Jesus Meets You Where You're At
Mark 7:31-37
Message #26
In our last message, Jesus went to “Unaccepted-ville” to teach the critical lesson “The Unaccepted Are Accepted” in Christ. And at the end of that message, I mentioned two other miracles Jesus performed in the unaccepted Gentile territories. Today, we look at the first of those two miracles, and the message from Jesus today is – Jesus will meet you right where you’re at.
Let’s set the stage today in Mark 7:31.
Mark 7:31 (NLT)
31 Jesus left Tyre (last message) and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. (The Greek Decapolis)
Jesus is making a big horseshoe loop up the coast across the Golan Heights into the Decapolis. And either in Sidon or after he made his way to the Decapolis, a certain deaf man was brought to him. We meet him in Mark 7:32.
Mark 7:32 (NLT)
32 A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.
This man could not hear, and he basically could not speak (the word used here means “hardly able to speak”), but he did have people who loved him and those people brought him to Jesus and begged Jesus to lay his hands on him and heal him.
There is a great picture developing here of the compassion and grace that Jesus has to those in need, and the Lord wants you to know today, whoever you are, whatever your need, Jesus wants to meet you right where you’re at.
Mark is going to describe the healing of this man in vivid detail. If we will look carefully at these details, we will be able to see just how committed Jesus is to meeting people personally and individually.
God knows you.
So, let’s read through the unique healing of this man, and then we’ll come back and look closely at the details.
Again, verse 32 says this deaf man who was hardly able to speak was brought to Jesus with the people begging Jesus to heal him. And then we read in Mark 7:33-35,
Mark 7:33–35 (NLT)
33 Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” (Ef-Fa-Tha) which means, “Be opened!”
35 Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
It seems like quite an elaborate procedure, doesn’t it, for Jesus to bring a miracle to this man? Jesus didn’t need to do any of this to heal this man. So, maybe he was trying to get something across to him and to us in these details. What truths might Jesus be teaching to this man, to his Disciples, and to us?
Let’s look at it closely.
First verse 33 says, Jesus led [this man] away from the crowd so they could be alone.
That’s a great lesson to start, isn’t it? Both for the man and for us. Good things start to happen with Jesus when we get alone with him. Jesus didn’t want the hype of the crowd, he wanted to be alone with this man so he could speak to him personally and heal him personally, individually, and that is how Jesus wants us.
He wants us to come to him, personally and individually. He is a personal Savior, a personal Healer. Jesus is not interested in swinging his jacket and blowing into a microphone to heal one hundred people at a time. Jesus wants to save you and heal you personally and individually.
Now, remember this man was deaf, so Jesus couldn’t speak to him audibly, but he can communicate with him in a personal way. And so, Jesus is going to “Meet this man where he’s at” to bring him to healing and to faith in who Jesus is.
Verse 33 continues, . . . [Jesus] put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
Jesus is speaking this man’s language. He’s communicating intimately with him. As he reaches up and puts his fingers in this man’s ears, the man senses Jesus saying, “I’m going to heal your ears.” And as Jesus touches the man’s tongue, the man senses Jesus saying, “I’m going to heal your tongue.”
You might think this seems like a crazy way to heal. But Jesus is meeting this man right where he’s at, and his actions were speaking loudly to this man. Though he could not hear or speak, this man understood exactly what Jesus was doing, and he knew the healing touch of Jesus was coming.
Can you see yourself there? Away from the crowds, in the presence of Jesus and Jesus communicating healing to you in just the way you need to hear it?
And can we allow Jesus to do that? Can we come into his presence and trust Jesus to meet us right where we’re at? And bring healing in just the way we need it?
Our God is a personal God. He created you personally and individually. He knows you better than you know yourself, and if you will come to him, he will meet you right where you’re at, and he will bring salvation and healing into your life in a personal and individual way.
Jesus will meet you right where you’re at. He won’t say, “Oh – you’ll have to clean up a little bit.” Sometimes people say to me, “Well, I’ve got to clean up a little bit before I can start coming to church.” I say, “You’re kidding me, right? Who’s lied to you about Jesus?” You have to clean up before you become a Pharisee! You’ve got to come to church just like you are.
Isn’t it weird to consider Jesus sees every one of us just as we are right now? Like right now. Right now, he sees right through us. He sees right to our heart. He knows exactly what we need. And he wants to bring that healing to us personally and individually right where we’re at.
And just one more thing in verse 33 – the saliva is interesting, isn’t it? In verse 33, where it says, Jesus spit on his own fingers, then touched the man’s tongue.
Listen, if you think this is weird, then there’s a pretty good chance you didn’t live in the Middle East in the 1st Century. Because then and there, saliva (from healthy people) was thought to have medicinal properties. And so sometimes when God meets a person “where they’re at” (like with the saliva), we might tend to question God or question the person, and we should be very careful doing that.
So, what’s happening here? Jesus is saying, “I’m going to heal you.” And the saliva spoke loud to this man. Now this man knows he’s going to be healed, and the saliva was part of it. To this man, the saliva meant something.
Can’t you see it? Not the “all cleaned up” church people. When Jesus saves somebody in the darkness, he speaks their language. He reaches them where you can’t reach them because he knows stuff about them that you don’t know. Our job is just to put them in his presence and let him speak to them in a way that they’ll understand.
But listen, please, I am not saying God communicates contrary to his Word at any time or to any person. But I am saying God speaks to us personally, and he meets us right where we’re at – never contrary or against his Word, never in addition to his Word, but always personally – individually.
And this “personal knowledge” connects to the next verse.
Verse 34, where it says, Looking up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed. This is a word for a visible sigh. Jesus looks to heaven because this man can’t hear Jesus speak to the father (so Jesus motions up) and then Jesus lets out a visible sigh so that this man can sense the compassion Jesus has for him. He knows Jesus has just made a request of heaven, and he knows Jesus is hurting for him, and he knows that Jesus, for some unknown reason, loves him very much and hurts with him.
Jesus is using him as an example so that we’ll know he will meet us right where we’re at. Do you know that? We’re so convinced by something other than the Bible that we have to present ourselves in a certain way to Jesus. But Jesus wants you just as you are. Listen, he will not LEAVE YOU just as you are. But he wants you just as you are, and he will bring healing and transformation in your life, just like he’s about to do in ours. And he will take hold of your addictions, your illness, your struggles. And he’ll look up to heaven, and he’ll breath deep – a sigh of compassion – and then, then he’ll speak.
Do we know that Jesus knows us so well that he will meet us where we’re at and that he will take ahold of our lives and implore heaven on our behalf and that he hurts with us? Do we know that?
So then, finally, Jesus speaks.
Verse 34 says, . . . and [Jesus] said, “Ephphatha,” (Ef-Fa-Tha) which means, “Be opened!”
Wait a minute – why would Jesus speak now after communicating to this man by his actions. Why would Jesus now choose to speak verbally? Because now this man can hear perfectly! And the first word this man hears in his own language was (Ef-Fa-Tha) – “Be opened!” The first word this man heard was his personal word of healing (Ef-Fa-Tha). And verse 35 says, Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
But who says there was more than just physical healing happening here? Yeah – much more happened than just a physical healing. This man has met the Son of God – The Great Physician. And not only would the rest of his life be changed, but his eternity would now be changed. Jesus had compassion on this man for healing, but he was much more concerned about him spiritually, eternally. Jesus met this man right where he was at, and he healed him in a way that we can assume brought this man to faith in Christ.
And then we read in Mark 7:36,
Mark 7:36 (NLT)
36 Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.
Matthew speaks of a great crowd that gathered around Jesus at this time – in Matthew 15:30. In Matthew, it says this crowd brought more and more hurting people to Jesus, and Jesus healed them all. And Matthew 15:31 says,
Matthew 15:31 says (NLT)
31 The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
And we’ll meet this Gentile crowd in our text next message.
But today’s final lesson is in the last verse of today’s text. Notice – those who brought this man to Jesus were deeply moved by what Jesus had done.
Mark 7:37 (NLT)
37 They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”
They were completely amazed. I wonder, for those of us who know Jesus today, are we completely amazed? Do we recognize? Do we remember? How Jesus came to us? How he met us right where we were at? How he brought healing into our lives? How he drew faith out of us for salvation?
And can we say with those in Mark 7:37,
Mark 7:37 (NLT)
37 . . . Everything he does is wonderful . . .
The ESV says here He has done all things well.
If you belong to Jesus today, he found you right where you were at, and he brought healing and salvation into your life. You didn’t clean up and come to Jesus. He has had his hand on your life all of your days. Outside of time where Jesus exists, you were always saved, because Jesus exists outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning. He has never left you nor forsaken you and he never will.
And if you have not had that moment of meeting Jesus and putting your faith in him for salvation and for healing, do it – do it right where you’re at. Jesus is waiting. He’s waiting to meet you right where you are at, and he’s waiting to bring healing and salvation into your life.
I’d like to pray Psalm 139 for you. This is Psalm 139, paraphrased into my personal prayer. Again, this is a paraphrase of Psalm 139 written as my prayer to God, and I would encourage you to pray it with me. Follow me through this prayer, and please hear God speaking to you, personally.
Praying Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see my path, Lord and you are aware of everything I do.
4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know exactly what I’m going to say. You know me, Lord, better than I know myself.
5 You go before me and you follow behind me. You hem me in on all sides. And you place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Your knowledge and care for me is too wonderful to grasp; it’s too great for me to understand.
7 There’s no place I can go, that you are not there with me.
8-9 No matter how low I sink, no matter how high I rise, you are there!
10 Your hand is leading and guiding me, and your strength is holding me and protecting me.
11-12 Even If I ask the darkness to cover me, it cannot hide me from you. Because you see me and know me wherever I am.
13 Lord, you made me, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 & so, I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, by you! And Lord, your work in my life is wonderful and it is good; my heart knows that well.
15 My life was not hidden from you, since the moment I was created.
16 Your eyes were upon me, even before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded by you, every moment laid out before you, before a single day had passed.
17 And how precious are your thoughts about me, Lord. They can’t even be numbered!
18 Most importantly, when I wake up each day, I am still with you.
. . .
23 Search me, God, and know my heart! Know my anxious thoughts!
24 & Lord, please point out anything in me that offends you, and continue to lead me on the path of everlasting life!
The Lord who created you in your mother’s womb, he knows you better than you know yourself. He knows the deepest, darkest places. He’s been with you in every high and every low. Some can’t imagine the Lord is with us at that point, but he was. And he’s made a way to bring healing, to restore you, to save you and to use you for his glory. But you have to let him meet you where you’re at. Stop pretending. Stop putting on the face and let Jesus touch you where you need to be healed and bring healing where you need it, and save you and transform you for his glory. He wants to meet you – right where you’re at.
Let’s set the stage today in Mark 7:31.
Mark 7:31 (NLT)
31 Jesus left Tyre (last message) and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. (The Greek Decapolis)
Jesus is making a big horseshoe loop up the coast across the Golan Heights into the Decapolis. And either in Sidon or after he made his way to the Decapolis, a certain deaf man was brought to him. We meet him in Mark 7:32.
Mark 7:32 (NLT)
32 A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.
This man could not hear, and he basically could not speak (the word used here means “hardly able to speak”), but he did have people who loved him and those people brought him to Jesus and begged Jesus to lay his hands on him and heal him.
There is a great picture developing here of the compassion and grace that Jesus has to those in need, and the Lord wants you to know today, whoever you are, whatever your need, Jesus wants to meet you right where you’re at.
Mark is going to describe the healing of this man in vivid detail. If we will look carefully at these details, we will be able to see just how committed Jesus is to meeting people personally and individually.
God knows you.
- He knows what you need today.
- He knows where you’re at
- He wants to meet you right where you’re at.
So, let’s read through the unique healing of this man, and then we’ll come back and look closely at the details.
Again, verse 32 says this deaf man who was hardly able to speak was brought to Jesus with the people begging Jesus to heal him. And then we read in Mark 7:33-35,
Mark 7:33–35 (NLT)
33 Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” (Ef-Fa-Tha) which means, “Be opened!”
35 Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
It seems like quite an elaborate procedure, doesn’t it, for Jesus to bring a miracle to this man? Jesus didn’t need to do any of this to heal this man. So, maybe he was trying to get something across to him and to us in these details. What truths might Jesus be teaching to this man, to his Disciples, and to us?
Let’s look at it closely.
First verse 33 says, Jesus led [this man] away from the crowd so they could be alone.
That’s a great lesson to start, isn’t it? Both for the man and for us. Good things start to happen with Jesus when we get alone with him. Jesus didn’t want the hype of the crowd, he wanted to be alone with this man so he could speak to him personally and heal him personally, individually, and that is how Jesus wants us.
He wants us to come to him, personally and individually. He is a personal Savior, a personal Healer. Jesus is not interested in swinging his jacket and blowing into a microphone to heal one hundred people at a time. Jesus wants to save you and heal you personally and individually.
Now, remember this man was deaf, so Jesus couldn’t speak to him audibly, but he can communicate with him in a personal way. And so, Jesus is going to “Meet this man where he’s at” to bring him to healing and to faith in who Jesus is.
Verse 33 continues, . . . [Jesus] put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
Jesus is speaking this man’s language. He’s communicating intimately with him. As he reaches up and puts his fingers in this man’s ears, the man senses Jesus saying, “I’m going to heal your ears.” And as Jesus touches the man’s tongue, the man senses Jesus saying, “I’m going to heal your tongue.”
You might think this seems like a crazy way to heal. But Jesus is meeting this man right where he’s at, and his actions were speaking loudly to this man. Though he could not hear or speak, this man understood exactly what Jesus was doing, and he knew the healing touch of Jesus was coming.
Can you see yourself there? Away from the crowds, in the presence of Jesus and Jesus communicating healing to you in just the way you need to hear it?
And can we allow Jesus to do that? Can we come into his presence and trust Jesus to meet us right where we’re at? And bring healing in just the way we need it?
Our God is a personal God. He created you personally and individually. He knows you better than you know yourself, and if you will come to him, he will meet you right where you’re at, and he will bring salvation and healing into your life in a personal and individual way.
Jesus will meet you right where you’re at. He won’t say, “Oh – you’ll have to clean up a little bit.” Sometimes people say to me, “Well, I’ve got to clean up a little bit before I can start coming to church.” I say, “You’re kidding me, right? Who’s lied to you about Jesus?” You have to clean up before you become a Pharisee! You’ve got to come to church just like you are.
Isn’t it weird to consider Jesus sees every one of us just as we are right now? Like right now. Right now, he sees right through us. He sees right to our heart. He knows exactly what we need. And he wants to bring that healing to us personally and individually right where we’re at.
And just one more thing in verse 33 – the saliva is interesting, isn’t it? In verse 33, where it says, Jesus spit on his own fingers, then touched the man’s tongue.
Listen, if you think this is weird, then there’s a pretty good chance you didn’t live in the Middle East in the 1st Century. Because then and there, saliva (from healthy people) was thought to have medicinal properties. And so sometimes when God meets a person “where they’re at” (like with the saliva), we might tend to question God or question the person, and we should be very careful doing that.
So, what’s happening here? Jesus is saying, “I’m going to heal you.” And the saliva spoke loud to this man. Now this man knows he’s going to be healed, and the saliva was part of it. To this man, the saliva meant something.
Can’t you see it? Not the “all cleaned up” church people. When Jesus saves somebody in the darkness, he speaks their language. He reaches them where you can’t reach them because he knows stuff about them that you don’t know. Our job is just to put them in his presence and let him speak to them in a way that they’ll understand.
But listen, please, I am not saying God communicates contrary to his Word at any time or to any person. But I am saying God speaks to us personally, and he meets us right where we’re at – never contrary or against his Word, never in addition to his Word, but always personally – individually.
And this “personal knowledge” connects to the next verse.
Verse 34, where it says, Looking up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed. This is a word for a visible sigh. Jesus looks to heaven because this man can’t hear Jesus speak to the father (so Jesus motions up) and then Jesus lets out a visible sigh so that this man can sense the compassion Jesus has for him. He knows Jesus has just made a request of heaven, and he knows Jesus is hurting for him, and he knows that Jesus, for some unknown reason, loves him very much and hurts with him.
Jesus is using him as an example so that we’ll know he will meet us right where we’re at. Do you know that? We’re so convinced by something other than the Bible that we have to present ourselves in a certain way to Jesus. But Jesus wants you just as you are. Listen, he will not LEAVE YOU just as you are. But he wants you just as you are, and he will bring healing and transformation in your life, just like he’s about to do in ours. And he will take hold of your addictions, your illness, your struggles. And he’ll look up to heaven, and he’ll breath deep – a sigh of compassion – and then, then he’ll speak.
Do we know that Jesus knows us so well that he will meet us where we’re at and that he will take ahold of our lives and implore heaven on our behalf and that he hurts with us? Do we know that?
So then, finally, Jesus speaks.
Verse 34 says, . . . and [Jesus] said, “Ephphatha,” (Ef-Fa-Tha) which means, “Be opened!”
Wait a minute – why would Jesus speak now after communicating to this man by his actions. Why would Jesus now choose to speak verbally? Because now this man can hear perfectly! And the first word this man hears in his own language was (Ef-Fa-Tha) – “Be opened!” The first word this man heard was his personal word of healing (Ef-Fa-Tha). And verse 35 says, Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
But who says there was more than just physical healing happening here? Yeah – much more happened than just a physical healing. This man has met the Son of God – The Great Physician. And not only would the rest of his life be changed, but his eternity would now be changed. Jesus had compassion on this man for healing, but he was much more concerned about him spiritually, eternally. Jesus met this man right where he was at, and he healed him in a way that we can assume brought this man to faith in Christ.
And then we read in Mark 7:36,
Mark 7:36 (NLT)
36 Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.
Matthew speaks of a great crowd that gathered around Jesus at this time – in Matthew 15:30. In Matthew, it says this crowd brought more and more hurting people to Jesus, and Jesus healed them all. And Matthew 15:31 says,
Matthew 15:31 says (NLT)
31 The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
And we’ll meet this Gentile crowd in our text next message.
But today’s final lesson is in the last verse of today’s text. Notice – those who brought this man to Jesus were deeply moved by what Jesus had done.
Mark 7:37 (NLT)
37 They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”
They were completely amazed. I wonder, for those of us who know Jesus today, are we completely amazed? Do we recognize? Do we remember? How Jesus came to us? How he met us right where we were at? How he brought healing into our lives? How he drew faith out of us for salvation?
And can we say with those in Mark 7:37,
Mark 7:37 (NLT)
37 . . . Everything he does is wonderful . . .
The ESV says here He has done all things well.
If you belong to Jesus today, he found you right where you were at, and he brought healing and salvation into your life. You didn’t clean up and come to Jesus. He has had his hand on your life all of your days. Outside of time where Jesus exists, you were always saved, because Jesus exists outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning. He has never left you nor forsaken you and he never will.
And if you have not had that moment of meeting Jesus and putting your faith in him for salvation and for healing, do it – do it right where you’re at. Jesus is waiting. He’s waiting to meet you right where you are at, and he’s waiting to bring healing and salvation into your life.
I’d like to pray Psalm 139 for you. This is Psalm 139, paraphrased into my personal prayer. Again, this is a paraphrase of Psalm 139 written as my prayer to God, and I would encourage you to pray it with me. Follow me through this prayer, and please hear God speaking to you, personally.
Praying Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see my path, Lord and you are aware of everything I do.
4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know exactly what I’m going to say. You know me, Lord, better than I know myself.
5 You go before me and you follow behind me. You hem me in on all sides. And you place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Your knowledge and care for me is too wonderful to grasp; it’s too great for me to understand.
7 There’s no place I can go, that you are not there with me.
8-9 No matter how low I sink, no matter how high I rise, you are there!
10 Your hand is leading and guiding me, and your strength is holding me and protecting me.
11-12 Even If I ask the darkness to cover me, it cannot hide me from you. Because you see me and know me wherever I am.
13 Lord, you made me, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 & so, I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, by you! And Lord, your work in my life is wonderful and it is good; my heart knows that well.
15 My life was not hidden from you, since the moment I was created.
16 Your eyes were upon me, even before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded by you, every moment laid out before you, before a single day had passed.
17 And how precious are your thoughts about me, Lord. They can’t even be numbered!
18 Most importantly, when I wake up each day, I am still with you.
. . .
23 Search me, God, and know my heart! Know my anxious thoughts!
24 & Lord, please point out anything in me that offends you, and continue to lead me on the path of everlasting life!
The Lord who created you in your mother’s womb, he knows you better than you know yourself. He knows the deepest, darkest places. He’s been with you in every high and every low. Some can’t imagine the Lord is with us at that point, but he was. And he’s made a way to bring healing, to restore you, to save you and to use you for his glory. But you have to let him meet you where you’re at. Stop pretending. Stop putting on the face and let Jesus touch you where you need to be healed and bring healing where you need it, and save you and transform you for his glory. He wants to meet you – right where you’re at.