Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man (Mark 7:31-37)

In the Gospel of Matthew, the author says that after the incident involving the Syro-Phoenician woman, ‘Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel’ (Matt. 15:29-31). Matthew’s account mentions that Jesus helped many people whereas Mark focuses on what happened to one individual during that time. Since Luke and John do not record this incident, it means that Mark is the only Gospel that includes it. Perhaps it spoke powerfully to Peter, and we can imagine him relating the details to the author.

It is not clear if the deaf man was a Jew or a Gentile. The area known as the Decapolis was inhabited by both Jews and Gentiles, as was Galilee. What is obvious is that the people knew about Jesus and his ability and willingness to help people. So he was asked to help this unfortunate man. I suppose we should also allow that the people knew about Jesus because of the witness borne to him by the healed madman of Gadara, whose meeting with Jesus Mark had described in 5:20. If that was the case, the disciples of Jesus would have learned something marvellous about preaching, which is that it produces great results.

The distance covered by Jesus on this journey is about one hundred and twenty miles. No doubt, the journey would have been a time of great instruction for the disciples as they followed Jesus along the road. Perhaps the question rose in their minds, ‘Where are we going? This is very unfamiliar territory.’ Is it too much to suggest that Mark includes this incident to show that Jesus was prepared to travel great lengths in order to benefit those who needed him? (And we know that he actually travelled a greater journey when he went to the cross in order to benefit an innumerable number of sinners.) He travelled one hundred and twenty miles to move from one Gentile community (Tyre) to another Gentile community – his apostles would have to travel throughout Gentile areas later on and maybe Jesus was teaching them here about how they should interact with Gentiles.

The description of the man with the speech impediment uses a Greek word only found elsewhere in the Bible in Isaiah 35:6: ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.’ The word is mogilalos. Isaiah 35 begins with a reference to Lebanon, which includes Tyre and Sidon, seeing the glory of the Lord. This man is an example of that prophecy being fulfilled, and such a reference would be encouraging for Mark’s Gentile readers.

The petitioners

We are not told who the ‘they’ are. Most likely, it refers to friends of the man. There are several incidents recorded in the Gospels in which friends of a needy person brought him to Jesus. Perhaps the best-known incident is that of the four men who lowered their friend through the ceiling of a house, down to the feet of Jesus. The best lesson that we take from the people who brought this man to Jesus is to see them as pictures of how we can take people to Jesus in prayer. So what can we see and learn from them?

First, they were aware of the desperate need of their friend. Of course, his need would have been obvious anytime that someone spoke to him or whenever he tried to speak to someone. His need could not be hid. The same is true of us with regard to the spiritual needs of people. Even if we take their attitude to the gospel, we know that they are deaf to its offer and unable to speak about it coherently. But we can take them to Jesus in prayer.

Second, they brought the man together – it was a team effort. There is no doubt that plural numbers are more effective in prayer than solitary efforts. If a believer does not wish to pray with others, there is something wrong and he or she is out of harmony with people. Prayer is a means of fellowship, perhaps the most wonderful way in which fellowship can be experienced. To come to God in small groups of three and four and knock together on the door of heaven is a wonderful experience of mutual love.

Third, they brought the man emotionally – they begged Jesus to help their friend. It is the case that the main reason they took their friend to Jesus was because they knew that Jesus had the ability to help the man. Yet they did not have that knowledge in a clinical manner. I fear that much theological knowledge is clinical and does not compel us to do anything with it in an emotional sense.

Why did they respond emotionally? One reason would be that they realised the desperate need of their friend and their love for him would lead them to beg for a cure. In addition, they were aware to some extent of the dignity of Jesus and realised that taking a lowly place before him was appropriate.

The privacy

It is noticeable that Jesus dealt with the man away from the crowd – I suspect that the only observers would have been the disciples who had accompanied Jesus. Some people suggest that Jesus did this because he wanted to show courtesy to the man. It is the case that we have to be courteous. Yet it is also possible that Jesus was teaching his disciples that some spiritual work should be done in private, away from the gazing curiosity of others. We can see that Jesus did three things in connection with this man: he gave two symbolic signs, uttered a sympathetic sigh, and then pronounced a sovereign cure.

The symbolic actions were to put his fingers into the man’s ears and to put spittle on his tongue. Why did Jesus do this? The answer is that he adapted himself to the man’s situation. The two symbolic actions told the deaf man what Jesus was going to do for him. I suppose we could say that the actions were designed to stimulate and strengthen the man’s faith. So here we have Jesus making it easier for the deaf man to believe in him.

What are the equivalents for us of the symbolic signs? I would suggest that they are the many great and precious promises that have been given to sinners by God. Just as the signs focussed on the man’s problems, so the promises of God focus on our problems and how he can help us. This needy man only had two signs on which he could base his faith; in contrast to him, we have all the promises of God about salvation.

The sympathetic sigh gives us insight into the feelings of Jesus about the damage that sin has brought into human experience. Jesus knew that he was about to heal the man, but he still sighed. Perhaps he saw in this needy individual a picture of the rest of his people still affected in many ways by sin and the sigh expressed his longing for the day of full salvation. What his response here tells us is what the writer of Hebrews affirmed when he said that ‘we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin’ (Heb. 4:15).

Of course, if all that Jesus could have done for this man was to sigh about his condition, then he would not have been able to help him in a saving way. But he was able to do much more and to do so effectively and immediately. The effectiveness of his ability is revealed in the cure that the man experienced (he could hear and speak) and the immediateness of his help is seen in the fact that he only had to say one word.  It was the case that those who wanted the man cured received a reply that more than met their expectations.

Can we say that Jesus will work immediately and effectively when he deals with sinners in a more profound way than how he dealt with this man? What happens when a sinner cries penitently to Jesus for mercy and reveals that he is trusting in Jesus? How long does it take for that individual to be forgiven? The answer to the last question is that pardon is bestowed immediately, with the pardon being complete. Moreover, at that same moment, the sinner is justified (reckoned righteous by God the Father because of the work of Jesus) and adopted in the divine family as a son with the full rights of an heir. His cures given at that time, expressed in the standings of justified and adopted, are perfect.  

The praise

Jesus commanded the man’s friends not to tell anyone of what had happened. The reason for this command may have been protective – he did not the man to undergo interrogation by hostile observers. After all, there were many people cured by Jesus, and others who knew them would have known that they had been healed by Jesus, so there had to be reasons why he did not want news of this particular incident to spread. It is good to know that Jesus will protect his needy people when that is necessary.

Or the command may have been given for personal reasons by Jesus in order to prevent his ministry of teaching about the kingdom of God being hindered. The Jews who had benefitted from the feeding of the five thousand had misinterpreted what Jesus wanted to do and they tried to turn him into a political leader. It was more than likely that Gentile communities would do the same, and Jesus would not have wanted that to happen.

The response of the people is one that we should be challenged to emulate. In our own interactions with the God of grace, there has been much to make us amazed. The people in our text shared with one another their opinion of Jesus and we can borrow their words and say that as far as we are concerned, ‘He has done all things well!’ What things can we refer to? We could think of his finished work on the cross, we could think of his incredible resurrection that was followed by his amazing ascension to heaven, we could think of him sending the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, we could think of his governing from heaven the nations for the benefit of his kingdom (after all, he has never made even one mistake), and we could think of the way he has led us as the Good Shepherd to discover the safety of his fold and the richness of his pastures. Every one who has trusted in Jesus has multiple reasons for saying that he does all things well.

It is good for us to think daily of Jesus in this way. And when we express such sentiments to one another, we encourage and edify one another. As we do so, we remind one another of the beautiful work of Jesus for us and in us, and of the incredible things he will yet do for us in this life and in the next. Talking about his abilities stimulates us to think further and deeper about how he has helped us personally and it informs others of how he can help them as well. After all, it is our aim to get as many people as possible to say, ‘He has done all things well.’