Mark 7:34Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So, open your ears and absorb the essence of eternal life that flows to you through the gifts of the sacraments! We intended this when we declared in the sacrament of unveiling, ‘Ephphatha!’, meaning ‘Open yourselves!’—so that all who seek grace may comprehend their calling and recall their response to it. This is the mystery that Christ demonstrated in the Gospel when He healed the deaf-mute, as we read about it.

When luxury items like fine fabrics, exquisite carriages, or rare wines are mentioned, he immediately considers how to obtain such things for himself. But when the message of God is shared, calling him to ‘Repent, reshape your life, embark on a new Christian journey, fear the Lord and His just judgement, shun sin, love righteousness, and diligently pursue it,’ he tunes it out as if it were irrelevant noise. Truly, the deafness of the soul is profound! What could be worse than eternal damnation? And what could be more desirable than everlasting life? The Scriptures declare, and the ministers of God proclaim, ‘O wretched soul! You shall perish, you shall face eternal ruin unless you turn back!’ ‘Upon the wicked He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and a tempestuous wind shall be their lot; for the Lord is righteous, and loves righteousness; the upright shall behold His face’ (Psalm 10:6-7). ‘But the fearful and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death’ (Rev. 21:8). Yet, the unfortunate soul, oblivious to God’s voice, remains entrenched in unrepentance. God beckons: ‘Turn to Me, you soul, and you shall be rescued, and live eternally.’ But the soul does not heed this divine summons; instead, it continues on its path of destruction, unable to listen since it lacks spiritual receptivity. The warning is dire: ‘You shall face eternal loss unless you repent.’ Yet, how beautiful and desirable is the promise: ‘You shall be eternally saved if you repent.’ If only the soul could truly hear this message, it would be profoundly shaken and would choose genuine repentance to escape damnation and attain everlasting life! Therefore, every believer ought to strive and pray for their internal spiritual ears to be opened. This is the foundation of true conversion, sincere repentance, and salvation. O poor, spiritually deaf believer! Arise and awaken, urge yourself to come before Jesus, sigh, and diligently pray that, by His divine might, He may grant your soul the ability to hear, so that with joy and eagerness, you may respond to the Lord’s voice. O Jesus, our strength and hope of salvation, who grants sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf! Open the ears of our souls that we may perceive Your holy word. Speak to our sinful souls: ‘Ephphatha’, meaning ‘Be opened’, and they shall receive the gift of hearing. Indicators of spiritual deafness include: 1) When Christians hear God’s word yet remain uncorrected. 2) An attachment to worldly things such as honor, fame, wealth, luxuries, and pleasures. This spiritual deafness is instigated by Satan’s whispers, ensuring that individuals cannot hear God’s message and ultimately face destruction.

Instead, He took the man aside from the crowd; likely only those who had brought him were present (Mark 7:36). He applied His fingers to the man's ears, and after spitting and touching his tongue, He looked up to His Father in heaven and declared, "Ephphatha." At this command, the afflicted man began to hear and speak, yet the Lord instructed those present not to share what had happened.

In a distinctive manner, Christ performed a miracle, taking the afflicted man aside from the crowd. He placed His fingers in the man's ears, spat (either on the man’s tongue or on His own finger, which was then used) and touched his tongue. These deliberate and symbolic actions likely held significance for the man receiving healing. The Lord removed him from the throng to calm his spirit, allowing him to focus entirely on the miracle of His life. Gradually, Christ restored the man's health; first, He touched his ears, possibly opening his hearing somewhat (as in Mark 8:23-25). Previously, the Lord could only communicate with him through sight and touch. To ensure the sick man not only witnessed the Lord’s eyes raised prayerfully to heaven but also heard His heartfelt sigh and the word of His divine power—“ephphatha,” meaning “be opened”—the Lord first enhanced the man’s hearing. As the man began to experience relief, his spirit ignited with faith and hope for complete healing, accompanied by a fervent request for it.

Then, after a moment of breathing, the Lord applied His fingers to the man's tongue following the act of spitting, and declared, “Be opened!” Should not such profound actions leave an enduring mark on the soul of the one healed?

By gazing up to the heavens and sighing, Jesus outwardly demonstrated His prayerful communication with God, ensuring that those witnessing would not mistakenly attribute the healing to unclean forces, as the Pharisees often suggested. Remarkably, even while invoking God’s aid, Jesus did not phrase His request as “Open, God, the hearing and tongue of this poor man.” Instead, He addressed the patient directly with authority, commanding, “Open,” thus healing him with His omnipotent word. Instantly, the man's hearing was restored, the chains of his tongue were loosed, and he began to speak clearly.

Looking towards heaven, as if to elevate the thoughts of this suffering soul to the Heavenly Father, whose divine power alone could bring about healing, Christ spoke a single command in the local language: 'Ephphatha, be opened!' Instantly, the man's hearing was restored, the restraints on his tongue were removed, and he began to speak clearly.

1) Performing such miracles necessitates faith from those receiving the healing. The absence of genuine and heartfelt faith among the people in this semi-pagan region required, in a sense, a distinctive effort for the miracle to occur, which, in turn, stirred up an internal struggle within the Miracle Worker, expressed through His sighing and profound supplication.

2) Given the semi-pagan audience, who were predisposed to belief in demigods, magicians, and sorcerers, the earnest invocation for divine assistance and the acknowledgment of the Miracle Worker’s reliance on the heavenly Father were particularly fitting and deemed essential, especially in light of the rumors spread by the Pharisees that He performed miracles through unholy means. Blessed Theophylact further interprets these actions of the Savior: He “takes Him aside,” not out of self-interest, but having humbled Himself to our condition, only performing miracles publicly when the good of those present warranted it. “Looking up to heaven, He sighed”—on one hand, interceding with the Father for mercy towards humanity, while on the other hand, sighing with sorrow over the state of human nature, which, under the influence of the devil, endures such humiliation and suffering. “Ephphatha,” a word from Syriac, translates to “be opened,” to “reveal.”

The blessed Theophylact remarks, "In the Lord, everything is miraculous and divine, so that even the spitting loosed the bonds of the tongue; all parts of His holy flesh were divine and sacred." Looking up to heaven, He indicated that help comes from God, and with a sigh, He expressed compassion for the troubled man, suggesting that a deep sigh could replace verbal petition. He then commanded, "Ephphatha," which means "Be opened," and at that moment, the man's hearing was restored, his tongue was freed, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus instructed that this miracle not be revealed, knowing that the unbelieving Gentiles would not grasp its significance, and the hostile Pharisees among the Jews might use it as fuel for further plots and accusations. Yet, despite this admonition, word of the miracle spread, and people were filled with awe, exclaiming, "He has done all things well; He makes both the deaf hear and the mute speak." Afterwards, the Lord ascended a mountain and sat down. Many crowds approached Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the destitute, the maimed, and others, placing them at His feet. He healed each one, leading the multitude to marvel and glorify God as they witnessed the mute speaking, the maimed restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.