Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
July 26, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark's record of Jesus' response to the condition of the deaf mute is to be understood as an act of significant frustration.
Introduction: In our last study we saw that Jesus was dealing with the same "problem" in the areas surrounding "Israel" (Judah and Galilee) that He had been dealing with in all the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: the "hardness of heart" that prevents people from adopting the values of Eternal Life. This is a huge problem that settled into the hearts of men when Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and has only become more and more established as time has gone forward. The Bible calls it "the mystery of iniquity", but it defines it as a kind of ever expanding pool of bottomless quicksand. In the context of Mark, the metaphor is that of a "leaven" that has the characteristic of
1 Corinthians 5:6 (in terms of behavior) and
Galatians 5:9 (in terms of wrong thinking). In addition to these parallel records of this "problem",
Luke 18:8 adds Jesus' question regarding how this "leaven"/"quicksand" will work until the Second Coming: "...when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Notice His next statement in
18:9.
Now, this evening we are going to look into Mark's record of Jesus' attitude at this point in his presentation of Jesus, the Coming, Powerful, King.
- I. The Basic Attitude Of Jesus.
- A. Is revealed by what He did just before He "fixed" the "problem" at hand.
- B. The text says "And having looked up into The Heaven, He groaned...".
- 1. The "look into The Heaven" was intensive (combining both the prefix "ana" -- "up" and the preposition "eis" -- "into", and putting the definite article "ton" before the word "heaven").
- a. The strong implication is that Jesus was actually seeking the Father's affirmation that He was doing what He was supposed to be doing (a kind of "really?" question).
- b. At the same time, His actual, physical "upward look into The Heaven" gave everyone who was observing Him (the deaf mute and a very small group of "others") the strong impression that His action was divinely sanctioned.
- 2. Then, "...He groaned...".
- a. The NASB mistranslates this finite verb with the phrase "...with a deep sigh...".
- 1) This mistranslation actually subverts what Mark intended to be a "compound verb" attached to a preliminary "look up into The Heaven".
- 2) What Mark wanted us to see was that Jesus did two things after having turned His eyes toward The Heaven: He "groaned" and "He is saying".
- b. The fact is, the word translated "He groaned" is only used in six places in the New Testament and it always means "to respond to having a heavy responsibility loaded onto one's shoulders"; i.e., "to groan" as an expression of being saddled with something that is an onerous burden (Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 5:2, 4; Hebrews 13:17; and James 5:99).
- c. Thus, we find that Jesus' "attitude" was one of a "sense of futility" as to His desired outcome.
- 1) What He "desired" was for the people to seek the real issue ("Life" by the recognition of Jesus as "He Who is able to resolve the real issue" -- as opposed to "He Who puts a bandage on a malignant sore").
- 2) What the people were settling for was "fixing the outer man" while ignoring what Jesus had made critical as the last thing He said before He left "Israel" for the pagan regions: the problem is the "heart".
- II. The Actions He Took.
- A. He took him "from from" the crowd ("apolabomenos" plus "apo") and "according to the standard of 'aloneness'".
- 1. This is Jesus actively prohibiting the crowd from seeing and hearing how He dealt with the problem of the deaf mute.
- 2. This action was intensive and to its intensity He added, "Do not tell anyone".
- B. He "cast" His fingers into the ears of the man.
- C. He, having spat, touched his tongue.
- D. Why?
- 1. In the occasion of the man who had a withered hand, Jesus refrained from "touching" him (thus, eliminating any possible accusation of "working on the Sabbath" -- which came anyway).
- 2. On this occasion, the "point" is that Jesus actually did this "work" as a manifestation of His true identity -- the real objective being "faith" in that identity.
- E. He "is saying"...
- 1. What He said was "Ephphatha", which has its origins in Aramaic or Hebrew.
- 2. What Mark interjects as the meaning: "Be completely opened".
- IV. The Outcomes.
- A. His "hearings" (i.e., both ears) were opened.
- B. The "bond" of his tongue was loosed.
- C. He "was speaking correctly".
