Feeling cut off can be painful even when other people are nearby. In Mark 7:31–37, friends bring a man who is deaf and has difficulty speaking to Jesus. Christ takes him aside from the crowd, meets him personally, and speaks a word of restoration: “Be opened.”
The Gospel Reading
Mark 7:31–37. World English Bible, public domain.
31 Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis.
32 They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him.
33 He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.
34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”
35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.
36 He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.
37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!”
Devotional Reflection
The man is brought by people who care enough to ask Jesus for help. Before any miracle, there is the grace of not being left alone. We can do something similar when we notice a person who struggles to make their need understood: stay near, listen carefully, and help them receive support without speaking over them.
Jesus takes the man aside privately. He does not turn his suffering into a spectacle for the multitude. His touch communicates personal attention, and his upward look joins that attention to the Father. The sigh in this passage is striking. The compassion of Christ is not detached from the weight of what has been broken.
“Be opened” is a word of healing here, not a command to pretend that every isolation ends quickly. The Gospel invites us to bring guarded places, difficult words, and the ache of misunderstanding to Jesus. It also invites us to become people whose presence makes it easier for others to be heard.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, you know the loneliness that can remain even in a crowd. Meet those who struggle to hear, speak, connect, or be understood. Give us compassion that protects dignity, friendship that makes room for others, and hearts open to your restoring presence. Amen.
