Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬-‭10‬
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

It is truly amazing what Jesus did here. When you think about it, being able to hear is required to be able to talk. If your hearing suddenly comes back, that wouldn't mean you would be able to speak clearly, because you have not listened to others speak and mimicked them. Consider the progression a baby takes in learning to speak.

But Jesus not only helped this man go from not hearing to hearing. That is an amazing miracle in and of itself. He also enabled him to go from barely being able to talk to talking clearly. This was actually a three-fold miracle: 1) a deaf man hearing, 2) a mute man speaking, and 3) a man who could not hear or speak being able to now speak as if he had been speaking all along. INCREDIBLE!

When I think of this miracle it brings to mind this parallel passage prophecy in Isaiah. He was to tell the Israelites to “be ever hearing but never perceiving, ever seeing but never understanding”. It’s like he is describing a people who are physically able to see and hear, but are spiritually blind and deaf.

Here he takes a mute and deaf man and gives him all he needs to hear and talk. Jesus has the power to give us spiritual understanding and perception beyond our years. We just have to trust and obey him.

Lord, you healed this man in a three-fold miracle. I pray that you will open my spiritual eyes, ears, and heart (out of which I speak) and allow me to grow tremendously in perceiving your will and understanding your ways!