All Souls Saturday; Our Venerable Father and Confessor James, Bishop of Catania (813-20)
Great Fast Day 27
Read
Mark 7:31-37
In our contemporary western society, maybe even more so in this time of the pandemic, to read and hear of someone putting their fingers in another’s ears, and then spitting and placing that saliva on another’s tongue is perhaps, well, revolting. During Jesus’ time, saliva was understood by many to have curative powers. Why did Jesus do this? It may be that He wanted to assure this deaf and tongue-tied man that He was like him, with flesh and blood—taking him aside from the crowd so he could minister to him personally. But He is the God-Man. And this is revealed through the very miracle He performed, restoring this man’s hearing and healing his speech, and perhaps even restoring his basic human dignity.
There’s one small thing that Jesus does just before the healing is accomplished. He looks to heaven and sighs (some translations use the word groan). It is the only place in all the Gospels where Jesus is said to groan. It may be that He did this to express His grief over the consequences of the Fall and the personal effect this has on this man. Looking to the Father for mercy and showing compassion on His creation. I can’t help but wonder today, as we weather this pandemic, that the Lord looks at us, each of us, personally, touches us and groans out of mercy and compassion. As he heals and saves us, let us never stop looking at Him!
Maranatha!