, remember how his healing started: it was the community who brought him to Jesus. Without them, he’d be unaware that Jesus was passing by; without them, this man would still be isolated and deaf.
May we bring one another to Jesus – in prayer and through our actions – so that everyone can experience those gracious words:
“Ephphatha.”
Be opened.
Be healed.
***
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Image credits: (1) 121 Captions (2) Ephphatha, Thomas Davidson (3) Crucifixion, Peter Paul Rubens (4) John1010abundantlife.blogspot.com
