He has done everything well
This week's verses are Mark 7:31-37:
These verses are a great picture of what the miraculous power of God looks like in our lives. Jesus didn't know this guy they brought to him. He had been traveling across the region of Israel and had stopped where this all happened. Some people knew a deaf guy and brought him to Jesus to be healed. This was back before hearing aids, before sign language, before communities of deaf people could get together and share a culture, before civil rights laws, and closed captioning, and all of the other modern comforts we take for granted. This guy struggled to communicate, had a seriously impacted quality of life, and probably was marginalized by his community. He had no options, and the people who knew him knew it. His life was probably not very good at all.
How cool is it that these people rounded the poor guy up and brought him to where Jesus was and asked on his behalf? That's real intercession! Did they love the guy, or did they just selfishly want to see a miracle happen? (Is that a question for us too?) It matters less why they brought the guy than it does that they brought him at all. Jesus healed the man who had no options and he was restored to perfect function.
Nothing anyone could do could keep the people who brought the guy from telling everyone. They were amazed! This was a real miracle! They said "He has done everything well."
That's the truth about Jesus: He has done everything well. He loved this guy he didn't know, who he had no other reason to take time for, compassionately taking him aside to heal him instead of making a big spectacle of it on a stage with cameras, and giving the guy everything he needed, personally. He has perfect understanding of mankind, and how the universe works, perfect power and perfect love.
We do some things better than others, but Jesus has done everything well.
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. They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they asked him to place his hands on him. 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. Then he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue loosened, and he spoke plainly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But as much as he ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more. People were completely astounded and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
These verses are a great picture of what the miraculous power of God looks like in our lives. Jesus didn't know this guy they brought to him. He had been traveling across the region of Israel and had stopped where this all happened. Some people knew a deaf guy and brought him to Jesus to be healed. This was back before hearing aids, before sign language, before communities of deaf people could get together and share a culture, before civil rights laws, and closed captioning, and all of the other modern comforts we take for granted. This guy struggled to communicate, had a seriously impacted quality of life, and probably was marginalized by his community. He had no options, and the people who knew him knew it. His life was probably not very good at all.
How cool is it that these people rounded the poor guy up and brought him to where Jesus was and asked on his behalf? That's real intercession! Did they love the guy, or did they just selfishly want to see a miracle happen? (Is that a question for us too?) It matters less why they brought the guy than it does that they brought him at all. Jesus healed the man who had no options and he was restored to perfect function.
Nothing anyone could do could keep the people who brought the guy from telling everyone. They were amazed! This was a real miracle! They said "He has done everything well."
That's the truth about Jesus: He has done everything well. He loved this guy he didn't know, who he had no other reason to take time for, compassionately taking him aside to heal him instead of making a big spectacle of it on a stage with cameras, and giving the guy everything he needed, personally. He has perfect understanding of mankind, and how the universe works, perfect power and perfect love.
We do some things better than others, but Jesus has done everything well.
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