Mark 7:31-37

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

The man

Mark was the only Evangelist to record this miracle

Mark decided to write about this miracle because it demonstrated an act of Jesus healing a Gentile

Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd

Medicine in this time and region was basically inexistent

The Miracle

Decapolis, the area of Jesus’ destination, was a ten-city group on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.

- Hippose, Pella, Scythopolis, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Kanatha, Damascus, Raphana and Gadara

During His ministry, Jesus performed more than 40 miracles, including healing the sick, changing the natural elements of nature and even raising people from the dead.

Jesus looked up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘be opened.’

Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

The Efficacy of Jesus' Saliva

In the days of Jesus, ailments such as deafness and muteness were often seen as either punishment for sin or possession by demons.  Jesus’ ability to cure these ailments presents him as one who can forgive sin and overcome demons.

Laminim

- “a glycoprotein component of connective tissue basement membrane that promotes cell adhesion” Miriam Webster Dictionary

Several Roman writers and Jewish rabbis considered saliva to be a valid treatment for blindness. Since the people of that day had a high view of saliva’s healing properties, Jesus used spit to communicate His intention to heal.

Matthew 4:23

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

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