He has done all things well.He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. (Mk 7:31-37)
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment.
Someone who is deaf can not speak correctly because he has no idea how to make the proper sound with his tongue and mouth. He
In life, we are to say the right thing, we have to hear clearly. I do not mean the words the other person says. I mean we have to be able to read between the lines. We have to catch what is not being said.
For instance, if the wife tells her husband, "How do I look?" woe to him if he is unable to get what she wants to say. For he will not be able to give a satisfactory answer. But if he understands that his wife wants some reassurance that she is still attractive. Or if she is no longer the beauty she was before, the husband must reassure her that she still matters to him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
Why did Jesus do that? Why is it that Jesus didn't want the crowd to see his miracle? St. Mark's Gospel has one peculiarity. It's called the Messianic Secret. In his gospel, Jesus is portrayed as not wanting the people to know that he is the Messiah. The reason? Because the people have a wrong idea of the Messiah. They thought he would be the one to drive away the Romans, re-establish the Kingdom of David and make Israel a regional power again. And Jesus didn't want to be identified with that kind of Messiah. This also explains why "he ordered them not to tell anyone."
He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” -. that is, “Be opened!”
Why did Jesus have to touch the man? Jesus could have just commanded, "Be opened!" and the man would have been healed all the same. By touching the man Jesus wanted the miracle to be a personal encounter. For the human touch establishes a personal connection between people.
The hug is a kind of human touch that does not only establish a personal connection but promotes emotional health. For the hug is an expression of affection. And people thrive when there a lots of affection. When was the last time you have given a hug?
He has done all things well.
If the people were teachers, they would have given Jesus a grade of very good. It was not so much because of the miracle. But it was because of the kindness he has shown. He has done a good deed to this poor man who would otherwise have remained deaf and dumb all his life.
At our death would we receive a eulogy that would say that we have done all things well? Would people have stories to tell, stories of acts of kindness that we have done in our life time?
If we go to a cemetery, we would notice that the tombstones would have two important dates--the date of birth and the date of death. In between those dates is a dash. They say that neither dates is that important. What is important is the dash in between. For that dash represents our life lived on earth. May that dash be a witness to a life well lived.
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