Jesus Rules
Mark 7:31-37
September 8, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
Wherever Jesus is there is the Kingdom of God. Here comes a deaf and mute man, brought by his friends. They are in a hurry but the deaf man couldn’t care less. They are excited. He is hopeless. Even with friends he lives alone in a silent world. They hold him tighter as they press through the crowd. Finally they stand before a rather ordinary looking man. The deaf man sees that this Man is the center of the crowd and everyone is vying for His attention. His friends are talking to this Man and pointing at him.
All of sudden the deaf man stands alone with Jesus. Jesus touches his ears and with those same fingers puts some of his own spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus speaks and the man hears, “Ephphatha.” Immediately the man’s tongue is loosened and even though he has never heard a word he begins to speak fluently.
That’s Jesus for you and that’s the Kingdom of God. Wherever Jesus is He rules and He always rules with compassion and love. When Jesus comes upon a deaf and mute man He makes him hear and speak. When He comes upon a bleeding woman He stops her bleeding. When some lepers come near Him they are cleansed and made whole. When He meets a funeral procession the dead person sits up and becomes alive.
So if that’s the case, where is this Kingdom of God today because we want to find it? If Jesus is around here and can undo sickness and death, be a friend Pastor. Take me to Him because I need some relief. Get rid of this diabetes. Heal my glaucoma. Get this cancer out of my pancreas. Rid my bones of this arthritis.
Jesus wasn’t too keen about giving out His location in the text. That’s the weird thing about so many of the miracles. Jesus rules over sickness and death utterly defeating them and then says, “Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.” He brings health and life and then says, “Quiet. Don’t let anyone know what I’ve done.” But what usually happened? Could the mute man keep his newly loosened tongue quiet? Could his friends keep their news to themselves? Could the widow whose only son had been raised from the dead hold on to that news? Oh Mabel, I was sure I read your son’s obituary in the paper, but then I saw him at the Boulder Tap House enjoying a few beers. What happened?” Do you expect Mabel to say, “Nothing?” No, Mabel confesses Jesus. “This guy, Jesus of Nazareth raised my son, restored my hearing, loosed my tongue, cleansed my leprosy.” “…. Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.” (Mark 7:36, ESV)
Jesus no longer keeps His location a secret. He is here today for you. He promised His apostles that He would be in His Word. In His Word and the waters of Baptism Jesus says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” In His Supper Jesus is with you in His true body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. In absolution Jesus promises that your pastor’s forgiveness is Christ’s own forgiveness in heaven. The Kingdom of God is here and now. For this hour (give or take 15 minutes – usually we give you an extra 15 minutes of Jesus at Redeemer), the Kingdom of God, Jesus is ruling right here – 2719 3rd Street North.
But that begs the question – why aren’t those of you in wheelchairs walking out of here? Why don’t we have a collection of walkers and canes that people leave behind? Why are we collecting empty pill bottles instead of full ones because we’re all healed? It all goes back to Jesus charging that crowd to tell no one.
Sickness and death are merely the foot soldiers of our real enemy. Our real enemy is sin. For Jesus’ to reign completely and eternally He had to take care of sin and that’s why He told that mute man who was rambling on more than Lutheran pastor to keep quiet.
Jesus had to defeat sin and He had not won that victory. That is the work He came to do. He was baptized with sinners. The Holy Spirit took Him out into the wilderness and left Him alone with Satan – the Prince of Demons, the Father of Lies, the Great Deceiver and Jesus beat him. A few years later the Roman Soldiers took Jesus outside of Jerusalem and nailed Him to a cross and crucified Him dead. There it wasn’t Satan against Jesus; it was the Father against His Son. The Father put all our sins on His Son and then punished Him for you. God the Father went deaf to His Son’s cry for help. God the Father went mute to His Son’s prayer. Why? Because that is what you deserved and the Father loves you. The one way for you to receive that love and come back under your Father’s rule, was for your sin to be taken away, destroyed, defeated, done. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. When He rose again His Kingdom was established and He rules with these four little words, “Your sins are forgiven.”
But your ears are deaf to that answer to death. Your mouth does not naturally confess sin as your trouble. What is the trouble with the world? Donald Trump. Global Warming. Republicans, Democrats, Islamic terrorists, white males. What is your problem? Not enough money. My aging parents. My wayward children. My spouse. My cancer. My arthritis. My memory. My loneliness. What is the solution? If only everything would go my way. That’s what we hear and that’s what we say.
500 years ago whenever a child was baptized in the Lutheran way, the pastor spit on his finger and stuck it in the child’s right ear and said, “Ephphatha, that is, Be thou opened.” Then with that same spitty finger he touched the child’s nose and left ear and said, “But thou, devil, flee; for God’s judgment cometh speedily.” Jesus by His Word and with the water of baptism gave you faith. Faith opens your ears to hear what you would never otherwise hear – you are sinful, but Christ by His death has forgiven you your sins. Faith opens your heart to believe that forgiveness is the real healing medicine. Forgiveness means you’re living forever and your resurrected body won’t have cancer, arthritis, glaucoma, or bunions. Faith closes your mouth to talking about you and opens your mouth to confess “Jesus has done all things well.” Faith gives you something to say when you despair, when you’re suffering, when you’re dying. I am forgiven all my sins. In the name of Jesus. Amen.