Mind Meld of A Different Kind

(I'm late! We have a snow storm going through this morning. I aim for an 8AM weekday post. Today was a weakday!)

MARK 7:31-37
Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

A Jumble of Contradictions?
Maybe this was a different crowd. The last time Jesus was in the area of the Ten Towns the crowds begged him to leave. He had freed the Cemetery Man from demons and allowed them to possess pigs. This scared and likely angered them. Cemetery Man wanted to leave with Jesus but Jesus insisted he return to tell everyone his story.

Now Jesus is back and, guess what, Cemetery Man did his job (Mark 5). People were ready to flock to Jesus and the begging reversed itself. Heal! Heal! Heal! And Jesus reversed himself. Don’t tell! Don’t tell! Don’t tell! It’s enough to discombobulate a serious Jesus-follower.

Cannot Jesus make up his mind? Or is he amazingly balanced?

We tend to be pendulums – swinging from one extreme to another. But I think Jesus had the unique ability to hold competing, even contradictory truths in perfect balance. He wanted to heal and feed desperate people. He was ultimately committed to have those who experienced him go and tell the world about it. But he was also absolutely committed to the reality that the freedom he came to offer ran far deeper, and would have a more far-reaching impact than only freeing people from physical ailments – even demon possession.

Jesus preached freedom from rebellion against God and a reconciliation of that relationship torn asunder ever since the Garden of Eden. He preached and lived an Eden kind of reality that had become absolutely foreign to a rebel world. He would die and return to life in order to break the power of this rebellion!

Here’s the sad reality. We tend to be awed with surface truth that gives a temporary skin and bones freedom, but shy away from the difficult and painful process of experiencing deep truth and freedom. Jesus knew the more the crowds were enthralled with the physical, the less attuned they would be to the spiritual. So sometimes Jesus insisted, “Don’t tell!” and other times, “Go tell” a tedious balance to maintain, indeed.

Lord God, help me to balance caring about skin and bones issues with heart and soul issues. With your help, I will never succumb to the easier path of being all about only one side of human need. - Mike Leamon

Upping the Ante
It’s like a mad episode of the Jerry Springer Show. Everyone bringing in the most handicapped person they can find to see if Jesus can heal them. There is no sympathy on behalf of the crowd towards those being healed; they are simply props in the magical acts Jesus is performing.

Jesus tries to get away from the crowd so he can connect with the man one on one but the crowd is insistent. They want to be entertained. The show is too good to stop. Jesus responds with a bizarre method of healing. Plugging the man’s ears and dripping spit on the man’s tongue. I’m not sure if this is my kind of healing, but it works. With the words be opened the man is healed and the crowd goes wild. The JESUS chant begins and bell dings for another round.

Mark’s wit and irony is too much sometimes. Here we find Jesus trying to quiet the rowdy crowd by helping a man hear and speak. Would this man catch the real message or just become one more voice in the incessant chant for more. Jesus helps silent voices to be heard and closed ears to listen. The crowd is not concerned about helping the man; they just want to be at the show.

It saddens me that at times I think church, yes even the church I pastor, is like this. We really don’t care about the person’s needs we just want to see Jesus do something cool. We want more hype, more sensationalism. Jesus wants to help people who have been silenced to speak, and those who are speaking to start listening.

God who created ears and tongues, help my ears to listen more than tongue speaks so the voice of those who have been silenced can be lifted in praise to you. - Dan Jones