Trinity 12

Text: Mark 7:31-37

+INJ+

In today’s Gospel, there is a word that is uncommon to us, “Ephphatha.”

In fact, this is the only time you will find this word in the New Testament.

But notice how Jesus defines Ephphatha immediately after speaking the word. He says, “Be opened.”

This is an interesting thing to say, is it not?

For instance, what caused the man’s ears to be deaf? Was it a birth defect? Was it something he did?

No, the source of the deaf man’s ailments is actually deeper than this; they are the result of sin. The source of this sin is revealed in the Garden of Eden as Adam and Eve did not listen to the Word of God and took of the forbidden tree – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It’s for this reason some of our bodies are born with ailments that will affect us throughout our earthly lives, while others of us will develop the need for hearing aids, eyeglasses, or prosthetics to restore joints that never seem to move without pain.

But let’s come back to this word, “Ephphatha.”

It’s different, and when you hear it spoken, it calls your attention, right? 

In one of the versions of Martin Luther’s Baptismal rites, the use of “Ephphatha” was retained, and we now use this language here at Good Shepherd.

Again, it’s different and should strike you when you hear it in the Baptismal rite. What is it that the child of God is to be opened to?

His Word.

Why? Because the Christians’ only comfort – not to mention weapon-for the battle of life is the Word of God and earnest prayer.

So, who is it that you need defending from?

Well, again, let’s look at the Baptismal rite. The use of “Ephphatha” comes immediately before the reprimands or renunciations of the devil.

So it’s at this moment the child (or adult) is being called to hear God’s Word, to take it to heart, and use it in their daily lives – that they might be kept safe from the harm and danger of the devil, the world, and sinful flesh that clings to you.

This is striking, really; what is it that assaults your faith the most?  

When you determine this, you will learn what you are genuinely consuming, what is pumping into your ears and through your veins, and what is causing your ears to close and block the Word of God from penetrating your heart with life-giving faith.

This might be compared to someone watching the news; you keep calling them from another room to come and help you, but they don’t even acknowledge you because they have become deaf to your voice as the news encapsulates them.

Or take a child playing a video game, and you try to petition them to help with the groceries falling out of your hands, but the screen has hypnotized them – literally leading them into another world entirely.

In one way or another, these people must be snapped back to reality.

You must be brought back to reality.

So, let’s examine the Gospel today and compare how this occurs in light of Holy Baptism.

The Gospel says the deaf and mute man was taken aside.

Likewise, the one being baptized is being separated and set apart from the world.

While we would not spit and place our fingers into the ears of a child as Jesus did, we should be reminded that baptism takes on a physical character. The pastor often lays hands upon the child to give intentionality to the blessing God is placing upon them.

Then Jesus looks up to heaven before sighing and saying that word again, “Ephphatha, that is, ‘Be opened.’”

There are a couple of things occurring here. First, in His looking up to heaven, Jesus reflects how He is calling upon His Father at this moment to aid and care for the man before Him.

But also, notice along with the physical touching and placing of the hands into the ears of the man, Jesus speaks a Word – a word in the imperative, a command and order for the ears to open.

Likewise, in Holy Baptism, it’s not just the physical touch of the water rushing over the child’s head; it’s also, as the Small Catechism teaches, the Word of God that is active in Baptism, creating faith and opening the ears of all believers.

This is a great comfort for us because it reveals how God is the one active in creating faith within us.

Still, the reason we have to renounce the devil is that he still actively tempts us.

So, how do we keep from falling into temptation and finding our ears becoming hardened and closed to the Word of God?

The Church Father, Ambrose of Milan, wrote:

Every sabbath, we witness the “opening up” of a mystery. It is in outline form, the type of that liturgical opening when the minister once touched your ears and nostrils.

What does this mean? Remember in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ, when the deaf and dumb man was presented to him, touched his ears and his mouth: the ears, because he was deaf; the mouth, because he was dumb. And he said: “Ephphatha,” a Hebrew word, which means [be opened]. In this way the minister is now touching your ears, that your ears may be opened to this sermon and exhortation.

The whole liturgy of the Divine Service is a calling for your ears to be opened and your lips to be loosened in Christ.

As the pastor speaks the invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” we are now calling upon God to open our ears and loosen our tongues again.

The invocation calls us back to our Baptisms, thus calling us back to confess our sin so that forgiveness and faith may reside.

All this begins with your ears.

As the Apostle Paul wrote,

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

In this way, the ears become the portal to faith – a faith that is to be nourished within your hearts as you gather to receive God’s Word in the reading of Holy Scripture, sing the hymns, and receive the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Still, the world lies in wait for you to return. It’s patient and not in a hurry. As you arrive home and your Sunday returns to normal, your ears are likewise tempted to once again find themselves closing and becoming deaf to God and His Word.

This is a challenge of living in a fallen world; it never sleeps, and it always has something to offer you.

But what the world offers only lasts for this life.

Yet the gift granted in today’s Gospel to the deaf and mute man was not only for this life but also looked toward the life to come, life eternal with Jesus, a life where he would hear and proclaim the eternal song of heaven.

If you feel yourself drifting in faith and confidence, remember and return to your Baptism, where Christ Jesus continues to speak into your ears the Word of His Death and Resurrection.

Come and gather around this rail, open your mouths that the precious gift of forgiveness won for you upon the cross, in both the flesh and blood of Jesus, and enliven your tongues to sing with Simeon the eternal song of peace.

What a wonderful gift for us poor, miserable sinners.

That Jesus would continue to come to us and say, “Ephphatha.”

That He would continue to open our ears and hearts to His Word and faith and redeem us. +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI