Scripture Reading And Welcome

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Hello, Northgate. It's wonderful to be here with all of you today. Got some scripture reading for you. My name is Stephen Sarna. I'm a student, SPSV. Thank you very much. So we got Mark 7:31 through 37, which says, Then he returned from the region of Tyree and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Tacopolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. And they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, touched his tongue and looked up to heaven. He sighed and said to him, Ifatha, that is, be opened. His tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell none. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed him. This is the word of the Lord. God be with you all. Have a great Sunday.

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Thanks, be to God. Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. Well, hey, it's good to be with you. If you're new with us, we teach the Bible here verse by verse. It's called a spausatory teaching. We've been going through the gospel of Mark. It's found in the New Testament that chronicles the life of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus. We're finding ourselves in chapter seven. Last week I gave you a ton of verses. I promised I wouldn't do that this week. We're only doing like seven verses this week. So you're welcome. But that's also why we spend years doing this because we do seven at a time. So welcome. Uh, glad you're here. If you want to follow along with me, you saw a little bit ago there's notes. Uh, what that means in live notes, if you look into there, if you click under the points, it's gonna expand out which verses we're talking about. You can do some feedback in there. Um, that's a resource for you. And for those of you who are following along with me right now and wondering what uh translation I'm using, I'm using the ESV. So if you want to be able to read that, it'd be like, where am I gonna find these words that you're saying? Uh it's the ESV, the English Standard Version. So you guys can follow along with that. So let's hop

The Ache Of Being Misunderstood

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in. Uh, there is, I'm gonna tell you guys, there's something uniquely frustrating about not being understood, right? Like not disagreed with, not rejected, not even like criticized, just misunderstood. Like you know that feeling. Like you send a text and immediately realize they took it the wrong way, right? Or you try to explain yourself in a conversation and it somehow just gets worse every time you talk, or like you leave a meeting and you're thinking, like, that's not even what I meant at all. Or maybe you've actually had the opposite experience where someone's talking to you and you're nodding politely, and internally you're thinking, like, I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, right? Some of you have been in relationships where you weren't really heard. Uh, some of you, you grew up in homes where people talked, but nobody listened. Uh, some of you are here today. And if you're really honest, your biggest question about God is not whether he exists or not. It's whether he actually hears or whether he understands or whether he notices. And underneath all of that sits a deeper question. Can God do anything about what is broken inside of me? That's the question sitting underneath our text today. Because Mark is about to show us a miracle that is far more. It's it's far more about other things than ears and speech. It's about what humanity has lost, and Jesus is about to restore it.

Jesus Moves Toward Outsiders

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So Mark begins it this way: He returned from the region of Tyree and went on through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. So at first glance, this just sounds like one of those verses that we usually skip, right? It's just geography, travel details, ancient directions that nobody really remembers. But Mark never waste details. By now, we've gotten to learn together that geography here is actually in Mark, it's theology in motion. So Jesus has just been in Tyree, uh, this Gentile territory, pagan territory, a place where he met this Syro-Phoenician woman who's this outsider, uh, the woman nobody expected to become an example for everyone of faith. And now Mark tells us that he travels through Sidon and into the Decapolis. So the Decapolis, what that was, is it was a network of ten cities. It's where you get the word decah right here. These are primary Gentile cities, heavily influenced by Greek and Roman culture. And so this was not at the center of Jewish religious life. This was the edge. Like this was the margins. This was the place where religious people would have avoided if they could have. It's the same general region where Jesus freed the man possessed by a legion in chapter five. In other words, what we see here is Jesus is still on the other side. He's still crossing boundaries, he's still moving toward people that others assume are far from God. And I love that because every week there are people who walk into church wondering if they belong. The skeptic wonders, the atheist wonders, the Muslim wonders, the Buddhist wonders, the person carrying church hurt wonders, the person who hasn't prayed in years, wonders. And Mark keeps showing us the same thing that Jesus keeps moving toward outsiders, not away from them.

Friends Who Carry Faith For You

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And then he says, and they brought to him a man who was deaf and had had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on them. So notice something immediately. Because some of you are sitting here today because somebody brought you a parent, a spouse, a friend, a coworker, a roommate. Like maybe your kid actually brought you, or a grandparent who refused to stop praying. Sometimes, friend, faith starts because someone carries you when you can't carry yourself. And some of you have friends that aren't here yet. People who don't believe, people who are angry, or people who are skeptical, and people who think church isn't for them. But I'm gonna tell you, keep bringing them, keep praying, keep loving. Because these friends in Mark 7 actually become a part of the miracle. So now, just real quickly, let's talk about this man's condition. Mark tells us that he's deaf and has a speech impediment. And so now in the ancient world, that wasn't like merely just a medical diagnosis. This was social isolation. Remember, this is an oral culture at the time. There's no podcasts, there's no subtitles, there's no texting, there's no hearing aids, there's no speech therapy available. Communication is life. Community was built through conversation. Teaching happened through listening. Relationships were literally sustained through speech. And this man lives at a disadvantage every single day. And some of you know how that feels, maybe not physically, but emotionally. You walk into rooms and feel disconnected. You sit in rows and feel unseen. You smile while feeling isolated. You hear everyone talking and somehow still feel alone. And this man represents more than just a medical condition. He represents humanity's inability to fully hear and fully respond, which, if you've been following Mark carefully, should actually sound familiar because hearings become one of Mark's like major themes. Jesus keeps saying things like, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The problem throughout Mark has never been simply this about physical hearing. People hear Jesus and they misunderstand him. Religious leaders hear Jesus and they reject him. Crowds hear Jesus and want miracles but not surrender. Disciples hear Jesus and still don't fully understand. The issue is deeper than ears, it's spiritual perception. And so then Mark records something unusual.

Private Healing And Compassionate Touch

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And taking him aside from the crowd privately. So just stop there for a second. I don't want us to miss this. Why? Like, why take him aside? Like, why not heal him publicly? Like, why not create another dramatic moment? Well, friends, it's because Jesus isn't performing, he's caring. I mean, think about it. This man can't fully hear. The crowds have probably stared at him his entire life. People have likely talked about him while he stood there. Jesus removes him from the spectacle. Jesus treats him like a person, not a project, not a platform, not an illustration, like a human. And that matters because some of us experienced religion that felt more interested in using people than loving people. And Jesus doesn't do that, he takes him aside personally, individually, compassionately. And then Mark says, He puts his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, he touches his tongue. Now, if you're new to the Bible, this is where things get weird. Like you were tracking, like I'm feeling inspired, like you were feeling good about this. And then Jesus starts sticking fingers in ears and then touching tongues. And now you're wondering if we suddenly skipped into a different story. But remember something. Jesus is communicating with the man who can't hear, right? Every movement right here matters, every gesture actually communicates something. Jesus is showing him what he's about to do, touching ears, touching the tongue. Um, so a couple years ago, I went with a pastor friend of mine, John Scott. He actually taught here a couple of weeks ago. He's from Hemet uh to Cambodia. And uh we spent a couple of weeks in Cambodia, and one of those weeks specifically was uh teaching pastors and investing into them. We went through the entire uh book of Philippians and we taught him every day. We got to do this stuff. And John, he loves massages. And Cambodia is like known for great massages. I guess just what they do there. I personally don't really care for him. Uh he loves the foot one. I don't like feet at all. Um, but finally I told him I'll go to one with you. And he's like, Y'all dude, it's like five dollars for like a full body massage. And I'm like, I guess I'll hang out with you. So I go there and um I didn't realize this, but one of the things that they do to um help certain people with disabilities, specifically in some of these massage places, is they employ blind people, right? So I go to this massage place and I'm getting um a massage from a blind man. It's fascinating. He's like, You're huge. He literally said that, right? But here's the other thing that he did. It was wild. Um, so like all of a sudden he's like, Oh, something's wrong with your shoulder. And I I have to have a shoulder replacement. I'm like, Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. And he's like, Oh man, you've got a lot of things that you've been damaged really bad in your in your back. I was like, Oh, yeah, no, you're right. And then he's like around my calf and he's like, Oh, you're like, you tore muscle here, and I had an accident where uh on a bike and I tore my calf. I was like, This man knows more about my body through touching me. He sees me more than anyone else I've ever met. I gave him a good tip, it was a good time, never went back. Uh, but anyway, so again, here's where I'm at. Jesus is showing him what he's about to do, touching ears, touching his tongue. It's almost if Jesus is saying, I know exactly where the problem is. And isn't that comforting? Because one of our deepest fears isn't that God doesn't understand our struggle. It's that he sees symptoms but not the source. He sees behavior, but not our pain. He sees failure, but not our wounds. And Jesus touches the exact places that need healing. And then Mark gives us one of the most profound moments in all of the gospel.

The Sigh That Shares Our Pain

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He looked up to heaven and he sighed. He what? He sighed. Now it's important to know, only Mark records that detail. And I truly think it's beautiful. The word describes like a deep groan, like this deep emotional response. Like, why does Jesus sigh? It wasn't because he was like, Oh my goodness, this dude's got so much earwax, or like, are you kidding me? I look like a weirdo right now, right? No, no, no, no. It was because this isn't how creation was supposed to be. Deafness was not God's original design. Brokenness was not God's original design. Disease was not God's original design. Isolation wasn't God's original design. Death wasn't God's original design. Jesus is now standing face to face with everything that sin has done to humanity, and he groans not in frustration, but in compassion. The Son of God feels the weight of a broken world. And if you're here today and you're carrying grief or disappointment, anxiety, depression, loneliness, addiction, loss, questions, or death, hear this. Jesus is not indifferent. He does not look at a human with suffering, with emotional distance. He sighs, he groans, he enters into it and he feels it, which means even if you're not sure what you believe about Jesus yet, you cannot honestly read the gospels and conclude that he is emotionally detached from human pain. So then Jesus speaks.

Be Opened And Total Restoration

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One word, e-fatha. Mark even preserves here the original Aramaic because the moment matters. It was the language Jesus likely spoke every day. And as if Mark wants us to hear the actual sound that came from Jesus' lips, a fatha be opened. And immediately Mark says, his ears were open, and his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Now notice how complete the healing is. It's not gradual, it's not partial, not like just improved a little bit. It's opened, released, plainly speaking. The Greek language here is fascinating. The phrase translated, his tongue was released, literally carries the idea of a chain being loose, that something that was bound has been set free. That language should actually sound familiar by now, right? Because this is exactly what Jesus has been doing all throughout Mark. Storms are bound and then released, demons are bound and the released, disease is bound and released, isolation is bound and released. Jesus keeps walking into places where something is trapped and setting it free. And now this man can hear. I mean, can you imagine the moment? The first voice he clearly hears is Jesus. The first sounds arriving with clarity are the words of the Son of God. Like the first face he's connected to a fully understanding voice is the face of Jesus himself. And that's not accidental because this miracle is about more than ears. Mark has literally been building towards this moment for chapters. The disciples are hearing but not understanding. The crowds keep listening but missing it. The Pharisees keep studying and resisting, and now suddenly a deaf man hears perfectly. Mark is making a theological point here. The deepest problem in humanity is not a lack of information, it's a lack of perception. The problem is not that God has not spoken, friends. The problem is that we struggle to hear. And Jesus has come to open what sin has closed. Now, if you're here and you're you're skeptical about Christianity, this is where I would invite you to consider something. Because here's the deal: every worldview has to answer the same question, which is why is humanity the way that it is? Why are we simultaneously brilliant and broken? Why can we split atoms and destroy relationships? Why can we create symphonies and commit genocide? Why can we love sacrificially and act selfishly in the same afternoon? And the Christian answer is not, well, people are worthless. The Christian answer is that something has gone wrong. Something has closed, something has become distorted. And Jesus presents himself not merely as a teacher of truth, but as the one who restores humanity to what it was actually created to be. That's what this miracle is showing us, not merely that what Jesus can do, but who Jesus is. And then Mark says something surprising.

Why Jesus Rejects Cheap Publicity

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And Jesus charged them to tell no one. There it is again. We have seen this pattern repeatedly through Mark, right? The demons know who he is and he silences them. People are healed and he calls them not to spread it around. Again and again, Jesus seems to resist this uh publicity. Why? Because he knows something that we often forget. Information without understanding creates confusion. Power without context creates distortion. People keep wanting Jesus on their terms to be a political king, a miracle worker, a problem solver, a celebrity rabbi, a bread provider, right? And Jesus refuses again to let anyone define him apart from the cross. Because if people embrace his power without understanding his mission, they will misunderstand everything. But then Mark adds something that I think is almost humorous. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. Right? You know, when you tell someone like, hey, be quiet, don't do that. And they're like, What? Like, not like this? Like, that's what they're having this moment right here, right? Of course they did. Like, imagine trying to keep it quiet. Like a man who couldn't hear now hears. A man who couldn't speak now speaks. And Jesus says, like, uh, can we just keep this between ourselves, right? I don't need to hear the whole finger ear thing done. It's not happening, right? These people were like, no way, we're excited. We can't contain it. And before we're too hard on them, like, let's admit something ourselves. Good news naturally spreads, right? Nobody has to force you to talk about what excites you. Uh, nobody has to beg people to talk about a new relationship or a great restaurant or a new job or a playoff win or a product they love. Like, joy leaks, wonder spreads. You know, in fact, uh, just even this last Friday, uh, we have a bunch of students that go to American Canyon High School and they had their first football game, and there's four seconds left in the game. Uh-oh. We already know what we're going to talk about. There's four seconds left in the game. They are down by seven points. They're on the 30-yard line, 70 yards to go. It's an impossible situation. And my guy rolls out to the cam, goes, rolls out, and drops a dime 50 yards in the air. And one of our students that goes here, Griffin Morgan, catches this thing in stride and goes to the next 20 yards, scores the touchdown with zero time on the clock. Go for two, win it. Stuff. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. That's what you do. You tell people about this if you don't want to hold it in, right? And these people have just witnessed something extraordinary, right? And Mark gives us one of the most beautiful

He Has Done All Things Well

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summaries. Here it is. And they were astonished beyond a measure, saying he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. So just stop right here because this verse is so loaded. First, Mark says that they were astonished beyond measure, like literally exceedingly overwhelmed. Like they have run out of categories. You ever been there? Like run out of explanation, like run out of language to explain this. And then they make a statement that sounds simple, but it it like literally reaches all the way back to Genesis. He has done all things well. What see, we've heard language like this before, and it's actually from Genesis one. It's in creation. So after God creates the world, again and again we read, and that God saw that it was good. And he said, This is good, and this is good. And they looked at people and said, That's very good, right? Mark is intentionally here echoing creation language. The crowd doesn't fully realize it yet, but they are describing Jesus the way scripture describes God. He does all things well, not some things, all things. And that statement becomes even more profound when you remember where this happens, right? This didn't happen in Jerusalem, in a temple or among religious elites. This is in Gentile territory, among outsiders, among people many religious leaders would have ignored. And the first people declaring that Jesus does all things well are the people on the margins. And then they say, He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. Now that phrase should trigger another Old Testament message. Memory for them. Isaiah 35, this is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. And so listen to what Isaiah says. He says, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. So centuries before Jesus arrives, Isaiah is one of saying one of the signs that God's kingdom is literally breaking into the world will be this: the deaf will hear. The mute will speak. The broken are restored. The wilderness blooms and the curse begins to reverse. And now, friends, it's happening. Like not theoretically, not symbolically, like actually happening. The kingdom of God is breaking into history, which means Mark is not merely recording a miracle. He, friends, is presenting evidence. Evidence that the Messiah has come, evidence that God's promises are being fulfilled, evidence that restoration, it has begun. But there is something even deeper happening here. Think about how chapter seven started. The chapter opened with a debate about dirty hands. The Pharisees were obsessed with external purity, and Jesus redirected this conversation to the heart. The problem isn't primarily outside of you, it's actually inside of you. And then Jesus crossed into Gentile territory, met an outsider woman, praised her faith, and now heals a deaf and speech-impaired man. Do you see the progression? Mark is showing us what the kingdom looks like. It crosses boundaries, it welcomes outsiders, it heals what's broken, it opens what's closed, it restores what has been lost, and it does not stop at ethnic boundaries, religious boundaries, cultural boundaries, or social boundaries, which means if you're a Muslim in this room, Mark is inviting you to consider Jesus. If you're a Buddhist, Mark is considering saying, I'm inviting you to consider Jesus. If you're an atheist, Mark is inviting you to consider Jesus. If you're agnostic, Mark is inviting you to consider Jesus. If you're Catholic, Mark is inviting you to consider Jesus. If you're skeptical, wounded, cynical, curious, de-churched, anti-churched, spiritually exhausted, or simply just unsure what you believe, Mark keeps bringing us back to the same question. Who is this? Who is the one who walks on water? Who is the one who feeds thousands? Who is the one who confronts demons? Who is the one who opens deaf ears? Who is the one who does all things well? Because Mark's answer is becoming increasingly clear. This is not merely a teacher, not merely a prophet, not merely a miracle worker. This is God restoring his creation. And this leads to one final observation before we leave chapter

Grace Before Effort

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seven. Notice again what Jesus says. Be opened. Not try harder. Not do better. Not fix yourself. Not become worthy. Be opened. Because the gospel always begins with what God does before it moves to what we do. The deaf man contributes nothing to the miracle. He receives it. The Syrophoenician woman receives mercy. The demonic receives freedom. The disciples receive revelation again and again. And mark, grace comes before achievement, which is really good news because most of us are carrying things that we cannot fix ourselves. Some of you need your ears open spiritually. Some of you have heard sermons for years but have never truly heard Jesus. Some of you need your hearts open. Some of you need wounds open so they can finally begin to mend. Some of you need your hands open because you've been holding on too tightly. Some of you, friends, you need your minds opened. Some of you need your lives opened. And the same Jesus who spoke over that man still speaks today. Be opened. Be opened. Open to truth. Open to grace. Open to healing, open to surrender, open to God. Because chapter seven ends exactly where every chapter in Mark ultimately leads. Wonder, astonishment, a decision. Will we walk away saying, interesting teacher? Or will we join the crowd and confess what they accidentally got right? He has done all things well. And he, if he can open deaf ears, maybe he can open hearts too. And that's exactly what Mark wants us to wrestle with before we begin chapter eight. So again, as we close Mark chapter seven, I want you to notice something. This entire chapter has been about people who couldn't see clearly, who couldn't hear clearly, couldn't understand clearly, and yet Jesus moving toward them. Religious leaders who couldn't see their own hearts, disciples who couldn't understand what Jesus was doing, a Gentile woman who wasn't supposed to belong, a deaf man who couldn't hear. And over and over again, Jesus keeps doing the same thing: opening, opening eyes, opening ears, opening hearts, opening lives, opening the kingdom to people who thought they were too far away. And maybe that's the invitation for some of us today: not to have everything figured out, not to become experts overnight, not to get your lives perfectly together before we respond. Just be open. Open to what Jesus might want to do next. Because here's what I have learned after years of following Jesus.

Growth Happens In Community

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Most of our growth doesn't happen sitting in rows. It happens in circles. It happens in conversations. It happens in community. It happens when someone knows your name, knows your story, knows your struggles, knows your victories, and keeps pointing you back to Jesus. That's why we're encouraging people to take a step into community. Not because groups are perfect, they're not. Let me tell you this, not because people are perfect, they're not. I know a lot of you, right? But because God often opens us through relationships. Some of you have been tending for weeks, months, maybe even years, and you keep saying, like, one of these days, I'll like join a group or something. Well, maybe today is your day. Maybe this is your season. Maybe this is your step. Out in the lobby, you guys are gonna see the community opportunities displayed. This isn't technically the last chance to sign up, but this is the last week we're gonna have everything together, like on display before these groups and ministries and classes all begin kicking off all over the place starting this week. So, my invitation: don't just walk by it. Stop. Ask questions, meet leaders, find a place, take a step, because Mark 7 reminds us that Jesus doesn't just want a crowd that listens, he wants disciples who follow. And sometimes the next miracle in your life isn't another sermon. It's the people, the right people walking beside you as Jesus continues to open your heart, your mind, your faith, and your life. He has done all things well. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I mean, believe me, I'm telling you.