Have you ever been asked, “How bad do you want it?” At times, it may be important to answer this question because there may be a cost to the thing you want. It could be money, hard work, embarrassment, or even a need to surrender having it your way.

In Mark 7, we find a story about a man who has a surprise encounter with Jesus. He’s brought to Jesus because he is deaf and can hardly speak. The people beg Jesus to heal him (vs. 32).

How would it feel to be deaf and dumb and have someone take you to Jesus?

How does Jesus Heal the Man?

The first thing Jesus does is lead the man away from the crowd. Often, Jesus invites us to leave the noise and craziness of life in order to be with him as he does his work in us (Mark 7:33). Next, we observe Jesus healing the man in an unusual way, by spitting on his fingers and touching the man’s tongue (vs. 33).

Has healing ever come to you in a different way than you expected?

Why did Jesus do such an odd thing?

• Maybe Jesus needed to see how bad this man wanted to be healed
• Or possibly Jesus could have wanted time alone with the man
• Also, if we look at the customs of the Jewish culture, we find that they believed the saliva of a first-born son had the power to heal. Jesus may have been trying to connect with something the deaf man already understood.

Would you allow Jesus to do something strange in order to heal you?

Then Jesus looked up to heaven signifying that His power came from God. And as he did this, he also deeply sighed. Possibly, Jesus’ sigh may have been expressing his grief over the suffering the man has experienced. It could also have been a prayer, within itself, just like when the spirit intercedes for us with sighs or groans that cannot be expressed in words (Rom. 8:26).

Finally, Jesus speaks one word, “Ephphatha”, an Aramaic word meaning, “Be opened” (vs. 34). Immediately the man’s tongue is freed, and he begins to speak plainly (vs. 35).

Some Questions for You to Answer

In this story I sense Jesus asking us two questions, “How bad do you want to grow or be healed? And would you be willing to allow me, Jesus, to do something odd or embarrassing in order to heal or transform your life? I guess it all depends on this question…

How Bad Do you Really Want it?