By Tawna Wilkinson
JESUS SIGHED
“And He took him aside from the multitude, put His finger in his ears,
and He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,”
that is, “Be opened.” (Mark 7:33, 34 NKJV)
Prior to this verse, Jesus had gone to the region of Tyre
and Sidon. Having arrived there, He goes into a private home wanting “no one to know.” But, it says, “He
could not be hidden.” For a Gentile woman, having a demon-possessed daughter,
found out where He was and persistently begged Him to heal her; cutting short His
privacy. (Mark 7:24, 25 NKJV)
Now He’s traveled back through the region of Decapolis, where previously
His fame exploded where in the midst of seeking solitude and rest, the multitude pursued
Him and He wound up spending the entire day healing and feeding 5000 plus people.
Now, while looking for space again, He has yet another
multitude hot on His heels begging for healing. He heals. But in the midst of it,
when they bring a deaf/mute to Him, He curiously “took him aside.”
Why?
According to Matthew’s account this wasn’t the only
person with a similar issue. What was different? Why the unusual treatment?
And why does Mark’s record add that after Jesus spits and
puts His fingers in the man’s ears, He looks up to heaven, and sighs?
The word sigh in this passage means: to make, or be in
straits; to murmur; to pray inaudibly, with the connotation of grieving or
groaning. It’s the same word used when it speaks of the Spirit’s groanings in
Romans 8:26:
“Likewise the Spirit
also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered.”
Here’s what I think.
Jesus is tapped.
He’s
dog-tired and doesn’t know how to pray for this one, even though He’s been
healing many to this point. Once again,
rest and the need for quiet have eluded Him.
He’s had to deal with power going out of Him during ministry;
and He’s weak and speechless. And in that
place, Jesus looked up to heaven, and breathed a groaning prayer: He sighed, and
the man was healed.
What an encouragement!
Although I haven’t been in the place of administering
healing to thousands, I have given of myself, been past tired, and in need of
solitude, just to have it interrupted, time and again.
And my Jesus, being 100% human when He walked this earth doing
all He did, says to me in this passage, “I completely understand weakness and
the need for solitude. Keep following Me. And when you are worn out, and have
no words, look to heaven, breathe a sigh, and watch what I will do.”
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