6. EPHPHATHA - BE OPENED (Mark 7:31-37)
Background: The man in our text had apparently been hearing handicapped from his early childhood, because he was not able to speak properly. Therefore, he could not have contact with other people (those times there was no unified sign language). Isaiah had foretold 700 years earlier (Isa 35:5) that the Saviour chosen by the Lord would make the deaf hear and the mute speak (37).
1. List what kinds of voices and sounds you hear every day. What do you think would be most difficult if you didn’t hear anything?
Further, we can bend down our heads and listen to different sounds (opening of the door, walking, coughing…) and we can imagine what it would be like if we didn’t hear anything.
2. Imagine what the childhood of this man had been like. (What means did his parents have to bring up their child, to protect him against dangers, to teach him to work, etc.? What might the blind youngster’s communication with his friends have been like? What do you think he thought about himself?
3.What was the daily life of an adult with impaired vision like when compared with the daily lives of those who could hear?
This handicapped man in our text had certainly been taken to the synagogue or the temple now and then - how much do you think he understood of the invisible Lord?
4. Why did other people bring the man to Jesus - list different alternatives (32)?
If you had brought the man how would you have explained to him where he would be going to and why?
5. What did the deaf man understand about Jesus’ four-phase procedure in verses 33 and 34? (What did Jesus want to express to the mute man by looking up to heaven before his miraculous healing? And what by sighing?)
6. Why has Mark kept in his text Jesus’ curative word even in the original language, i.e. in Aramaic (34)?
Jesus is standing in front of you right now and says: ”Ephphatha! Be opened!” What does he mean by this - (I can already hear)?
Can I hear God’s voice in the Bible?
Think of your communication with your friends. Is there between you and your friends something that needs to be changed? (you can answer silently in your mind.)
7. Every miracle Jesus performed tells us something about Heaven. What can we learn about it based on this particular incident?
8. Why didn’t people care about Jesus’ request to be silent on this miracle (36)?
What ”news” do you think Jesus would preferably have wanted people to tell their friends?
GLAD TIDINGS: The smooth communication between Jesus and his father was cut off when Jesus was hanging on the Cross. This was the price Jesus had to pay for the communication between us sinners and the Lord.
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