Mark 7: 31-37 "Will You Hear? Will You Speak?"

Mark 7: 31-37 "Will You Hear? Will You Speak?"

Mark 7:31-37

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.”

Last week we looked at Jesus healing the blind man and the question of do we really want to see and what will we do about what we see? This week is about hearing and speaking.

The event is a simple one, some people bring a deaf mute man to him and asked for healing. There is little interaction, Jesus touching his ears and tongue, then saying “be opened”. Jesus tries to shut them up but they just talk all the more.

Why does Jesus tell them to be quiet? If we look at what they are talking about we get the answer. They are talking about his miracles and not his message. They are all about the sings and wonders and not the transformation of lives and hearts.

Jesus explains it this way in Matthew 13:14-17

The people just did not get it. They didn’t understand.

So this man’s ears and mouth now function but are they hearing and speaking the message of God?

The Drill Sargent “If you hear me why are you doing what your told?”

Two things that let us know if we are truly hearing Jesus.

If we truly hear Jesus it will show in our actions.

Luke 6:46-49

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

James 1:19-27

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If we truly hear we will speak.

Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We have been touched by Jesus, he has taken away our guilt shame and sin. Jesus has given us a new life. Will we see it? Will we hear His words, Will we speak?