MARK 7:36, 37
THE IMPEDIMENTS REMOVED
I. STIPULATIONS: * Mark 7:36
A. Significance.
B. Sensitivity.
C. Spurned.
II. SPECTATORS: ** Mark 7:37
A. Surprise.
B. Statements.
C. Surety.
III. SIGNS: ***
A. Saviour.
B. Sincere.
C. Selfless.
The miracle has now been effected and Jesus is left with another situation. The people who stood motionless watching the Master work this miracle could no longer keep quite. The ones who brought the deaf mute to Him, the deaf mute himself and the others who stood by were excited beyond all measure. They had just seen a miracle. They had just saw this poor man who was locked up inside of himself for a long time, now began to hear and to talk. The only natural thing to do was to exclaim the praises of Jesus and then to begin to spread the word about what they had just experienced. Yet, it was at this very juncture that Jesus gave His command to not tell what they had seen. The irony here is too great to ignore.
The one was dumb and could now talk. The others who could talk were to become dumb. Jesus had freed one man’s tongue and tried to silence the others. One who could not hear, now hears while the others who did hear were to not tell others’ ears about what they had just witnessed.
The question then arises as to why did the Master give this command? If it would have been one who was seeking self adulation, the thing to do would be to allow others to tell about this miracle and to publish this event near and far. Yet, the Master gave strict orders to all to not spread the word. The answers are hard to decipher as to the real intent but as these two verses are studied, the reasoning behind the Master’s wishes becomes clearer. With these thoughts in mind, I see three things that these verses suggest which help shed light on Jesus’ orders and to try and comprehend a little of the intent of these verses.
The first major part of these verses which shed some light on the message of these scriptures concerns itself with the STIPULATION given by Jesus and the why of it. The next part of the purpose of the message that Jesus was trying to convey in these verses has to do with the SPECTATORS themselves. Then, as we conclude these two verses and the end of this chapter, one is truck by the SIGNS that are there for the readers’ benefits.
* THE STIPULAIONS: Jesus was so unlike many so called preachers of history and of today. He came, never calling attention to Himself but instead He wanted to glorify and edify His Father. I wonder if He would be on earth today and was an American pastor or a pastor in any part of the world, would He want to have a huge conglomerate church building erected so He could preach to the people? Would He try and raise millions of dollars just so His weekly air show could be seen by untold numbers of people? Would He drive around in flashy cars and live in mansions here and there because He felt these things were owed to Him? Would He be invited to the White House for din-din or show up on the greens for golf with this or that congressman or senator? Would the world leaders seek Him out because He was a super preacher? If we read these two verses together of our text, we get the picture that He really wanted to stay in the background and give the glory to His Father.
True, He preferred to edify His Father, but there was also the aspect that something very Significant was at play in His command to the people not to tell what they had seen. One of the important reasons for His reticence on not having the news spread about Him was the simple fact that His time had not arrived. This was very important to Jesus and He did not want the masses of people to flock to Him and think that He came to be an earthly doctor. The Significance of His wish was to allow Him to complete His work before He went to the cross. He knew that if the masses would spread the news about His healing, the religious leaders of His day would have sought a more opportune time of hastening His demise and He had much to do before He went to the cross. He really regarded His mission on this earth as some thing sacred and wanted no one to impeded His work. He viewed, with much earnestness, His mission as was given to Him by His Father and this was paramount in His command here. He wanted no earthly glory, no accolades, and no self-glorification because He wanted to complete His mission as was given by God, Himself. We need to take a page out of the Master plan of accomplishing things for God. It is never us-it always has to be Him. As such, we will be willing to take the think about things that we might want to do to glorify us if they do not bring glory to God.
The next thing I note about the Stipulations He gave for the people to be quite, had to do with the Sensitivity He felt for the cured man. Jesus was always the gentleman. He wished the best for everyone and in this instant, He was very Sensitive to this man’s condition. He knew that if every one left there and began to broadcast the news that soon this man, who had endured so much public scrutiny for so long, would now become an object of concern and public glare. Before this man came to Jesus, he was considered an oddity. Now that he was healed, he would still be consider as such. He would not feel the ease of being himself with his new found life; instead, people would badger him, glare at him, ask him never ending questions which would agitate him. Then, there would be those who would scoff at him and tell him and others that what he had just experienced would not last, it was a sham, that there was no such thing as a miracle and that this Jesus was just a figment of his imagination. There would be those who would ridicule him and cast doubts on the very One who did the miracle. It sounds like it is the same to day. Now we are encouraged to spread the news for Him and still there are the many scoffers and the disbelievers who see lives changed, homes mended, drunks made sober, drug addicts delivered, sick ones healed, and yet many say that there is nothing to this Jesus and His salvation. Jesus wanted to spare this man what He knew was coming because He knew this man would have it hard trying to explain to his critics these miracles. However, we must spread the news regardless of what others say.
Yet, how could such news be kept silenced? The answer is, “It was not kept silenced.” The people, right or wrong, chose to Spurn the Master’s request and spread the news. Not seeing nor understand the reasons behind the Master’s requests, the excited people spread the news of this miracle. It was necessary to respect the wishes of Jesus, but the people could not stop talking about this miracle. Several things were accomplished that day for this man and the people could sense the joy of the healed one. There was: excitement instead of excuses; happiness instead of hopelessness; a miracle instead of misery; speaking instead of silence; hearing instead of hush ness; inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness; and, wholeness instead of half-ness. This man was healed and the people could not stop talking about it. They Spurned the commands of Jesus because they could do nothing else. Would to God that we could be this spontaneous about what He has done for us as they were then.
We will not run the risk of Spurning the Master’s command if we spread the news about Him to all we encounter. We will never go wrong if we speak for the Christ of every crises and tell all that Jesus is still in the healing, soul saving, life changing business today. Let the world cast aspersions on us, but let us stand and declare, “Thus sayet the Lord.” We who have heard the gospel story and have been using our vocal cords for a long time need to tell all, the Jesus is here and He can heal. Yes, there were Stipulations given by Jesus that day and they were for a reason, but today the urgency of telling the world for Him is paramount for all of us.
** THE SPECTATORS; While it is needful to study the people who heard the command of Jesus to not spread the news about Him, it is imperative to look closer at just who these people were and their importance to the situation then and now.
The first thing I note about these onlookers was the Surprise that gripped them. This miracle had happened in the Decapolis where the people had little contact with Jesus since these were the ten cities of the Gentiles. The results of what they had just seem gripped them to the core and they were astonished at the presence of the great Power of God among them. Maybe some had heard about Jesus before and came to find out just who this Man was. The ones who brought the deaf mute to Him had some type of reference with which they associated Jesus with the power to heal their friend. But the majority of the onlookers must have been very ignorant of who Jesus was. In their shock and wonderment, Mark says that they were astonished, “beyond measure.” Somehow Jesus has this effect on people when they meet up with His awesomeness.
This reaction was probably part of the reason that Jesus warned them to be silent, but as the text relates, they spread the news even more. These Gentiles were in the presence of the Jewish Messiah and they began to realize that here was Someone who was more than a mere man, He had to be divine. And they kept marveling over and over, about what they had just seen. Jesus came to this area and it would never be the same again. It is still true today when Jesus comes to a home, a city, a person-things are never the same after His arrival.
I then notice the Statement they made, “He hath done all things well.” What a commentary on Jesus. Christ never touched anybody and made them worse. Every one He touched, He improved that one’s life. Certainly, the same can be said about the presence of Jesus down through history. Where ever the gospel story had gone, history records that He hath, “Done all things well.” It was/is Christ who has elevated the status of women and children the world over. It has been the guiding hand of God who has helped elevate the Western world to the highest standard of living the world has ever known. It has been the influence of the gospel story and Christ the King that has helped His saints to invest in missions and then see the results of those dollars being spent to help others. In far off, remote places of the world, the One who does all things well has helped farmers plant bigger and better crops. The Christ who does all things well has helped many villages in barren places to see the trickling water from irrigation systems work miracles as it brings the people water for their drinking and for their crops. Clinics, hospitals, schools, libraries, shelter homes for children and women, better housing, better roads, better environments, better working conditions and the list goes on and on have been the direct or indirect results of Christians doing what Jesus wanted done to help people, because He does all things well.
This Statement of these Gentiles summed up the true character of Jesus. Later when the Temple guards were sent to arrest Jesus, they returned empty handed and exclaimed, “No man speaks like this Man” because He says all things well. While still alive, the authorities shook their head and said that the whole world was running after Him, because He ministered well. At His death, a hardened Roman Gentile said, “Surely, He must be the Son of God” because He died well. Later, when we who are faithful and make the crossing into the Celestial City will exclaim, as we crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords, He reigns well. Through out the endless ages of eternity, we will exclaim over and over that He is our Lord and Redeemer and He redeemed well. These Gentiles spoke the truth when they said, “He does all things well.” This is the sum and substance of Him and His mission on this earth and on into eternity.
Then, I note the Surety of this group of onlookers. Once the reality of the miracle had fully settled in on them and their psyche, they uttered a testimony of assurance to what they had just seen. It was one thing for this deaf mute to testify about what he experienced but it was another thing for these Gentiles to make the confession they did. What they just witnessed was burned into their mind like a hot iron and it would never be cast out by unbelieving people who were not there nor who had not seen what they saw. They were sure of the miracle and they could never be argued out of this grand experience. Let others cast aspersions on their testimony but what Mark captured that day was the true testimony of the onlookers: Jesus did heal the deaf mute. Their testimony was now with them and they were now a testimony for the miracle. They disobeyed the Master’s injunction, but they could not cease saying that, “He healed the deaf and the dumb.” If there is one thing that rocks the pit of hell is the assurance of the Christians that can stand amidst all of the ridicule of the world and say, “That once I was blind, but now I see,” The Surety of the faith of God’s child still confounds and troubles the world today. The scoffers can attack Christianity and the Christians but they cannot shake the validity of a sinner’s testimony when he says that now he is a different person, thanks to Calvary.” When the evidence is visible to all that the drunkard is now sober, the world cannot undermine this fact. The world cannot destroy the testimony of one whose life is an open book for Jesus and the change from darkness to light is visible to all who would dare to look and see. These Gentiles, that day, they saw it-they knew what they had seen and they could not, would not be dissuaded from the truth of their experience. Christians, take heart-your testimony is something the world cannot shake, change nor alter-it is an established fact, “Christ maketh both the deaf to hear ands the dumb to speak.”
***THE SIGNS: It is one thing to remember the Stipulations of Jesus that day and it is another thing to look at the Spectators and what they experienced, but what has all of this to do with us today? The answer is, “These things have much to do with us today: these things are Signs for we who follow Jesus to observe and to remember always.”
The Sign I note has to do with the Saviour. It is imperative for we who follow our Lord to remember that one of the Signs that distinguishes Him from all other so called religious leaders is His ability to heal. Not only does He heal the body but He heals the soul: He is the Saviour of the world.
This was one thing the Gentiles discovered as they watched the miracle developing in front of them. There was indeed something different about this Man. He could merely touch some one and that one would be healed. Never had they witnessed this before in their lives. They soon began to discover that there was something awesome about this Jew who stood before them and once the healing was a sure thing, He admonished them to tell no one about what they had just seen. He was no ordinary person and they were struck by this Sign which He gave to them as being a Healer, a Saviour of this man who needed saving from the plights he endured.
Next, I note that another Sign which was/is evident, is the fact that He was Sincere, He was no sorcerer. This is always a good signal for anyone to observe when dealing with people’s thoughts, anticipation and actions. There was something about Him that rang true. The people were not scarred, nor cowed, nor berated into forcing an admission about Him, they merely exclaimed Him as being one who could heal. There was no coaching from a pre-set script, they all began to explain that he healed the man and there was no slight of hand to the miracle.
One must remember the same thing holds true for today. There are no charlatans in the service of the King. Jesus will not support one, any one, who wants to gain notoriety, fame, fortune by using Him as a shield, a pretext for a ticket to fame and glory. One may succeed in man’s sight as being divine and able to do great things, but the Bible reminds us that God looks on the heart while man looks on the outside. These Gentiles exclaimed a fact that He was real, His work was true and He was Someone extra ordinary and He did it in plain sight of all.
Finally, it can be stated that one of the Signs that He gave that day was one of Selflessness. He touched the afflicted man; He healed that one; He then asked them not to tell anyone else what they witnessed and He did it all with in sight and sound of everyone there. He never asked nor demanded any money, approbation form the man or the crowd, nor did He seek honor. He did the healing and was content with the man being restored to normalcy. He truly gave of Himself and wanted nothing in return. What a Man!!! He was the epitome of Selflessness. May we seek to be like Him.
The healing was accomplished. The man was made new and Jesus asked for anonymity through His Stipulations of not telling any what they had seen. However, the Spectators could not keep quite and they talked and told others because they had seen certain Signs about Him that made them convinced that He was indeed different and could be the Messiah of the Jews and of them.
We now believe Him to be that very thing and may we live a life dedicated to helping others always as He did because we are His followers in a world that is deaf and dumb about Christ; we need to pray for the lost one’s salvation and for their hearing and speaking to be healed for God‘s glory. May we do it not for greed nor self adulation, but do it because we follow Jesus.
