Be Opened
But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. Mark 7:34-36
Piety
Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son. (Acts 16:24)
Study
Today the title for this essay could have as easily been “Be Obedient.” We encounter several groups of people who can not seem to listen to God. Eve. The serpent. Adam. All pay the price for their disobedience. They have their freedom taken away because they were not open to obey God’s instruction.
Contrast that with the man described by St. Mark. Jesus is in Gentile territory (“Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.”)
These Gentile presented Jesus with the case of a man with both deafness and a speech impediment. They cared enough to bring a needy friend to Jesus and had faith that Jesus could heal him, a good model for our prayer and witness.[i] The people begged Jesus even though he was a Jew. They did not just ask. They begged. The man had a desire to hear God and his friends had a desire to see Jesus at work. Jesus answered the prayers of the little group.
As William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible points out: “Just as the Jew would never soil his lips with forbidden foods, so he would never soil his life by contact with the unclean Gentile. It may well be that here Jesus is saying by implication that the Gentiles are not unclean but that they, too, have their place within the Kingdom.”[ii] Jesus does not just have social contact with the Gentile. He touches him. He cures him.
Yet, after all is done, they do not obey Jesus. “He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.” Some gratitude! Just like when condemning the Pharisees, the phrase from Isaiah comes to mind:
The Lord said: Since this people draws near with words only and honors me with their lips alone, though their hearts are far from me, and fear of me has become mere precept of human teaching. (Isaiah 29:13)
Action
Who are we like in the story? Eve who disobeys and tried to act like the all-knowing God? The serpent or tempts others to disobey? The deaf man who can not hear? The cured man who can hear but falls back into disobedience?
Are we guilty of honoring the Lord with our lips and not with our lives and actions? Would God say something similar to us?
Do we attend church, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we read our Bibles, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we pray eloquently, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we contribute money, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we minister to others, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we love to love to the Lord a new song, but our heart is far from Jesus?
Do we talk to others about Jesus, before we talk to Jesus about others?
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