Week 8: Jesus Heals the Deaf Man

Read: Mark 7:31-37

Reflect: We’ve heard so many instances of Jesus healing people up until this point, but there’s something different about this instance of healing. We hear so many stories of Jesus telling the people to be healed, to get up and walk, but in this instance, we see something different. We see Jesus remove the deaf and mute man from the crowd, distancing them from the surrounding eyes. And instead of Jesus just telling the man to hear, or to speak, or to be healed, we see him put his fingers in his ears, spit and touch the man’s tongue, and look up to heaven commanding for the man’s ears to be opened and tongue to be free from its shackles.

The difference seen in the way Jesus heals this man in Mark is a subtle reminder of our own understanding of God. We see an instance of healing that we might now completely understand. We don’t know the reason why Jesus chose to remove this man from the crowd to heal him. We don’t know why he chose to stick his fingers in his ears or place spit on his tongue. But what we do know is that the man is healed, that he begins to hear, he begins to speak.

It’s rare in my own life that I completely understand why God is moving in my life in a certain way. This story of healing is a reminder of how good our God is while also humbling us and reminding us how limited our understanding of God is.

Next Step: As flawed, imperfect humans, our understanding of God is limited.  We don’t always understand why we face the trials we do, and we certainly don’t always feel worthy of the way God shows up and rescues us.  So, what would it look like for us to FULLY trust God even if our experiences look different than what others around us experience or what our personal expectations are?

Pray: Father, I thank you that you’re so much bigger than our limited understanding of you.  I thank you that we have these stories to see how you showed up for people in different ways and that even in the differences, you were always and are always good. Amen.