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.”
When approached literally, this is another example of Crist proving he is the Messiah. Miracles and healing are God intervening as Christ. Interestingly, like so many of the other stories, his focus seems to be on transforming the lives of the most marginalised. Why? His consistent message is “What you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me”. How does this map to me? On the one hand, I can ask questions like: When am I in a position to transform the life of someone in need? When do I have the power to make a positive difference in someone’s life? Do I give that power to make that difference? On the other hand, I could be asking: Do I target my gifts to help the marginalised? Am I discerning and focused on giving my gifts? Or do I use my gifts predominantly to feather my own nest?
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