Mark 7:33 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 7:33

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Jesus took him aside from the multitude with perhaps his immediate family – the multitude would not see this miracle taking place. Why not? Because Christ did not heal to play to the crowds; he did not come into the world to create a spectacle to simply impress people. Yes, it was important that the miracles were seen and known, for they authenticated him. But he did not trust the crowds to draw the right conclusion from these miracles, for they were too much inclined to see him as no more than a miracle worker, and fail to see him as their Lord and Saviour. They wanted a mere earthly benefit from him. Christ would have nothing of this, and so on this occasion took the man aside quietly. This time he doesn’t want the healing to draw attention to himself. Also he had to interact with the man; he had to assent and trust in Christ, for this healing showed how he heals souls, and there is a very private aspect to salvation. The spiritual healing we need is a secret one in the heart, where God alone can work and bring about change.They had asked him to put his hand on him, but the Lord adopted one or two different ways. Often he performed no action, but here there is one, and it is recorded because it is significant. It indicates to the man what Christ is going to do for him. Could the man believe that both his faculties could be healed? That was a vital step in his healing; he must exercise faith. The Lord put his fingers in both the man’s ears. The Greek here is the verb ‘thrust’, a forceful word. He thrust his fingers into his ears, not to cause pain, but to put them visibly into his ears as a demonstration of what he is about to do. Christ did not say, ‘Do you believe that I can heal you?’ The man could not hear, but he could understand the meaning of what Jesus did. He spat on his finger and touched the man’s tongue with the saliva. Why? He is indicating that he would impart something from himself. He can give the man the power to speak, just as he creates all our faculties. This is not the healing yet. It communicated that Christ had the power to do this. Christ is saying, do you want me to heal you? Do you want to hear and to speak? This is a demonstration action; it is an improvised deaf sign language. He is looking for a response from the man – an assent. The man perhaps responded by nodding, and showed his faith that Christ could heal him. No doubt his eyes were fixed intently on the Lord.

Application

The healing is to be private, individual. Conversion is not a public event but a very personal event. It is something within us, in the privacy of our hearts. Sometimes, we ourselves can scarcely follow the change that the Spirit of God is working in us. Christ’s work here is a picture which illustrates an aspect of conversion, repentance, which is a private act. We come to God on our own for salvation of our soul.

Christ spat on his finger and touched the man’s tongue, the part that needed to be healed. Christ saves souls by imparting something from himself and touching our dead souls. We must be spiritually united with him if we are to be saved. Principally he imparts forgiveness. This he did, as was prophesied thousands of years before, by giving his life on the cross of Calvary, and taking on himself all the guilt and punishment of the sins of all his people. He earned the right to impart forgiveness and new life to us. He also gives us righteousness. We cannot get into heaven; we do not have the right to enter into the presence of a holy God. But Christ lived a perfect life of righteousness in this world, and from his store of righteousness he has the ability to impart this to us, qualifying us to stand before God. He came to be our substitute, our sin bearer. Do we wish to be changed? He must give himself to us to impart new life, so that we are made spiritual people.

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Mark 7:33 Commentary and Bible Study