Healing a Deaf Man

Jesus was with a crowd when someone brought a deaf man to Him. Jesus took the man aside from the crowd and communicated with him. Jesus indicated to the man that He understood the condition of the man by touching His ears, spitting and touching His tongue.

Jesus then looked to Heaven. I think this was a visual indication of who He was and where His power came from. Jesus then said Ephphatha which is an Aramaic word which means “to open.” Jesus was opening this man’s ears and freeing his tongue. The Bible says the man spoke plain.

Beyond the miracle of restoring this man’s hearing, I think it is important to point out the man spoke plainly. We are not told how the man became deaf. We don’t know how long he had been deaf. But, if it had been a long time—or even more miraculous if the man had never heard—it is a miracle that he was able to speak plainly. Especially if he had never heard the language he was now using.