Ephphatha – Be Opened - Mark 7:34

Mark wrote how Jesus, “departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they brought unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseeched him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue”, and in chapter seven and verse thirty-four of his book, Mark wrote how Jesus said, “Ephphatha, that is, be opened” just the way Jesus said where we read:

And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

The verse reads, “And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, ...” Mark began with the words, “and looking up to heaven” which means “and gazing and starring toward the region above the sidereal heavens where the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings”, “he sighed” or “Jesus groaned and prayed inaudibly”, “and said unto him” which means “and uttered, declared and proclaimed to the deaf man”. Mark shared how Jesus “starred” into “heaven”, “groaned and prayed inaudibly” and began to speak to the man who was “dumb and tongue-tied”.

The verse continues, “... Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.” Mark added the word, “Ephphatha” which is “of Chaldee origin”, “that is” or “which means”, “be opened” which means “to open thoroughly what had been closed”. Mark shared how Jesus used the Chaldee word “Ephphatha” which means to “be opened”.

When we consider Mark's words in this verse, we see the process Jesus employed to heal the man who was “dumb and tongue-tied”. First, He looked toward “heaven”. Then “He groaned and prayed inaudibly”. Finally, He spoke the word “Ephphatha” to the man which meant that his ears would be “opened to hear” and his mouth would be freed to speak. Jesus had power over physical maladies, and ears that could not hear and tongues that could not speak were no problem for Him. He is “omnipotent” or “all-powerful”, and regardless of this man's physical impairment, Jesus could heal Him. God desires people to know Him through His Son Jesus, and when we observe the life of Jesus, we are seeing the nature of God. Let all who study Jesus' life see how personal the Heavenly Father wants to be with every person, and may all read these words yield their lives to Him as “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Mark shares, “straightway his ears were opened”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".