Trinity 12 2021
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
Mark 7:31-37
Trinity 12 (& the Holy Baptism of Royce Melrose Revior)
August 22, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Our church, the Lutheran Church, is a Sacramental Church. We believe, teach, and confess that the Sacraments—those sacred acts instituted by Christ, in which His Word is attached to a visible, earthly element, and through which, the forgiveness of sins is bestowed—actually do what they say. When Jesus says, “This is my Body,” it is. He means it. Jesus doesn’t lie. He doesn’t try to fool us using fancy speech. When a pastor pours water over a person’s head and says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” that person is actually baptized and claimed by God to be His child. He is actually rescued from sin, death, and from the power of the devil.
So also Holy Absolution actually bestows what it says it does. Because in Holy Absolution, when sins are proclaimed to be forgiven, they are actually forgiven! When called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular, when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation by means of excommunication, the sins of the unrepentant are actually bound to them and are not forgiven.
But when called ministers of Christ absolve, that means to forgive, those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us and forgave us Himself. The pronouncement of the forgiveness of sins actually bestows Christ’s forgiveness on those who repent. And we must forgive. Forgiving others is not optional because we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Those who have new life in Jesus Christ, those who have been forgiven by Him, live out that life of forgiveness by forgiving others when they’ve been wronged or sinned against. To put it simply: this is what the Christian life looks like. The Christian life is a life of naturally doing the Ten Commandments and finding joy in keeping them.
Lutherans are Sacramental Christians. Our life together and our worship are both centered around the Means of Grace in word and sacrament that Christ deeply desires to give us because they work faith in our hearts and strengthen us who live in this crazy world. Part of what makes a Sacrament is God’s Word attached to a visible element. His Word is audible. He speaks it and we hear it—we hear this Word of promise with our ears. Now if God speaks His Holy Word of forgiveness and joins it to a visible element, such as water in Holy Baptism or bread and wine in the Holy Communion, then we also hear and receive this word through our ears. This is why it’s important to be in church regularly because when we gather together around Word and Sacrament, we hear things with our ears—we hear the Bible being read, we hear sacred music being played and hymns sung. We hear God’s Word in the form of preaching when it’s expounded upon and explained from the pulpit. In this way, faith comes alive in a person. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. He who has ears let him hear. God’s Word actually accomplishes what He says it will do it does not return to Him empty.
But in the Gospel reading, there’s a problem. Jesus is going through the region of Tyre and Sidon, in the region of the Decapolis. This is the area northeast of Galilee. In this region there lived a man who was deaf. Not only was he deaf—he couldn’t hear—he also had a speech impediment. So he can’t hear people trying to communicate with him, nor can he effectively communicate with others. This man couldn’t do anything really. Especially during this time period when sign language wasn’t as developed as our American Sign Language. They didn’t have the technology we have either. Cochlear implants wouldn’t be developed for almost 2000 years. This deaf man with a speech impediment was completely and utterly at the mercy of those who took care of him. But the greatest problem this man had was that he couldn’t hear the Gospel. Faith comes through hearing and hearing the word of God. How can those who have never heard God’s Word, how can those who even refuse to hear God’s Word—who refuse to come to church and receive God’s Word in preaching and in the Sacrament of the Altar—have faith?
But here comes Jesus walking through the region of Tyre and Sidon and they brought the man to Him. What Jesus does is miraculous. Of course, in the actual healing of the man, it’s miraculous, but the way Jesus heals the deaf man is amazing. Jesus doesn’t just walk up to the man and snap His fingers and wish the man be healed. He does for this man what the man needs Him to do. Of course, the man needs to be healed. He needs to be able to hear with his ears and therefore, come to the knowledge of the truth. He needs to be able to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and thereby be saved. But the manner in which Jesus heals the deaf man shows us the incredible mercy and love Jesus has for him. Again, Jesus doesn’t just snap His fingers and heal him quickly and send the man on his way. He heals the man using physical actions—actions this man can see—so that the man would understand what’s happening.
Jesus takes him aside privately. He put His fingers in the man’s ears, “These, these ears are what I’m going to heal.” Jesus visibly spits and touches the man’s tongue, “This, your tongue is what I’m going to heal,” He is saying, using physical actions. Then Jesus looks up to heaven and sighs. Sighing is a noticeable taking of a breath. Jesus sighs. In a sense, He’s saying, “Now, get ready because I’m about to do a miraculous thing for you.” Then comes the command, “Ephphatha,” that means, “Be opened!” Immediately the man regained his hearing and was able to speak plainly. Jesus commanded the man to be able to hear. If Jesus commands something, it must happen. But with the command comes the power to do it.
In this miracle, Jesus attaches His Word to visible actions. For this reason, the Church, throughout Her history has understood this miracle to be, in a sense, a little baptism, and thus, the miracle is sacramental, it is a sacred act, because the same things that happen to this man, happen to those who are baptized. The man couldn’t hear. He couldn’t hear God’s Word on his own. He couldn’t make himself hear by his own power. Because he couldn’t hear, he couldn’t confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord. But Jesus opens the man’s ears and loosens his tongue, so now this man is a Christian. Faith comes through hearing, and hearing the Word of God. Because the man can now hear, because the man can now speak, he lives. He lives not only a life of better quality on earth but he lives eternally because He now able to hear the Gospel, through which, faith is born.
This same thing happens in Holy Baptism. We who were dead in our sins, who were spiritually blind and deaf to the things of God, we who were by nature children of wrath, are brought to life in Baptism, where Jesus says, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened!” We are brought to Holy Baptism so that we might die, so that we would be crucified with Christ so our sinful nature would also be drowned in those waters. Because our sinful nature is drowned, a new nature, a new man is brought to life in us—a new man, a new Adam—with new ears, ears that love to hear God’s Word, ears that love to listen to preaching. So also a new tongue. A new tongue that loves to sing God’s praises and confess that Jesus is Lord. In fact, for this very reason, the Church has included this very phrase in the Baptismal rite, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened!” open your ears and hear the Gospel! Hear of the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus! Confess Jesus’ name before the world and receive the crown of everlasting life, which does not fade away.
Witnessing a baptism on this day of the church year ties everything together in a nice orderly way. The Gospel reading appointed for this day of the Church Year shows us quite plainly what happens in Holy Baptism. The deaf mute man is healed and is made anew. He’s no longer identified as “a deaf man with a speech impediment,” but rather, “the man who was healed. The man who hears and who speaks plainly. A man whom Jesus loves.” This is the very identity we receive in Baptism. We are no longer known by God as “children of wrath,” who are opposed to Him. We are no longer deaf to His Gospel or mute in our confession. We are identified and made to be adopted children by grace through the death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son. And since we are made to be sons, since we are made to be children of the heavenly Father, we are no longer slaves to sin, but heirs with Jesus Himself.
In +Jesus’ name.
