31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis.
Similar to the event involving the Gergesene demoniac, a perceived random healing event is the only thing Jesus does when going out to the Gentile region according to Mark’s narrative. Previous to this it appeared that Jesus was just getting away from the Jewish crowds and hiding in the Gentile regions of Tyre and Sidon but the single act recorded of his going there was the healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s possessed daughter. It seems random but as soon as this act is done, Jesus leaves to go back to Galilee. Despite how it looks, that was the main purpose of Jesus going there. To plant seeds of faith in the gentile nations probably with the assumption that when the apostles go to these regions in their mission, they do not have to start from scratch.
Jesus travels through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee through the region of the Decapolis. This angle does not not actually make sense if you were trying to travel straight to Galilee. This is likely Mark’s method of summarising a multi-month long healing ministry tour through the Gentile regions. The Decapolis means ten cities. These were ancient Hellenistic cities on the eastern front of the Roman Empire in the southern Levant. They were Greek culture hubs in an otherwise Judean, Arab and Aramean region.
32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him.
On his journey back Jesus is stopped by a non-specific group of people, likely Gentiles based on the geography. They are seeking Jesus’ help based on his healing abilities with a man who is both deaf and dumb. They know what Jesus can do and specifically seek him out in order for him to lay his hands on him.
33 And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue;
This healing miracle is unique to Mark, which puzzles scholars and they come up with various excuses for why. It’s important to understand that “mainstream” scholarship on the Gospels maintain that essentially everything copies Mark, they aren’t truly their “own” narratives and that Mark’s Gospel is a copy of a never before found narrative known as the Q source. Mainstream scholarship claims that the reason Mark has this miracle within but the others do not is because they thought it was too graphic so they redact it. I think what is more likely is that authors of the Gospels are who tradition say they are and they all had a unique take on what they thought should be included their narratives.
The miracle itself is the most intimate and hands-on approach that Jesus takes in healing someone and to modern sensibilities, yes it is graphic but to the ancients, I do not think it was. Mark thought it was needed in his summary of events. As Dr Michael Heiser would say, “If its weird, its important” so what is so important about Jesus using his own spit to heal a mans tongue and put his fingers in his deaf ears?
The articulation of the incarnation from the position of a philosopher or theologian can be seen best expressed by the Apostle John, in both his Gospel and his epistles. John was a student of the prophet John the Baptist and had inside friends in the Temple, he was well educated in philosophy and theology.
The Mosaic typological fulfilment that the incarnation pronounces is best expressed by Saint Matthew, of the tribe of Levi and attention to detail that comes with being a tax-collector he leaned in on expressing Jesus’ humanity by him being the “New Moses”.
Saint Luke a physician by trade understood people and expresses the incarnation through deep relational bonds that Jesus had with his mother and people he met.
Saint Mark is no expert these fields and he is writing from the words of Saint Peter’s recollection, the sturdy “unlettered” fisherman. This perceivably graphic healing encounter is the most simple expression of how human Jesus was. He would heal someone with his own spittle, like a parent kissing the wounds of their children. He would use his fingers in the ears of the man like a parent rubs a scraped knee. It’s the most human expression of the incarnation in my opinion.
34 and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
Jesus looks up heaven as he does when he prays to his father, he seeks that communion he has by being the second person of the trinity and “sighs”. The Greek word isn’t unique to the New Testament but it is rare, a better translation would be “groaned”. It is the same word used by Saint Paul in Romans 8 when talking about the Spirit “groaning” as he intercedes for us. Something similar is going on here.
Every so often as I like to make note of when it occurs, we get residual Aramaic phrases. This was the language our Lord spoke, it was the most common language in the world before Greek took over and it speaks to the authenticity of the event itself. Like the method of healing itself, it is a simple human way of saying “real” something is. There is no need to quote the exact wording but Mark does so for our benefit. He also, as elsewhere, includes the translation for the phrase. Jesus says in Aramaic, “Be Opened”.
35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
36 And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
The man is miraculously healed but Jesus charges them with not telling anyone. This is a part of what scholars refer to as the “Messianic Secret”. Jesus’ mission has a time schedule and all things must occur in their right order. Although they do not do what Jesus says, it is likely the outcome of him charging beforehand keeps the order of events to happen in the way Jesus’ needs them to as we already know, he is not late to his final hour.
This is a Gentile crowd who are likely foreign to the ideas of the healings of previous prophets of Yahweh. To them these healings are beyond anything they have ever seen, it does not have the same effect that it has on Jesus’ fellow Jews. For them when they see such things, they are considered “signs” indications of Jesus’ divine identity but to the Gentiles he most likely just appears as a phenomenal wonderworker, beyond any of their own mystical holy men.
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