Ephphatha - Be Opened!!!

Mark 7:34 “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means "Be opened!").”

We can read the entire portion in order to understand the concept. Let’s read from Verses 31 – 35

“31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 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. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.”

We see the context in the above verses. Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through a town called Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of Decapolis. We also read in other gospels that Jesus went to the region of Decapolis once before in his life time. This is the second time he is going to that town.

We further read that a few people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They also begged Jesus to place his hand on the man and heal him. We see that the people had faith on Jesus and wanted Jesus to do good to that man who was deaf and dumb. One point that we observe here is that Jesus took him aside, away from the crowd and he put his fingers into the man’s ears. Till then it is ok, but he further spit and touched the man’s tongue. How could he do that… there are no reasons. If we trust the ‘who’ we would not ask the question ‘why’? So, here we find Jesus looking up to heaven and with a deep sign saying to him ‘Ephphatha’. This word means ‘be opened’. Immediately, the next verse says that the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

What a wonderful thing Jesus did in that man’s life that day. He spoke a word and it happened. It is so true, right from the beginning of creation, that whenever he spoke a word, it came to pass. He ordered things to happen and they were formed. What a mighty God we have. Many a times, we take him for granted and we neglect him, but we need to understand that God loves us and he speaks to us.

Let us now explore into this topic a bit further and understand more in detail.

In 2 Corinthians 4: 4, it says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” We see from the scripture that the god of this age, that is Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ. We need to understand that there is something which hinders people to see the light. It is not that the light is not shining, the light is always there, but the people of the world are unable to see it. For example, the stars are always there in the sky, but we see them only at night. We cannot say that the stars vanished, no, it is just that something else has taken prominence and the stars are not to be seen by us. There is a problem with our vision and not with the stars. In the same way, there is problem with the vision of the people of this world. We need to pray that the Lord should open their eyes and show them the true nature of God.

1 John 2:11 says “But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” People are walking in darkness and they do not know where they are going, because darkness has blinded them.

We also see in John 12: 35 where Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. This is the same essence of the earlier verse that we saw. Also in other parts of the Bible we see that Jesus is telling the Pharisees as blind guides. Matt 15:14 “Leave them; they are blind guides.[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” And similarly, in Luke 6:39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?. From this we understand that Jesus is very serious when it comes to sight. He does not want all of us to be in darkness. He can give light, but it is we that are blinded and would like to continue in the darkness.

Let us move further into the topic and see in what areas Jesus is willing to help us.

1.       From God’s judgment – Ephphatha. We can read Numbers 22:31 and Numbers 24:2,3,4, to understand this further.

2.       From our needs – Ephphatha. We can read Genesis 21:19 how God did a miracle in the wilderness

3.       From our fights/battles – Ephphatha. We read in II Kings 6:17 how God opened the servant Gehazi’s sight and see victory.

4.       From our fears and discouragement – Ephphatha. We read in Luke 24:31 and in 1 Cor 13:12

5.       From the future bad days – Ephphatha. We read in Luke 19:41, 42 and in II Kings 8:11, 12 about this.

From all this we understand that Jesus wants us to be liberated and free. He doesn’t want us to be under the yoke of Satan and he wants us to be delivered from sin and bondage.

He is ready to say ‘Ephphatha’, but are we willing to take that from Jesus?