Mark 7:31–37
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Jesus now returns to the area of the Decapolis—another Gentile region. He has been there previously in chapter 5 when he healed the Gerasene demoniac. There after healing him, Jesus was asked to abruptly leave. Now he is met with a much different reaction. Jesus' fame is spreading everywhere, here, likely due to the witness of the demoniac.
The pink line in the map indicates Jesus roundabout travel itinerary. Mark makes no comment as to why he takes this path. Whatever his reasons, this journey indicates that he is obviously seeking to include Gentiles into his ministry to some degree.
The word for "speech impediment" in v. 32 is found only one other time in NT and the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT). It is in Isaiah 35:5-6. This text is at the end of the first major section of Isaiah. It is after many proclamations of judgment. Then the tone shifts here to a message of salvation, deliverance and restoration promised to the people of Israel. Mark doesn't include many OT references but when he does it is significant. This one here indicates that Jesus is bringing the fulfillment of Israel's restoration as promised in Isaiah 35. He is the glory of the Lord that they shall see and the majesty of our God (v. 2). He is God come to save them (v. 4). (Read all of Isaiah 35)
The physical gestures by which Jesus heals this man are more than a little strange and quite disturbing to us in the midst of a pandemic. As the NLT translation indicates he likely spat on his own fingers and touched the man's tongue with it...yuk. In some Jewish traditions the spittle of certain powerful people was thought to have healing power. So here Jesus may be doing this as a cultural cue that he is exceptionally powerful. A clue to why he followed this method may be in the crowd's response of v. 37 that, "he has done all things well." Perhaps this was one of their methods of healing. Jesus followed their method and his healing actually worked. He brought healing and deliverance to this man.
This is not to be taken as a formula for healing the deaf and mute. Jesus heals in many ways throughout the gospel and exact method is never prescribed as a formula to be followed. The power is in himself and his authority over creation and disease, not in his methods.
Ultimately we should see that Jesus doesn't solely heal from a safe distance even in unclean, Gentile territory. In his compassion he comes into direct contact with suffering people and heals them.
Mark's translation of the Aramaic word "Ephphatha" again indicates that he is not writing for a Jewish audience. For them the translation would be unnecessary. His audience is primarily Gentile believers, likely in Rome.
Again, Jesus demands silence of the crowd and again, the crowd, disobeys. Here Mark characterizes their disobedience more strongly. "The more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it." We explored this command to silence in previous devotionals.
Despite the crowd's fascination with Jesus we are yet to see people declare Jesus' true identity! Mark continues to drag this theme out.