After Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre, he 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 barely talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
Jesus took him aside from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (which means 'Be opened!'). Immediately the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak clearly.
This is such a tactile, physical healing. Jesus doesn't just speak a word of power. He engages his body with the man's body. He uses spit, touch, presence. And there's this sigh—deep, embodied, as if Jesus is bearing the weight of human brokenness and releasing it. The man couldn't hear or speak—both ways of connecting are broken. And Jesus opens both. He doesn't heal him so he can be useful or perform correctly. He heals him for connection itself. There's something deeply honoring about that.
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