Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 333

He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly. 

If Jesus is God and God can do anything he wants in any way he wants, and without much effort, then why did Jesus make such a show of restoring this man's hearing? Did he have to push his finger into the man's ears, spit, and touch his tongue? And groan? It seems pretty unsanitary! Is he using magical gestures to distract people from his actual identity? 

And why did Saint Mark retain that original Aramaic word in his Greek text, and then tell us what it meant? How many millions of gallons of ink might have been saved in all those Bibles in all those languages if ephphatha had not been included? 

Let's go back to the beginning, which is actually where we're sent when we finish reading the original text of Saint Mark's gospel with its appendices. That is, the text which ended with 16:8 -- the women...

"...went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." 

 Surely, every reader asks, "And then what happened?" And the reply: "If you have to ask, go back and read it again." 

He groaned when he healed the deaf man and he groaned as he died: 

"Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last." (Mark 15:37)

Like his groaning over the deaf man, the manner of Jesus death was shocking. First of all, a crucified man hardly has strength to whimper, much less cry out. Secondly, many interpret his last words as from one who has lost all hope. 

"Why have you abandoned me?" echoes Psalm 22, which ends in quiet confidence. But the expression nonetheless sounds like one who has failed because he has been betrayed. Nor has he any reason to expect anything but endless emptiness. Like many preceding generations of Jews, he has been removed from the land -- crucified and lifted above it -- to die in exile, far from the home, the temple, and the God who resided there. And, as Saint Mark adds, "The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom." meaning God has departed. 

Too often, thinking of Jesus as God, we forget what our salvation costs. But every teaching, every parable, and every gesture of human compassion cost Jesus his life. Everything about the man led him to Calvary. He was born to die and to atone for our sins. 

If we've not heard that message, we should ask the Lord to stab his finger into our ears.