NOTES for Mar 7:31-37

On the one hand, the Evangelist Mark tells us today about a quite “routine” healing (to the extent that any healing can ever be routine). The Lord heals a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, commanding his mouth: “Ephphatha, be opened.” But the final words of the passage may be the key ones. When this healing too became known, the Evangelist reports, people were astonished and said: “He has done everything well; He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” First, they recall the prophecies about Christ which, like the prophecy of Isaiah we read yesterday, say that Christ would perform such healings. Thus, the miracles Jesus performs achieve their purpose: people perceive them as testimony that He is the Messiah foretold by the prophets, the Savior of Israel. Second, the words “He has done everything well” refer us to the first chapter of Genesis, where the Creator, looking upon all the works of His hands, says that they are “very good.” In this way, the Evangelist reveals to us the divine-human nature of Jesus Christ and shows that His ministry is directed toward restoring creation damaged by sin.