TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YR B
Is 35:4-7a; Ps 146
James 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37
AND THE PEOPLE BROUGHT TO HIM A DEAF MAN…
Our gospel this Sunday locates Jesus in the Decapolis area for the second time. On this occasion, the crowd brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in speech, so that he could heal him. Jesus took the man aside and healed him. Why did he take the man aside? Why did he touch him and speak a word of healing? What does the healing of a deaf and mute man mean?
He took him away from the crowd…
Taking the man out of the crowd for the healing is very instructive: The man was not just another face among the crowd of gentiles but an individual. Jesus recognised him as an individual person. He does not only love us as a group or a church, he loves us personally. This means that everything that concerns us personally is a concern for Jesus. we must come to him in confidence so that he can heal us.
Furthermore, Jesus actually touched the man. When he was taking him out of the crowd, I am sure he would have held him by the hand or by the shoulders and touched the eyes. Jesus’ touch of this man is a sign of compassion. Our lord Jesus is compassionate towards our plight no matter what it might be. He loves to get personal with us. Are you willing to get personal with him too?
touching the man was a very important gesture because this man could only understand things by touch and signs. with this touch Jesus enters into his world in order to bring him healing and peace. in the same way he wishes to enter into our world to bring us healing and restoration in any way. May we courageous to come to him. may we have good friends who will carry us to the Lord in those moments when we cannot come to the Lord by ourselves.
He said to him “Ephphatha…”
This is the word of power that Jesus spoke upon the man. The deaf and dumb man represents sinful humanity that have lost the ability to hear and obey God’s word and to speak about God’s power and grace. The definite ephphatha of God is to send Jesus to take the form of man.
In a special way he breaks and opens up humanity in such a way that we can once again clearly hear the voice of God and now speak clearly of his love and power in our lives. Anyone who accepts Jesus receives the word of God in his or her life in a special way. His presence in our lives open many doors of blessing unto us.
Many today, cannot hear God, much less speak about him. They camouflage their own thoughts for the word of God. Ephphatha means breaking down the pride of our thoughts in such a way as to enables us to submit ourselves totally to the voice and the word of God. These days there are a lot of voices that sound good to our ears, many opinions that seem right, so much so that many lose the capacity to hear the true voice of God. But a wholesome relationship with Jesus helps us out. We must learn to come to know Jesus and accept him into our lives. We do so through his word and through prayer.
Jesus heals us so that we can hear and obey God’s word. He heals us so that we can tell others of his love and care.
And the people brought to him a deaf man…
We must genuinely care for one another. The man in this story was brought to Jesus by others in his community. It is important to care for others in our communities: It may be your church community, family or even at your work place. We must be attentive to people and the things that bother them. And we must take concrete actions to do something to alleviate their burdens.
It is important to keep in mind that this is happening in a gentile region where the assumption is that, they do not know God. What this means is that, a caring community is not a preserve of the church or Christianity. If non-Christians can build a loving and caring community how mush more the Christian community which is a product of love and the community of the Blessed Trinity. The grace of God is present to any community where love is.
How often do we bring each member of your communities to the light of the gospel?
How often do we bring members of our communities to Jesus in prayer?
A genuine community is one that desires each member of the community to have the capacity to hear God’s word and express it in their lives.
May the Lord Jesus heal all of us and fill us with his love, grace and power.
God bless you.
BY Rev. Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
