#32 Ministering in Sigh Language
Series: Mark
Chuck Sligh
October 25, 2020
NOTE: PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives
TEXT: Mark 7:31-37 – "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. "
INTRODUCTION
Sighing is part of the human condition.
We sigh for many reasons:
We often sigh when we’re happy or content – I remember many times holding my boys as babies in my arms in a rocking chair while they were cooing and gurgling and exploring my face and feeling such joy that I couldn’t help but breathe a deep sigh of absolute contentment.
We often sigh from relief if we’re saved from some catastrophe or mishap.
Illus. – Once, when we were on a missionary furlough, headquartering in St. Petersburg, Florida, our youngest son Allen stopped breathing. We called 911 and the paramedics, being just around the corner, literally arrived at our house within 2 minutes! (I couldn’t believe it!) Finding Allen already turning blue, they did CPR on him and he quickly began to breathe again. At that very moment, we let out a profound sigh of utter relief!
But there’s a flip side to sighing: We breathe a different kind of sigh when we’re in the depths of despair or when we feel deep empathy for someone else’s pain.
I have experienced awful depression—so dreadful and unrelenting that I simply could not stop repeatedly uttering deep sighs of melancholy and sadness.
And I’ve also found myself at the bedside of a loved one at the point of death feeling such grief and sympathy for her suffering that I could not hold myself from a deep sigh of unfathomable sorrow.
In today’s text, we’ll see how Jesus sighed such a sigh of deepfelt compassion towards the suffering of a sad man with a debilitating and humiliating condition. You might say He spoke in “sigh language” to the man. And the compassion that caused His melancholy sigh led to his healing.
I. FIRST, PRIOR TO THE HEALING, IN VERSE 31 MARK TELLS US OF AN OUTREACH EXPANSION OF JESUS’ MINISTRY. – “And again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, he came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis.”
We normally just speed-read through the geographical details in the Gospels to get to the main stories. But these little tidbits of information often give us important insights into the Gospels. You’ll recall last week that we noted that when Jesus went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, it was the first time Jesus had stepped outside of Palestine proper. Though there were many Jews in the Greek cities of Tyre and Sidon, they were predominantly populated by Gentiles.
When Mark tells us in verse 31 that He came to the Sea of Galilee through Decapolis, it means that when He got to the western side of the lake, he went north to the top of the it, rounded the top, and then went south again on the eastern side of the lake, forming a horseshoe itinerary. This meant he was still in Gentile territory. Some Bible scholars believe that Jesus may have spent as long as eight months in Gentile territory, which would be almost one-third of His three years of ministry. It was a forceful reminder of God’s plan all along for Israel to be a light to the Gentile nations and a glorious foretaste of God’s plan for the Gospel to go to all the world’s Gentile nations after His death and resurrection.
II. IN VERSES 32-35, JESUS PERFORMS AN EXTRAORDINARY MIRICLE.
In verse 32, a wretched, sad man was brought to Jesus by some people who cared for him. – “And they brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to put his hand on him.”
He was deaf and had a speech impediment. The word translated “an impediment of speech” is the Greek word “mogilálon” which means “hardly talking” or “speaking with difficulty.” Although we don’t know for sure, he may have been able to hear as a child since at least he could talk somewhat, although he talked with great difficulty. So it’s thought that at some point the man lost his hearing and his ability to articulate words clearly since he could not hear himself speak.
Being deaf would have been a terrible handicap, especially in ancient times. If we had to choose between being blind or being deaf, most of us would probably choose deafness because it’s less incapacitating than blindness. But medical authorities, and the deaf themselves, say otherwise. As bad as blindness is, blind people do not experience the social pain and stigma experienced by the deaf—gawking, the impatient stares of those who are not aware that a person is deaf, the humiliation of being thought stupid because of one’s inability to make himself or herself understood.
Besides this, consider the time in history in which the man lived: Sign language was not invented until the 17th century, so his ability to communicate was much more difficult than it is today; and there were no schools of any kind for handicapped people, such as special schools for the deaf…or the blind or the autistic for that matter. Even today, to have any of these conditions is thought to be a tragedy. Imagine what it must have been like in ancient times. This man’s situation was nothing less than miserable and hopeless.
In verses 33-34, Jesus healed the man in a most unusual way. – “And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, and with a deep sigh, He said to him, ‘Ephphathá,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’"
Verse 33 says Jesus took him aside from the crowd, presumably because Jesus wanted to take him away from the embarrassment that had been his lot in life. Then He did something altogether different from past healings. – He put His fingers into the man’s ears, spit into his own hand, touched the man’s tongue with His saliva, looked up to heaven, uttered a deep sigh and finally spoke the Aramaic word “Ephphathá,” which translated means, “Be opened.”
Why did Jesus use such a strange procedure to heal this man? Each step tells us something wonderful and lovely about our precious Savior: When Jesus healed someone, it was in response to their faith. Jesus elicited faith in people through words and through conversation.
But this man could not hear or speak clearly. What Jesus did was use His hands as a sort of makeshift sign language with this man to show him what He intended to do in order to increase his faith. By putting His fingers into his ears, he indicated to him that He was going to heal his hearing. The saliva of holy men was thought by the Jews to have healing powers. Jesus used this popular misconception to further increase the man’s faith by touching his tongue to show that he would heal his speech impediment. Then heaving a deep sigh, He uttered the Aramaic phrase: “Ephphathá!” Why not Hebrew?—Probably because it was an easy word for a deaf man to lip read.
Strange as this passage seems, it deeply touches my heart! The way Jesus deals with this pitiful man is so gentle and loving and compassionate. By taking him aside from the gawking crowd, Jesus was showing him respect. It showed him that he was not a problem or an irritant, but that he was special and worthy of His personal attention. He exhibited His wisdom by using hand signals to adapt His communication to the man’s special needs and using an easily understood word that was easy to lip-read.
But what is the significance of the heavenly look and the sigh in verse 34? The Greek word for sigh here is “stenázo which means, “to be in straits, to groan, grieve, sigh, murmur.” Jesus’ sigh here was not a sigh of joy or relief, like some of the examples I gave at the beginning of my sermon; no, it was a sigh of unutterable sorrow and sadness for this man.
But it was more than that: I believe it was a sigh expressing deep compassion—not just for this unfortunate man, but for all of humanity under the curse of sin. And no one would have understood this sorrow and compassion more deeply than the Father who had sent Jesus on His mission of redemption. So He turned his head heavenward toward the Father to share in His grief and compassion.
This isn’t the only time Jesus had this reaction. At Lazarus’ tomb when Mary complained to Jesus that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had come sooner, John 11:33 says “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit [there’s that deep sigh of sadness and compassion again], and was troubled.”
The sorrow over the curse of death deeply disturbed Jesus. When He came to the tomb, verse 35 says, “Jesus wept.” What made Him weep?—Verse 36 says, “Then the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him!’” Oh, what compassion Jesus had for someone He loved who prematurely suffered the most horrifying effect of the Fall—death! And compassion in abundance was here in today’s text as well when they brought the deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus.
As R. Kent Hughes put it, “Perhaps here, when he got the poor deaf and dumb man alone, when he saw closely the devastation, his shyness, his crumpled ego, hurt upon hurt upon hurt, it was then that he sighed in compassion. …[T]he sigh was also for what lay behind it: man’s sin, the fallen creation, the Devil’s world. [As Frederick Faber’s hymn says] “There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than in heaven.” [Portion in brackets added for clarity.]
In verse 35, Mark records what happened next. – “And immediately his ears were opened, and…his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.”
The original Greek is more vivid and concrete, saying that “the chain of his tongue was broken.” In the New Testament the word for chain most frequently means a chain or fetter that binds a prisoner.
The word translated “plainly” means “correctly”: His tongue was released to talk perfectly well, as if he had never had a speech impediment to begin with. Think of it: This man’s tongue was fettered as if tied down, so not only was he able to hear, but he could talk clearly and articulately.
Of COURSE Jesus healed him completely as if he had never been afflicted! That’s the way all of Jesus’ miracles turned out. Whenever Jesus did something, He did it right! He was God after all; what else would you expect from a perfect God?
III. IN VERSES 35-36, NOTICE WITH ME THE OVERWHELMING AMAZEMENT OF THE PEOPLE. – “And he commanded them that they should tell no one: but the more he commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed. 37 And they were astonished beyond all measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well: he makes both the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak.”
This is the only instance in Mark of Jesus commanding Gentiles to remain silent. He might have saved His breath, for Mark says the more Jesus commanded them to silence the more widely they proclaimed it. This was an unusual, spectacular healing, and Jesus could not shut them up!
But here’s the irony: We have seen several times where Jesus told people not to spread abroad his miracles, and time and time again they couldn’t keep quiet about it. They told everyone about Jesus! Yet Jesus has specifically commanded us to tell everyone the great things He has done for us and most of us remain silent.
What the crowd said next was a confession of truth: “He has done all things well.” Yep!—As I said before, whenever Jesus did something, He did it right. Everything he does, He does well.
William Barclays says, “When it was completed, the people declared that he had done all things well. That is none other than the verdict of God upon his own creation in the very beginning (Genesis 1:31). When Jesus came, bringing healing to broken bodies and salvation to human souls, he had begun the work of creation all over again. In the beginning, everything had been good; human sin had spoiled it all; and now Jesus was bringing back the beauty of God to the world which human sin had rendered ugly.”
CONCLUSION
The story of this miracle, found only in Mark’s Gospel, reminds us again of Mark’s central thesis: that Jesus is God. We see it in the sheer power of the miracle—something only God could do. We see it in the way He wisely handles this poor man—wisdom that could only be from above. And we see it in the compassion He exhibited—so very revealing of the God of mercy and compassion that Jesus literally embodied as God in visible human form.
But we are not God as Jesus was and is. What does God want us mere mortals to learn from this story? There are so many we could examine, but these three stick out to me:
• First, may God help us to have the heavenly look of prayerful communion Jesus had.
When Mark tells us that Jesus “looked up to heaven,” it was a public exhibition of His prayerful connection and dependence on the Father. The only time in all eternity when that communion with the Father was broken was when the Son became our sin-bearer on the cross and He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Even though Jesus often got away from the disciples and the crowds for concentrated times of prayer, He was in constant prayerful communion with the Father all throughout every day of His life.
Ordinary humans like you and me can also be in constant communion with God. It begins by spending time with God in adoring worship and prayer. But it’s also having a mindfulness about God’s presence with you throughout the day. As Paul told the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing,” so we should be talking with God all through the day—praising Him when He blesses us with a beautiful sunset; confessing sin the moment we realize we have failed; praying for the words to say when a friend asks a question about God; asking for strength not to respond to someone in anger.
You may not be able to always look heavenward while you’re praying throughout the day (you might run into a telephone pole if you’re driving), but you can be in prayerful communion all day long.
• Second, may we sigh the sigh of heartfelt compassion as Jesus did.
Compassion and caring were not in vogue in Bible times, and it is so still today. In today’s story, the deep sigh of Jesus was a healing balm for this man, for it was the deep feeling of empathy that motivated Jesus to heal him.
Let’s ask ourselves this morning: Are we compassionate people? Have we wept over the suffering we see all around the world? Do we sigh a sigh of sympathy for those whose lives are distorted by sin? Does the six o’clock news sometimes make us cry? Do we sigh over divorce, poverty, abortion, broken relationships? Are we tender and caring?
When you see someone in our church or the community who needs help, do you care? – Or do you want to run and not be bothered by someone else’s burden?
When someone’s child is sick; or a parent or other loved one is dying; or someone is going through a rough spot in their marriage; or they’re experiencing a time of depression…do you care? Oftentimes the most basic and helpful thing you can do to care and actively show compassion is to just to put your own burdens aside for a while and listen and nod sympathetically and express your heartfelt compassion for what they’re going through.
When the Church sighs as Jesus sighed—with genuine compassion—help goes out to the hurting and suffering.
In Matthew 5:4, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
And in verse 7 He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
May each of us be merciful as was our blessed Savior.
• Last, may we touch those in our world like Jesus did.
The first thing Jesus did was put his hands on the deaf man with the speech impediment. Then He touched his ears and his tongue. Usually, when Jesus healed someone in His presence, He put his hands on them, including one time when He touched a grotesquely deformed leper. He never recoiled from laying His hands on sinful humanity.
Why did Jesus so often heal people with a touch? — I think, as R. Kent Hugues put it, it “was the instinct of his loving heart.” If we are to minister, there must be touch, and I am now speaking mainly metaphorically. Handshaking, backslapping and appropriate hugging are good (when we are not experiencing a pandemic, that is), but I’m talking here about reaching out to and welcoming sinners, and even the exceedingly sinful.
Illus. – One of my former pastors spent his early adulthood as a cop in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. One time he arrested a prostitute—whom I’ll call Judy for this illustration—and, as he often did, he shared the Gospel with her. This was the third time she had been arrested by him and the third time he shared the Gospel with her. Well, as they say, the third time is a charm.
She said, “Why are you always talking to me about Jesus? Unlike some of the other cops, you have always been kind and considerate You never offered to trade sex with me to avoid arrest. When I spit on you, you never once struck me or cursed me out. You act like you actually care.”
He said, “Judy, I do care. But there’s Someone who cares for you more than me. Someone who loved you so much that he was willing to die for your sins.”
That struck a chord in her heart because no one needed to show her Romans 3:23 for her to know she was a sinner. She said, “The problem is I can’t change.”
After a long, long talk, way after his shift ended, my pastor was able to lead her to faith in Jesus Christ. When she posted bail, my pastor and his wife were there to meet her and give her a ride to their home until they could make arrangements for her. That Sunday they took her to church for the first time in her life except to attend a wedding or a funeral. Then they helped her move to a new community and get into a good Bible-believing church there and she was able to get a job and get on her feet and eventually met a good Christian man whom she married and they had three lovely children together.
That’s the kind of compassion I’m talking about now. Do we reach out to and love on and minister to and treat with respect and dignity and kindness those whom the world casts aside and uses and abuses for evil desires? May we give the healing gift of touch to these least of the least in our society.
