Open Up
Exodus 4:1-17; Mark 7:31-37 / Psalm 145:1-21
I. Imagine Silence
A. As Jesus returned from an alien culture, the Saviour encountered an alien condition. “And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.” (Mark 7:31-32)
B. The man was utterly isolated by silence and so are all people who are apart from the household of God and the message of grace. “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:” (Ephesians 2:12)
C. A generation ago Simon and Garfunkel captured the willful deafness of the age in Sounds of Silence, revealing the vacuous deafness of unbelieving culture. “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 12:2)
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
II. The Word of God Breaks the Silence
A. Jesus came to speak the message of heaven to a deaf and dying world; God the Father orders people to hear Him. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” (Matthew 17:5)
B. Jesus is the message of God; apart from the Saviour there is no communication with eternity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4) “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:10-11)
C. It is the passion of God’s people to end the silence of human misery and Jesus speaks across the silence to do just that. “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” (Isaiah 29:18) “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:5)
D. Jesus seized the opportunity and spoke to the man in language he could not avoid. “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 saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.” (Mark 7:33-34)
III. God Opens What Is Closed
A. The same God made the speakers and the hearers of the gospel; the Lord can remove any barrier to gospel conversation. “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” (Exodus 4:10-12)
B. God said it and it was done. “And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.” (Mark 7:35)
C. Accomplishing the impossible is hard to contain; grace astonishes. “And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.” (Mark 7:36-37)
