Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man\’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man\’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said: “Ephphatha!”. At this, the man\’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:31-37)
Ephphatha meaning ‘be opened’.
To restore hearing to the deaf-mute man, Jesus didn’t merely restore his hearing, he opened his life
“Ephphatha,” ‘be opened.’ Jesus was not uttering a magic word to give a deaf-mute man hearing and speech. He was opening that man’s life, and ours, to a new reality. He was unveiling the Kingdom of God through his presence and his power.
It is the unveiling. God in Christ is being revealed. He is saying, “Ephphatha,” ‘be opened’. Be opened to the Kingdom of God.
