Jesus Heals the Deaf and Blind (Mark 7:31-37)
AM I DEAF?
In today’s Gospel reading we enter into a central part of Mark’s Gospel. The section begins with the healing of a deaf man and ends with the healing of a blind man. These are not just miracle stories about Jesus’ power but have a teaching purpose. Jesus has just been in the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon (on the Mediterranean coast in modern Lebanon) and has moved on to the area of the Decapolis (Ten Towns), on the east bank of the Jordan River. It was basically a Gentile, a non-Jewish area.
There a man is brought for Jesus to heal. He was deaf, that is, he could not hear and he had an impediment in his speech, that is, he could not speak properly.
Today we are consoled by human and technological advancements can address impairments of hearing.
But the big impairment we experience in our life today is the spiritual impairment.
Spiritual deafness shutting our ears to God who speaks to us. Sometimes we go on with our sinful ways of life as if we didn’t hear anything from God. He wants to heal our spiritual deafness. Am I ready? Am I deaf?
What can I do?
We have to seek out Jesus, go off with Him, away from the crowd, and spend time in His healing presence.So, let us pray today for the gift of hearing, to hear the voice of God calling to us in everything that will happen this day. Let us pray for the gift of speech, that is, to be so filled with the liberating experience of knowing Jesus that we simply cannot refrain from sharing that experience with all those around us.
AM I DEAF?
In today’s Gospel reading we enter into a central part of Mark’s Gospel. The section begins with the healing of a deaf man and ends with the healing of a blind man. These are not just miracle stories about Jesus’ power but have a teaching purpose. Jesus has just been in the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon (on the Mediterranean coast in modern Lebanon) and has moved on to the area of the Decapolis (Ten Towns), on the east bank of the Jordan River. It was basically a Gentile, a non-Jewish area.
There a man is brought for Jesus to heal. He was deaf, that is, he could not hear and he had an impediment in his speech, that is, he could not speak properly.
Today we are consoled by human and technological advancements can address impairments of hearing.
But the big impairment we experience in our life today is the spiritual impairment.
Spiritual deafness shutting our ears to God who speaks to us. Sometimes we go on with our sinful ways of life as if we didn’t hear anything from God. He wants to heal our spiritual deafness. Am I ready? Am I deaf?
What can I do?
We have to seek out Jesus, go off with Him, away from the crowd, and spend time in His healing presence.So, let us pray today for the gift of hearing, to hear the voice of God calling to us in everything that will happen this day. Let us pray for the gift of speech, that is, to be so filled with the liberating experience of knowing Jesus that we simply cannot refrain from sharing that experience with all those around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment