Christ the King
Mark 7.31-37
Introduction
Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in council," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room."
So begins Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Emperor’s New Clothes; the tale of two swindling weavers who come to town and announce they have the most magnificent fabrics imaginable. “Not only were their colors and patterns uncommonly fine, but clothes made of this cloth had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid.” The Emperor will wear the finest clothes and he’ll know who’s unfit to serve him.
So the swindlers begin working on these “new clothes.” They act like they’re weaving for hours, while actually doing nothing. Whenever the Emperor sends someone to check on them, the servant is too ashamed to admit that he can’t see the cloth for fear that he’s unfit or stupid. Finally the Emperor comes to be fitted and he’s too ashamed to admit that he doesn’t see the cloth. His pride gets the better of him and he parades through the street naked while all of the townsfolk praise the Emperor’s “new clothes.”
Today is Christ the King Sunday and as we’ve been moving through Mark’s Gospel, he’s been parading Jesus before us, the true Emperor of the cosmos. Jesus Christ is the King, and the King is moving toward the cross. Our text this morning is a great fit for the celebration of Christ the King Sunday because it shows us another aspect of our King in his beauty.
The Pondering
Verse 31 begins, then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. The setting is key because, like the Syrophoenician woman, this region is gentile. Remember when Jesus healed the man who was filled with a legion of demons? That happened in the Decapolis. Mark 5.20 says, and he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. It’s reasonable to assume that this crowd heard about Jesus from this man. The gentiles in this region have not been deaf to the stories about Jesus. There has been no impediment to the speech of Christ.
And so we come to the first curious element in the pericope. Verse 33, and taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” What is Jesus doing? Why does Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, and then spit and touch his tongue?
Jesus doesn’t always do this sort of thing with his miracles. Remember last week when the Syrophoenician woman confesses faith in Christ he responds, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter” (vs 29). In that instance he merely speaks and the girl was healed. So we know that Jesus isn’t merely like all of the other 1st century miracle workers. Yet other times his miracles are accompanied with outward signs. When he fed the 5,000, he took the bread, said a blessing, broke the bread, and gave it.
So, why the fingers in the ears and the spit on the tongue? Why didn’t Jesus merely say, “be healed?” Tim Keller makes a few notes, first of all Jesus takes the man aside privately. Because of his disability he would’ve been a spectacle to people his whole life. But Jesus isn’t going to do that to him. He takes him aside privately.
Second, Jesus touches his ears; his tongue, and looked up to heaven. Jesus is doing sign language. The man can’t hear so Jesus is tenderly saying, “your ear problem and your tongue problem, the healing is coming from above.” Jesus is tenderly meeting this man where he is. Notice the contrast from last week. The Syrophoenician woman comes to Jesus and he calls her a dog. This man is dragged to Jesus and Christ is tender. At least part of what we need to see here is that Jesus always gives us exactly what we need. Jesus saved both the Syrophoenician woman and the deaf man, and he knew exactly what they needed.
And then we have this Markan editorial comment. Jesus looked to heaven, sighed, and said, “Ephphatha.” Mark explains that this is the Aramaic word meaning, “Be opened.” His readers, like us, wouldn’t know Aramaic, so we’re grateful Mark explains himself. But there’s also an apologetic note here. Most Reformed scholars believe the Gospel of Mark to be the eyewitness account of the Apostle Peter. If this story were made up why would this superfluous detail be added, but if Peter was actually there, and if the words of Christ were seared into his mind, well then that’s worth noting.
Mark tells us that when Christ spoke these words, his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Verse 35 is kind of fun in Greek. First, when Mark says the man’s tongue was released he’s using the word ἐλύθη. It’s the aorist passive of the verb λύω, which means, “to untie, to loosen.” When you’re learning Greek for the first time, the first verb you learn is λύω. It’s the easiest verb to use in paradigm memorization, so it’s always exciting when it’s used in the NT. Mark is using vivid imagery to describe the healing of this man’s speech impediment. It’s as if his tongue was released from its chain.
The second fun little note is that phrase in the ESV he spoke plainly. That’s the Greek word ὀρθῶς. It means “correct or straight.” Like an orthodontist straightens your teeth, this man’s words were straightened.
We now come again to Jesus commanding the people to tell no one what happened. Why does Jesus do this? This secrecy theme is hard for us to understand because we (rightly) think about the gospel post resurrection and great commission. But you must remember before Jesus died and resurrected STJ both (1) believed that the messiah was going to come and politically overthrow the Roman regime and (2) they desperately yearned for the messiah to politically overthrow Rome. Christ would not allow the devil to deter him from the cross and he will not allow the crowds to do so either.
The Point
Now we come to the point. Jesus’ miracle isn’t merely personal it’s also eschatological. Mark clues us in with the Greek word he uses to describe the deaf mute man. In verse 32, where the ESV says speech impediment, that’s the word, μογιλάλον. This is the only time this word is used in the NT. The only other time this word is used in the Bible is in the LXX Isaiah 35.6.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
Isaiah tells us that when the Kingdom of God comes the ears of the deaf will be unstopped and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. That’s the word, μογιλάλον. Mark is announcing that Isaiah 35 is fulfilled in Christ! The Kingdom is here; God is here.
And that’s why Jesus sighs. He knows that in order for God to save his people, he must come with vengeance. Though the vengeance will not be upon those people, but upon his son. Later in the book of Isaiah we learn that the suffering servant will be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Jesus will be crucified so that we can live. And we’re getting a little glimpse of it through this miracle. Jesus is once again announcing the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s why we can sing from Charles Wesley’s hymn earlier, O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing quoting this verse about Jesus:
Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy
Because Jesus is announcing his kingdom, we must move on to the praise.
The Praise
The pericope ends with these two final statements; first the people were astonished beyond measure. Mark uses no shortage of superlatives here. The people continue to be amazed, astonished, and afraid by Christ. Mark has been developing this theme throughout his book. Turn back to Mark 1.22, and they were astonished at his teaching. Chapter 2.12, they were all amazed and glorified God. Chapter 4.41, they were filled with great fear. Chapter 5.15, they were afraid, verse 20, everyone marveled. Chapter 6.2, many who heard him were astonished and verse 6, he marveled because of their unbelief, verse 51, and they were utterly astounded. And now chapter 7.37, they were astonished beyond measure.
Mark strongly emphasizes that Christ amazes, astonishes, and makes people afraid. As we have seen, and will continue to see, there are many reasons for that, but Mark’s point in this pericope is the latter half of that sentence, He has done all things well. Let’s marinate in that statement; Jesus has done all things well. What a beautiful theological statement. Jesus Christ has done all things well because he is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. He has done all things well because he is the creator. How can we not see these words and think of Genesis 1, God saw that it was very good. He has done all things well.
It is also a beautiful anthropological statement. Jesus has done all things well because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the most truly human being who’s ever lived. He is the last Adam who is without sin. He is the covenant keeper on behalf of God’s people.
He has done all things well and Mark’s burden is to show us that his good work will not be left undone. He has done all things well because he is the King who is going to the cross. All things will be well because of what he has done. God’s people will be forgiven their sin when they place their faith in him. The world will be made new when he returns. He has done all things well.
Conclusion
So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, "Oh, how fine are the Emperor's new clothes! Don't they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!" Nobody would confess that he couldn't see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success. "But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.
There was nothing to see and yet the people, and the Emperor himself, were so blind. Christ is the real King and he’s come to open our eyes, open our ears, and loose our tongues. He is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise. Jesus has come to heal us from our sin. He has done all things well.
And how will our King heal us? By allowing himself to be paraded through the streets naked, beaten, and spit upon by the crowd. Our King healed us by allowing himself to be nailed to a cross and enduring the vengeance of the Father for our sin. While on the cross Jesus utters another Aramaic phrase that Mark must translate for us, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (15.34)” Our King healed us by laying dead in a tomb for three days and by raising up on the third day. Our King healed us by then clothing us in the most magnificent cloth imaginable – his righteousness. Happy Christ the King Sunday!