Jesus was Deaf Aware

I came across a webpage titled “Jesus Used Sign Language”. Christ knows each of us intimately and this bit of insight into how He gave the deaf man hearing tells us how well He knew his subject. You almost have to be a deaf person to gain an insight like this. I took the liberty of rephrasing the points I want to include here in this blog.

In Mark Chapter 7: 32-35 we read:

32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

Verse 32: Jesus was Deaf Aware

The people brought the deaf man to Jesus and beseeched Him to heal the man. It is frustrating to be surrounded by a bunch of talking people when you cannot hear them. The man was probably embarrassed by the attention and did not understand what the people were up to. So Jesus took him away from the crowd and to a private place. This allowed both Jesus and the deaf man to focus on each other without the distractions of the crowd.

Verse 33: Jesus used Sign Language

Jesus touched the deaf man’s ears and his tongue. This was a form of sign language showing the man in gestures that He was about to do something with the man’s ears and mouth. In ASL the sign for deaf is the forefinger pointing to the mouth and ear. He could have been asking the man if he really wanted to hear, since we now know from Miles Tully’s video that many deaf people prefer to remain deaf.

Verse 34: Jesus understood lip-reading

Jesus looked upward perhaps as a silent prayer, and perhaps so the deaf man could read His lips better with no shadows on His face from the bright sun. Jesus sighed and said only one word, Ephphatha which means “Open”. It was not necessary to say much because the deaf man could lip-read and understand that one simple word.

Verse 35: Jesus opened the deaf man’s ears

Jesus performed two miracles. He gave the man hearing and taught him to how to speak. There was nothing wrong with the man’s voice. Deaf people usually do not speak well if at all, because they cannot hear themselves talk. Since the man could now hear, Jesus showed him that he could now talk clearly.

Verse 36: Jesus told the people to not tell anyone what happened

Why did Jesus sigh in verse 34? Someone I asked this question to suggested that He was visually preparing the man for what was about to happen. The general feelings and opinions I’ve read from both hearing and deaf people on the deaf forum make me wonder about another possible explanation. Many deaf people do not think of their deafness as a disability and are in fact rather proud of their language and culture. Most hearing people have a pathological view of deafness, and are unable to see the divine design it may have in a person’s life.

Why did Jesus “charge them that they should tell no man” what happened? Is it possible that Jesus did not give the deaf man hearing for the sake of the deaf man? The deaf man did not go to Jesus himself and asked to be “healed”. The people brought him and begged Jesus to heal him. Perhaps Jesus sighed and asked the people not to tell anyone because He knew it was not a disability for this man.  What He really wanted was for the people to understand and learn how to communicate with the man in a higher form of communication.  However, He felt He needed to perform the miracle to appease the hearing people who could not understand the divine design.