Jesus Heals a Deaf Man
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Reading the miracles of Jesus should excite us and embolden our faith. Yet, often we think of them as 2,000 year old stories that are distant to us not only in time but in power. We don’t see the physical, climatic healing of Jesus these days. At least not with our physical eyes. We read about this deaf and mute man being healed and we don’t see that in any of our life circumstances. Yet, when a person comes to Christ in faith, that miracle is exactly the same. The person who was dead in sin and could not hear about the glory of God, once saved, is now able to not only hear and see God’s glory but also speak of God’s glory. Note the miracle of salvation:
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (ESV)
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
In this passage Paul tells us that, before God breaks through and gives us sight, the god of this world blinds us. But once we come to Christ we not only see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, but also to proclaim it. Once we were blind and unable to speak of the glory of God. Now we hear it, see it and speak it. God is still doing miracles today. If we had a choice between being able to hear and speak physically vs being able to hear the gospel and speak the gospel, we would choose the later as the greater miracle.
God is still doing miracles today!
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