Last Sunday’s Gospel is a reminder to us that Jesus not only came to heal us, but He will go to whatever means necessary to do so. Each healing, like each person, is unique, since we all suffer differently.

The healing of the deaf man in Mark’s Gospel (Mk 7:31-37) has a number of curious details. I’ve read a few commentaries on it, but in reflecting on it this time, I was struck by how different this healing is. It’s not uncommon for friends to plead to Jesus to heal another. Way back in the beginning of Mark’s Gospel is the healing of the paralytic, whose friends cut through the roof to lower him down to be in Jesus’ presence. (Mk 2:1-12) There are no details indicating that Jesus touched the man or interacted with him in any way more than forgiving him of his sins. Yet for this deaf man, Jesus removes him from being among the crowd. Some say it illustrates that we need to be away from the noisy world to be able to hear God speaking, which is a valid point.

Perhaps leaving the crowd had a more practical purpose. If someone who has not experienced any noise suddenly hears a cacophony of sound, I would think that would be greatly overwhelming. Perhaps the person would respond by removing themselves from a situation that was too noisy. Take a moment and think about what a gentle, compassionate, and caring Savior we have! Jesus is going to take us to a place where our healing can be well received and appreciated. How would you react if you never heard a sound and Jesus says a few words to heal you and the first thing you ever hear is a multitude of people talking at once? Maybe some of your friends who brought you to Jesus whoop with delighted excitement at your healing. If you never heard that before in your life, you might not realize that noise is a good thing. You might actually prefer the silence of deafness because that’s all you know. 

In another healing account earlier in Mark (5:25-34), Jesus heals the woman suffering from a hemorrhage not because she asked Him to, but simply because she believed and touched a piece of His clothing. Jesus can heal, seemingly, without any effort at all. Yet in this account, Jesus not only touches the man, but “He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue.” Notice the text doesn’t say that Jesus merely touched his ears, but inserted His finger into them. I must admit when I hear this Gospel passage, I do recoil at the mention of Jesus’ holy spit. Yet Jesus found this step necessary to heal the man. How many of us would want healing if it meant being spit upon? 

The effort Jesus uses to heal the man doesn’t stop with these invasive actions. Jesus groans. Thinking of situations that I would groan would be either from a tremendous, physical effort, or something requiring complex, mental gymnastics to think through. Healing this man sounds like it took much effort from Jesus, the Son of God! Perhaps, here too the groaning had multiple objectives. It may have required much prayer from Jesus to the Father, but it also may have been a way Jesus could communicate with the deaf man as he was being healed. Since Jesus had His fingers in his ears, maybe the man could feel Jesus groaning until the point he could actually hear it as well. Every action that Jesus took to heal this man was unique to his condition.

Jesus knows what we need and how we need to be healed. He also knows when we’re ready to be healed. Let us continue to pray, not only for our own healing, but that of others as well. Let us be open to Jesus’ methods because they are truly for our specific needs.