MARK 7:31-37
THE LORD COMES IN THE FLESH TO TOUCH OUR LIVES.
In the name + of Jesus.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not seem to have respect for personal space. “They brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.” (Mark 7:32) I doubt that he was prepared for Jesus sticking his fingers into his ears. If you dig into your own ears, some might call it gross. If you stick your finger in a stranger's ears, you might get smacked. “And after spitting (Jesus) touched his tongue.” (Mark 7:33) If having Jesus' fingers poking in his ears were not awkward enough, Jesus then stuck his finger into the man's mouth. It is an invasion of personal space. Jesus did not care. Jesus put his fleshly digit onto the man's tongue. Jesus knew what the man's problem was, and he vividly showed the deaf mute that he knew. With Jesus' touch and with his “Ephphatha!” came perfect healing. “His ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” (Mark 7:35)
Chances are, this miracle makes you uncomfortable. Wasn't there a more hygienic way to heal the man than to poke fingers into his ears and mouth? Why not lay on hands? Why not wash in a pool? Jesus didn't ask what you would have preferred. He chose fleshly contact and invasion of personal space. We regularly second guess the way God works. We think God has better options. If God really wants all people to be saved and none to perish, why doesn't he just give an omnipotent decree that all sins are erased and the gates of heaven can be removed from their hinges? Why doesn't God simply declare his “Ephphatha!” over the whole world to eradicate every disease, disability, natural disaster, and death? Why doesn't God work more effectively in the lives of his people so that Christians stop causing problems? With every “Why?” we challenge God's wisdom, power, or love. We believe we could do a better job, as if we could out-God God. Repent. Neither your love nor your wisdom are greater than his. And when he acts, he does not concern himself with what you would have preferred or what makes you comfortable.
When the Lord sticks his fingers into our personal space, he has not overstepped his bounds. He makes us uncomfortable because we don't want him touching parts of our lives. We want others to respect our privacy, and we hope that the Lord would also keep his hands out of certain parts of our lives. But the Lord does not keep a proper distance. He invades your space, knows your opinions, scans your thoughts, and reads your hearts. The Lord wants to know you intimately, and he knows everything.
The Lord does not keep his distance from mankind. In fact, he loves mankind so much that he came to correct and to restore all that corrupts mankind. To do so, Jesus became a man and bound himself to mankind. He did not try to get around the Commandments by making some divine decree that obedience to the Commandments is not necessary or that sins against the Commandments don't matter. Rather, he submitted to the Commandments in order to obey them. Heaven is open only to whomever is holy and obedient. But now a man has lived a life of holy obedience. He is the only way that man can now dwell in the presence of God.
The Lord came in the flesh to touch your life and to take up your cause. Even though you have opened your mouth to challenge how or why God does things, Jesus has come to pay the price for it. He did not question how cruel it was that he would silently suffer for your critical and boastful speech. He did not challenge how fair it was that he in his innocence was damned and that you despite your guilt are set free. Jesus did what he was given to do—to redeem sinners. He took into his flesh everything that is corrupt in your flesh. He bore the curse in his body which was beaten, pierced, and crucified for you. Jesus personally took your space in hell and death to ransom you from them. But his flesh was not devoured by death. Rather than be left to decay, your flesh-and-blood Savior rose from the dead. A man has conquered death and lives and reigns forever.
Just as Jesus united himself to you by becoming man, so now you are united to him through your baptism. Therefore, you are covered by Jesus' perfect obedience. Since God judges you to be holy and obedient, you have a space in the heavenly kingdom. Since a man has conquered death and you are united to him in baptism, the grave does not get to keep you, and hell cannot have you. It is not just your soul that he saves; he saves you completely. God has made you flesh and blood, body and soul. Therefore, the Lord became flesh-and-blood, body-and-soul to save you. What the Lord created, he became. And what the Lord became, he redeemed. The Lord came in the flesh to touch our lives in order to deliver us from corruption to righteousness, from death to life, and from hell to heaven.
The man from the Decapolis who was brought to Jesus had the same problem you do; he was a sinner. He had additional problems; he was deaf and mute. The people brought him to Jesus to correct what sin had wrought in his life. They were right to do so. Jesus personally attended to the man's salvation and to his handicaps. For, when our Lord restores everything sin corrupted, he not only forgives sins, he will eventually restore bodies to their complete perfection. Bodies in heaven have no need for hearing aids, crutches, medication, or Kleenex. All will be restored. All will be made right; for Jesus has come in the flesh to touch our lives.
When Jesus chooses to deal with us, he still comes to us in fleshy ways. Our Lord no longer comes to us himself. Now he sends his ministers into the world to preach the word and to administer the sacraments. Through his flesh-and-blood ministers, Jesus bestows the forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation to flesh-and-blood sinners. As the word is preached, ears are opened to hear the word of life. As the Lord's Supper is administered, the Lord puts his body and blood into unclean lips and mouths so that they are purified of sin. Through his ministers, Jesus absolves the penitent and comforts the fearful. He then opens your lips so that you may speak clearly and confess the good news of Jesus. The Lord comes to you in fleshly ways to touch your life with forgiveness, new life, and salvation.
And now the Lord Jesus has also chosen you to be the flesh-and-blood people who touch the lives of others. The Lord was pleased to connect himself with us, and now he has us connect with others. That doesn't mean that it is easy. People have messy lives. They carry burdens that we don't often recognize. They come with baggage that we can't really ignore. They are hurting, struggling, and confused. Their problems are real. Their pains are real.
That is why Jesus does not deal with us in theories, in our own introspection, or in words out of thin air. There is precious little comfort to be given to a grieving sinner if we simply hand them a Bible and say, “Read this. I hope it helps.” Instead, God works through flesh and blood people who touch lives and step into their personal space. Instead of “Take this pamphlet,” it is “Take my hand.” No text message will be preferred to sitting with someone and praying with them. No sad emoji will ever replace hugging a person who is mourning. God did not save us by an idea; he saved us by a man. Therefore, God uses people to teach his word, to comfort those who are hurting, to encourage those who are struggling, and to hold the hand of the sick and dying. We get to invade their space, give of our time, and invest our lives into theirs; for this is what love does. This is what Jesus did—he came in the flesh to touch our lives.
God calls us into a family of believers for a reason, and all families have their problems. Nevertheless, our Lord knows that contact with people is important—important enough that he became a man to unite himself to mankind, and even important enough to stick his fingers in a man's ears and mouth. The Lord came in the flesh to touch our lives, and he calls us to touch the lives of others with words of mercy, with acts of patience, and with prayer.
Jesus came in the flesh to touch our lives. He is a real Savior who touches real sinners and bestows real healing, real hope, and real salvation. And Jesus continues to come to us through fleshly means. Flesh and blood ministers proclaim real forgiveness, administer the true body and blood of our Lord, and alleviate real guilt so that you can have true comfort.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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