LOJ #84: ‘What the Deaf Man Heard’
Andover Baptist Church-November 14th, 2010
Opening
A. Text for today Mt 15:29-31 and Mk 7:31-37 is and our sermon
is titled, ‘What the Deaf Man Heard’
B. Scripture (NET)
Matthew 15:29–31 (NET) “15:29 When He left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up a mountain, where He sat down. 15:30 Then large crowds came to Him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at His feet, and He healed them. 15:31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.”
Mark 7:31–37 (NET) “7:31 Then Jesus went out again from the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. 7:32 They brought to Him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they asked Him to place His hands on Him. 7:33 After Jesus took Him aside privately, away from the crowd, He put His fingers in the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched His tongue. 7:34 Then He looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). 7:35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, His tongue loosened, and he spoke plainly. 7:36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anything. But as much as He ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more. 7:37 People were completely astounded and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
C. Children’s Sermon (SLIDE)
1. Have Ian come up as Timmy
2. Duck tape his mouth, earplugs in his ears, ear muffs on
3. Do you think Timmy can hear us very well? No, why
4. Well today Jesus heals a man’s ears and tongues
5. He heals our ears and tongues so we can tell others
about Him
D. Introduction
1. Tell about the movie 'What the Deaf Man Heard'…tie in
with this sermon
2. In it was a man who everybody thought could not hear
or talk, so they confided all their secrets to him
3. Then one day to their shock, amazement and horror he
spoke
4. Here today we have quite the opposite, a man unable to
speak, unable to hear, cut off from others
5. Yet as we will see that even the deaf hear Jesus when
He speaks
Sermon
READ: Matthew 15:29, 30 w/ Mark 7:31 (Scripture slide)
MK7:31 “Then Jesus went out again from the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis.”
Mt 15:29, 30 “15:29 When He left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up a mountain, where He sat down. 15:30 Then large crowds came to Him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at His feet, and He healed them.”
A. 'went out again'
1. 'there' = the house in the region of Tyre and Sidon
2. Probably followed the well known caravan road
through the region of Sidon
3. 120 mile trip (SHOW MAP)
4. Now this was a beautiful area that would make for some
great rest, but it was like going to Newton from here to
get to Leon, likely took it to be with His disciples
B. Jesus ends up in a place called the Decapolis
1. He had taken a route that completely avoided Galilee
2. And He is defiantly outside of Israel(Jesus went from
those who wouldn’t respond to Him and His message to
those who would)
3. The Decapolis a place filled with Gentiles and a place
religious Jews would avoid like the plague
a. More of a league of cities than a well defined
region
b. Each city a free state that banned together for
protection
c. Greek people came into this area after Alexander
the Great conquered the area
d. You’ve heard of a home away from home right?
Well this was Rome away from Rome
1. Greek culture and art flourished
2. And the Jews and Greeks here clashed on
diet, philosophy, worship and life in
general
3. For instance to the Greeks circumcision
was a barbaric mutilation, indecent and
lewd
4. But to the Jews the homosexuality that
was encouraged in Greek games and in
the military was an abomination
e. Interestingly enough one of the cities, Pella,
became the first Christian community when in 70
A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed Christians fled
here
C. Jesus ended up at a ‘mountain’
1. The mountain could mean a specific mountain or just
'hilly country'
2. We are told that here He ‘sat’
a. Unlike us who stand to teach, rabbis would sit
b. Being that vs. 32 of Mt tells us that Jesus was
there for three days it is unlikely that He was
there and didn’t teach
c. Mt 15:29 harkens back to Mt 5:1 when Jesus did
His Sermon on the Mt..may hint to a similar
teaching time here for the Gentiles
D. 'crowds' came to Jesus
1. News about Jesus being in the Decapolis quickly spread
a. Jesus' reputation precedes Him
b. Recall the possessed man in the tomb? It was
he that Jesus would not let him follow and said to
go and tell others in the Decapolis
2. It is no doubt that these people were likely Gentiles
3. What is unique about this is that in Mt 4 we see Gentiles
coming to Israel to find Jesus, now we see Jesus going
into their area to find them(foreshadow of the ministry
of the church)
4. We have multiple crowds of people going up into the
mountains to see Jesus
5. These people brought with them people who were in
need of healing
a. Sights like this would not be uncommon in
countries without modern medical treatment
b. I’d like you to note once again that the healthy
brought the sick to Jesus
c. Imagine the difficulty it took to get these
physically disabled people out to a remote area
and up a mountain
d. Shouldn’t we do the same today? Why don’t we
have the same amount of energy to bring
spiritually sick people to Jesus?
6. They ‘laid’ these people at Jesus feet
a. ‘laid’ = could be translated as flung, but just
shows the intensity and the amount of people
being laid at Jesus feet
b. What a wonderful place to be! Fully under His
attention and at His feet
7. The people they brought have all kinds of problems (i.e.
‘many others’)
a. ‘lame’: could be in hands, legs or multiple types
of physical deformities
b. We see that Jesus heals some blind people as well
1. Jesus fittingly heals more blind people
during His ministry than any other group
2. He is the Light of the world
3. But it also tells us about Him for it’s
God’s prerogative and right in Scripture
to heal the blind
Exodus 4:11 (NET): “The Lord said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’
Psalm 146:8 (NET): ‘The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly.”
c. Whatever was wrong Jesus cured them
READ: Matthew 15:31 (Scripture slide)
"As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel."
A. This is a fulfillment of prophecy in the OT concerning the
Messiah
Isaiah 29:17–24 (NET): “29:17 In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. 29:18 At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. 29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel. 29:20 For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated – 29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. 29:22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: “Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment. 29:23 For when they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel. 29:24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight.”
1. Jesus had John the Baptist's disciples go tell him about
Jesus' ministry because it is prophetic
Matthew 11:4–6 (NET) “11:4 Jesus answered them, “Go tell John what you hear and see: 11:5 The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. 11:6 Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
2. In Mt 11:4-6 Jesus is seen doing similar miracles for
Israelites, now He is doing them for Gentiles
B. Jesus' healings amazed the crowds
1. For good reason: healthy = whole; walking = limbs
cured
2. Even in a culture that believed in the miraculous they
saw this as extraordinary
3. They knew that this could not have happened without
God, and they don't praise their pagan gods but the God
of Israel
a. When the Jew worship God they simply say
'God', the Gentiles here use the 'God of Israel'
b. Israel's God was glorified….by pagans!
c. Israel’s religious leaders and cities could learn
something about praising God from these
‘godless’ people!
READ: Mark 7:32 (Scripture slide)
"They brought to Him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they asked Him to place His hands on Him."
A. The focus is a man who was brought to Jesus that was deaf and
had trouble speaking
1. For whatever reason out of all the miracles this one is
singled out by Mark (Mark is telling this from Peter's
viewpoint)
2. His friends asked for him because obviously with his
problem he couldn’t do it for himself
B. Socially Cutoff
1. At best this man stammered at worst he couldn't talk
2. Deaf mutes were grouped with women, slaves, the
mentally simple and children and not educated in the
law
3. Defective speech comes from defective hearing,
spiritually too
4. So in essence this is a picture of our spiritual state
without Christ Jesus: deaf and dumb and only by the
grace of God are we freed
C. His friends asked Jesus to "place His hands on him"
1. Might have been under the false impression that Jesus
had to touch in order to heal
2. Either way Jesus will choose His own way of healing
this man, we can ask but it is He that answers our
prayers in the manner of His choosing
READ: Mark 7:33-35 (Scripture slide)
"7:33 After Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, He put His fingers in the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched His tongue. 7:34 Then He looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). 7:35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, His tongue loosened, and he spoke plainly."
A. Jesus took the man ‘privately…aside’
1. Jesus purposely took this man away from the crowds
2. Didn't want to make the man or this miracle a public
spectacle
B. Unique way of healing
1. The Greek for the placing the fingers in the ears is more
forceful than gentle
2. Jesus used spit? Yes He did
a. There are several ancient accounts of the use of
saliva to cure blindness
b. Not just anyone's saliva would have cured the
man
3. Why would Jesus do this elaborate way of healing when
He could have just spoken and healed the man?
a. Remember this man was unable to communicate
b. So physical contact for a deaf mute would make
more sense than simply just speaking
c. Jesus communicates with this man in a way the
man can understand, meets him where he is at
d. Jesus in a sense used sign language to
communicate with this man
e. By touching the man's ears and tongue He was
indicating to the man that they would be healed
f. Make a funny face depicting what the deaf/mute
man must have been thinking
4. 'looked up to heaven'
a. By looking up to heaven Jesus was giving His
Father credit
b. By looking up to Heaven Jesus is giving the
deaf man a visual cue as to Who he is dealing
with
5. “said with a sigh 'Ephphatha'”
a. ‘sigh’: of compassion
b. Even though Jesus knows that He is going to
heal the man, He still feels intense sympathy for
him….our sorrows are His sorrows
John 11:33 (NET) “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed.”
Hebrews 4:14–16 (NET): “4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.”