With a sigh, Jesus looked up to heaven and said to the man
“Be opened”.
The man was deaf, and could hardly speak. So he was described as deaf and mute, but the
main problem seems to have been his hearing.
Hearing is a major theme in Mark’s telling of the story of
Jesus. Jesus told the parable of the
soils earlier (in chapter four). One of
his main points was that there were those who would keep hearing but never
understand. When he returned to his home
town (at the beginning of chapter six), it seemed that the majority were
determined not to “hear” what he had to say, or to believe that God was with
him and in him. Later in chapter eight
he warns his disciples against the “yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod”: “Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears
but fail to hear?”
So Jesus says to the man: “Be opened”. Is he just talking to the physical ears, or
to the whole person? We pray a prayer
that we will be Open – for all that God has for us, open for all that he would
teach us, open for all (those others) who seek after him, and open to follow
him wherever he leads us.
Our question this week is “Does God Heal Today?” Healing involves the whole person. Jesus spent his life bringing healing,
sometimes physical, sometimes of the inner person and of relationships with
God. He taught his disciples to do the
same, first modelling healing for them, and then sending them out to do it for
themselves. Finally he sent them (and
us) out into the world to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching
all that he had himself done, including healing.
The ears of the man in the gospel were opened, and he was
enabled to speak. We are never meant to
forget that God cares for our physical wellbeing and we pray for those who are
sick. We ask for them to be blessed and
comforted. We give thanks for the skill
and dedication of everyone in the medical professions and pray that their work
will be effective. We are also open to
receive the gift of faith that someone can be physically healed and their
disease taken away.
Every one of us is unique.
We are each discovering our own path to God through Jesus by the work of
his Spirit. We get a clue to this from
the actions of Jesus. We do not read
anywhere else that he placed his fingers in someone’s ears, or that he spat and
touched anyone else’s tongue. This seems
to have been special, just what was needed for this man.
When we pray for anyone, we are always open for what God
might be saying or suggesting. It is
good to take time, to pray and to wait, remembering all that we have said
before about guidance.
Be opened.
No comments:
Post a Comment