Jesus heals a deaf and slurred man

Jesus heals a deaf and slurred man

 

Mark 7:32-35 『And they brought unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech 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 looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.』

Ears mean ears to hear. If a person listens to the world, but does not spiritually hear the words of the kingdom of God, he or she is spiritually deaf. Those who stutter are those who cannot properly preach the gospel because they do not understand the meaning of God's word. They preach the gospel, but they spread the word of truth in a distorted way, making them double the children of hell.

“He put his fingers (dactylus δακτύλους) into his ears (otah ὦτα) (evalen ἔβαλεν) and spit (phthysas πτύσας) and touched his tongue (gloses γλώσσης) (hessato ἥψατο).”

“Dactylus,” a finger, has the root deka (10:10). In Matthew 20:24, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” Ten (10) means perfection. The finger of Jesus is an expression of someone who has complete authority. The sentence to which otah (ear) is applied is Luke 4:21, “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Here, ear means spiritual ear. Those whose spiritual ears are open will receive the full power of Jesus.

“Evalen” means to throw, as in Matthew 3:10, “And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire..』In Luke 14:35, 『It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.』If Jesus' spiritual ears are not opened, he throws them away. However, when spiritual ears are opened, the power of God enters.

Ptyusas is translated as spitting, which means “folding a scroll.” In Luke 4:20, “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.” And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.』Folding the scroll (Bible) means folding it around the part where Jesus wanted to say.

Glosses means tongue, language, and dialect. In 1 Corinthians 14:5, 『I would that ye all spake with tongues (Glosses) but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. 』

Hepsato means “to touch, to belong.” The root of hexato is derived from hexaz (to light a fire), and is found in Luke 8:16, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but set it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.』

This is best expressed in Revelation 3:22: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” The seven churches in the Book of Revelation typify the churches of today. Even today, there are churches like the church in Laodicea. When Jesus rebukes the church in Laodicea, he says, “I know your works.” Usually, church people understand the “actions” that Jesus spoke of as “no faith, no zeal.” They understand Jesus’ words to mean, “It’s not that you don’t go to church, and it’s not that you come to church and work hard.” However, the action referred to here is related to something.

In John 6:27, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” This has to do with food for eternal life. Anything related to food for eternal life is God's work, and it is about believing in the one whom God sent. In other words, everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will receive eternal life. Regarding gaining eternal life, it is said, “It is neither hot nor cold.” Jesus said, “Neither cold nor hot; I will spit it out of my mouth.” “My mouth” is Jesus. From the mouth of Jesus comes the word of God, which is, “You are lukewarm and not mine.”

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:』 This is a lukewarm state. Jesus said to the church, “A rich person means a saved person.” People think they are saved, but Jesus says, “No.” They are wretched, deaf, blind, and stutterers regarding the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying to the Laodicea believers, “You go to church and say that your sins are forgiven and that you are saved, but as for the kingdom of God, where you are not saved, you are poor, wretched, and pitiful.” They think, “I believed in Jesus and was saved,” but Jesus says, “I don’t know you.”

Although they say they believe in Jesus, they believe according to their own thoughts, saying, “The Holy Spirit is good and the law is good, even though they are bound by the law.” It belongs here. These people have never actually met Jesus. It means that they are not awake to the word of God, and a veil is still hidden in front of them. In 2 Corinthians 3:14, “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail unkened away in the reading of the old testament; He said, “which vail is done away in Christ.” Jesus points out that they are “people who say they believe in Jesus Christ, but they are still keeping the law because they are covered with a veil.”

『Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.』Jesus is knocking outside the church door. However, they cannot open the door because they have no ears to hear. This means, “Because they do not open the door, Jesus cannot enter.” This means, “I do not believe in forgiveness of sins and salvation through Jesus Christ.” However, if one says, “I received forgiveness of sins and was saved through Jesus Christ,” he must be a person who has nothing to do with the law. Jesus is above the law, and it is difficult for someone to say, “I believe in Jesus,” but believe in the law below Jesus.

Jesus said, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

The people of the Laodicea church think, “All are saved,” but they said, “Buy from me (Jesus) gold (the word of God) refined by fire (the Holy Spirit).” Jesus tells believers, “Understand the Word of God written with inspiration by the Holy Spirit.”

『Be Rich』 means being rich for the kingdom of God. This means that the Church of Laodicea is not rich. It means that the Church of Laodicea does not have the word of God. White clothes speak of God’s righteousness. In order for believers to buy white clothes, they must not rely on anything else, but only enter into Jesus Christ. In order for a believer to enter into Christ, he must die on the cross with Jesus. Being “naked” means “not a righteous person but a sinner.” The phrase “Buy eye salve and apply it to your eyes” means “Hear the word of God and understand it.”It means, “Open your eyes to the kingdom of God.” With your eyes opened like that, it means, 『Meet Jesus on the cross.』 The word “meet” means being united with Jesus on the cross.

He said, “Repent, for I rebuke and discipline those whom I love; be zealous.” The word repent means, “Turn to God.” This does not mean, “Reflect on the wrongs you have done to the world,” but rather, “Return what you have turned towards the world towards God.” Regarding the church in Laodicea, the words, “Repent,” mean, “Jesus is outside the door; turn to Jesus, and let Jesus, who is outside the door, come in.” Jesus does not come in just by turning to Jesus, but when you become united with Jesus on the cross, Jesus comes in.

Jesus said, 『To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne』. He who overcomes must overcome like Jesus. Jesus overcame the world by abandoning it. Jesus triumphed over the world by dying. Because Jesus died to the world, to sin, and to the law, he overcame the world. It is explained in Romans 8:3-4: 『For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.』Although we cannot fulfill the law because our flesh is weak, God allows the law to be fulfilled through Jesus Christ, “to those who do not follow the flesh, but follow the Spirit.”