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Jesus Turns Sorrow Into Joy
(Mark 7:31-37, Isaiah 35:5-10)
Mari Ikeda
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
A. What Mark wanted to tell
1. The salvation brought to the gentiles
2. Fulfillment of prophecy in the Old Testament – The new way opened by Jesus（Isaiah 35:5-10）
Isaiah35:5-10
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened / and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness / and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
B. The way to joy
1. Encountering with Jesus by yourself
2. Being touched by Jesus
3. Knowing Jesus’ suffering
4. The way is opened
Summary
The Old Testament prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, who would bring everlasting joy to us, was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus comes in to each of us’ life, touches our pain and heal us. He may not take away our sickness, impairments and sorrows completely, but He can make water spring up in our heart, even if it is as dry as desert. It is all by Jesus giving us ears to hear what is truly important and mouths to praise God.
For Discussion
1) What can we do, in order to have Jesus touch our heart?
2) What can we do, in order to let sorrow turn to joy?