Last updated on October 23, 2024
One of the biggest questions I have when reading the gospels is why Jesus continued to tell people to keep what he was doing quiet. It likewise had to be the biggest question on the minds of his followers.
Today’s story (Mark 7:31-37) is all about this. Jesus was back in an area made up primarily of Gentiles. He wasn’t as known there as he was in Galilee and Judea, where he spent most of his time. But the moment he arrived in this area, people knew it. A man who was deaf and mostly mute was brought to him in hopes that Jesus would heal him.
Jesus took the man aside. He put his fingers into the man’s ear, then touched the man’s tongue. With a deep sigh he said “Ephphatha”, which means, “Be opened.” The man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly.
Then Jesus did something puzzling. He told the crowd not to tell anyone what he had done.
Why did he do this?
We’re a few days away from election day, so let’s go back to this image of me being the campaign manager for Jesus’ campaign. This again is the moment we want to tell everyone. We want this moment to go viral, and we hardly have to do anything to make that happen.
So much of our time is spent devising ways for people to care about what we think and say. Jesus didn’t need to raise any campaign funds. He didn’t need to send team knocking on doors. He healed people. He blew people’s minds. And those around him have to be thinking, “This is exactly what we need to start a revolution!”
But it wasn’t time.
Again, why?
My best answer to this is that Jesus knew that true revolution could not come without his death. True revolution wouldn’t come with him gathering crowds so large that the Romans had to leave the Jewish lands. This is what the people imagined when they thought about Messiah. But Jesus knew that it wouldn’t accomplish the true work that God wanted.
True revolution would not take the form of a conquering king but that of a humble servant. It would only come with Jesus dying alone on a criminal’s cross.
At this point none of his followers could grasp this concept. I wouldn’t be able to either. I actually have a difficult time grasping it now, even though 2000 years have passed. It’s complex.
Yet as we continue to move through the story we see this path continue to emerge.
Now, back to this story…
Jesus told them not to tell anyone, but it didn’t work. They couldn’t help themselves.
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak” (Mark 7:36-37.