< < Mark 7:34 >>

English Standard Version (©2001)
And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ?Ephphatha,? that is, ?Be opened.?

Ephphatha

the Greek form of a Syro-Chaldaic or Aramaic word, meaning ?Be opened?

uttered by Christ when healing the man who was deaf and dumb (Mark 7:34)

It is one of the characteristics of Mark that he uses the very Aramaic words which fell from our Lord’s lips. (See Mark 3:17; Mark 5:41; Mark 7:11; Mark 14:36; Mark 15:34.)

Mark 7:31-37 | Ephphatha! Be Opened!

Ephphatha! Be opened! Few more beautiful words have been uttered in the history of mankind than these. When Jesus opened the ears and freed the tongue of the deaf and mute man he gave us a gift. Symbolically, the opening of the man?s ears is like when the unbeliever hears the goodness of the Gospel for the first time. The loosening of the tongue is like excited lips that preach the Good News from hearts on fire. When Jesus shared his power and love with the disabled man, he gave us a picture of his love for us and how he would best express it on his cross.

Jesus made sure the disabled man knew what was going on. The spit for the tongue and the fingers in the man?s ears used the few remaining senses the man enjoyed (sight and touch) to convey his love. He took what little was available in order communicate what the Lord was doing for him. Even his skyward look and the deep sigh was to signal to the man that his salvation had come.

And do you see in that sigh the picture of things to come? A look up to heaven and sigh that seemed to signify: It is finished.

Christ meets us according our needs. His love condescends to our level of shallow understandings and hard hearts in order to lift our weary souls to him.

On this day...

• He Knew What Was in Man - 2011
• If My Words Abide in You - 2011
• Felix Culpa - 2011
• Jesus Christ, the Only Foundation - 2011
• Life's Shortness and Vanity - 2011
• Can I Be a Christian and Live with My Boyfriend? - 2011
• The Life of Jesus in Chronological Order - 2011
• Ephrathah - 2011
• Micah 7:18-20 - 2011
• Micah 7:7-9 - 2011