Mark 7:31-33

Passage

Jesus comes back from Tyre, passes through Sidon, and goes to the region of the Decapolis (Ten Cities).  The people around Him (not His disciples) bring a man before Jesus who was deaf and who had a speech impediment.  They asked Jesus to lay hands upon Him.  Jesus took Him aside away from the crowds.  Jesus placed His fingers into the man’s ears.  Then He spat and touched the man’s tongue.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus continues to be in Gentile territory.  He had come from Tyre and Sidon, which was largely Gentile.  One of the 10 cities of the Decapolis was Gerasa, from which the Gerasenes come.  You’ll remember the Gerasenes as the people with the man out of whom Jesus drove a legion of demons into a herd of pigs.  So we see that Jesus continues to practice what He preached.  It is not what is outside that defiles us.  He is quite comfortable doing ministry among the Gentiles and in Gentile controlled land.

What do you think about Jesus’ focus on the Gentiles immediately after teaching about not being defiled by what is on the outside?  Why is it important to practice what we preach?

Second Thought:

Jesus meets a man who is deaf.  This man could neither hear Jesus nor even hear about Jesus.  Furthermore, he had a speech impediment.  Could this man talk, he couldn’t even have said anything meaningful about Jesus, either!  Here is perhaps the most pitiable of people.  A blind man could at least hear Jesus.  A paralytic can at least see and hear Jesus.  This man cannot even hear the good news.  Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing.  In that light, this man is in a world of hurt.  Here is someone who needs Jesus to touch His life before He can even receive the good news about Jesus!

What is so significant about hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  What is so powerful about hearing someone else talk about faith and God’s Word?

Third Thought:

Jesus takes the man away privately.  I believe this is a commentary upon the nature of the townsfolk around Him.  Jesus doesn’t want this man to become a spectacle.  Jesus doesn’t desire this town to turn Himself or this man into a sideshow.  The work of God is not at the beck and call of the crowd.  We’ll talk a bit about this tomorrow, but I believe this is Jesus’ point in removing the man.  This man is not a show; He is an individual.  Jesus treats him as such.

What do you think about the crowd dragging this deaf man before Jesus?  What does it seem like their motivation is?  How can you make the conclusion that you make about the crowd’s motivation?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 7:34-37