05.42. The Deaf Stammerer Healed
42. — The Deaf Stammerer Healed
"And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue; and, looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man; but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it. And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He path done all things well: he maketh even the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak" (Mark 7:31-37, R.V.). From the neighbourhood of the districts of Tyre and Sidon, the Lord journeyed in the way of His ministry towards the northern shores of the sea of Galilee, leaving behind Him the grateful woman and her delivered daughter as witnesses of His mercy to the stranger who had sought refuge "within the gates" of Immanuel’s land. This tour in its circuit brought Him through Decapolis, where His fame as the Prophet of Nazareth had been previously spread abroad. For it was in this locality that the healed demoniac of Gadara proclaimed the love and power of Jesus his Deliverer. In the fulness of his gratitude the restored man had sought to follow the Lord when He crossed the sea, but was not permitted, but bidden to go home to his friends and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him, and what mercy He had shown him. And we are expressly told that this disciple thereupon published in Decapolis his account of what the Lord was doing, with the result that "all men did marvel (Mark 5:19-20).
Decapolis seems to have been a place where the word of the Sower fell into "good ground," and brought forth fruit abundantly. The name occurs in the comprehensive summary of the labours of the Lord given by Matthew in the early part of his Gospel. Of five districts there mentioned, Decapolis is one of those where multitudes were gathered by His ministry; the others being Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and "beyond Jordan" (Matthew 4:23-25). For this territory was the Galilee of the Gentiles, concerning whose inhabitants Isaiah prophesied: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" (Isaiah 9:2). This benighted neighbourhood was at that time a very populous one. Modern explorers of Galilee find evidence of crowded cities and villages spread over wide areas in the northern territory, so that the extent Of the population in the days of the Lord must have been far greater than is usually conceived. And the "large crowds," mentioned by the first Evangelist may therefore be understood from this point of view. Referring to this visit of the Lord to Decapolis mentioned by Mark, Matthew records that thesegreat multitudescame unto Him, bringing with them the dumb, and many others, and He healed them all (Matthew 15:29-31); while Mark specifies one case only. We must not fail, in comparing the two narratives, to note the wide and lavish display of Messianic grace characteristically set forth in Matthew’s account. The people of the Decapolitan district were no doubt much debased by heathen influence, but nevertheless, the Lord, seated on the mountain, received and, in the regal affluence of His power and mercy, blessed all those who thronged to Him. Matthew’s record (to which we may again refer) is that great multitudes came unto Him, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others, and laid them down at the feet of Jesus, and He healed them all; while this gracious and abundant exercise of the prerogative of mercy by the King of the Jews so moved the populace that they glorified the "God of Israel" (Matthew 15:29-31).
Mark, however, does not summarise the manifold activities of the Lord in this locality as Matthew does, but selects a single typical instance, which he narrates in much detail, portraying the Patient and Faithful Servant of Jehovah in His unutterable love, concerned intimately in the individual case before Him, and displaying the utmost interest and pains in the exercise of His healing grace.
It is noteworthy that this miracle and that of the opening of the eyes of the blind man of Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26) are two which are mentioned in the Gospel of Mark only. Both miracles were wrought privately, and do not appear to have a special sign-character to the nation like those which were given a more public display. The Deaf Stammerer
Here then we learn that some unnamed friends brought to Jesus a man who was deaf, and who also had an impediment in his speech. The afflicted person was without a sense of hearing, and if he was not absolutely mute, he was unable to speak intelligibly because of some defect in the organs of articulation. Previously to this occasion the Lord had cured many deaf persons (Matthew 11:5;Luke 7:22), and subsequently He cast a dumb and deaf spirit out of a lad at the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:25). The friends implored Jesus to lay His hands upon the sufferer, as Jairus also, on behalf of his little daughter, besought the Lord to do; though the latter, in his paternal distress was the more importunate, for he besought Jesus "greatly," saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; I pray thee that thou come and lay thy hands on her that she may be made whole and live" (Mark 5:23).
It was a way of the Lord to adopt this gracious attitude in the bestowal of blessing. In the early days of His ministry, when the crowds came to Him at Capernaum for succour, He laid hands upon all who were needing relief: "And when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them unto him: and he laid his hands upon:every one of them, and healed them" (Luke 4:40). On another occasion He "laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them" (Mark 6:5). Similarly, He laid His hands upon the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:23; Mark 8:26), and upon the bowed woman (Luke 13:13).
Love and sympathy were conveyed by this act, but not necessarily the power of cure, for this went with His word and will, as we see from those instances in which He sent forth His word and healed, even at a distance. This distinction is of importance to note always, for there are still many who erroneously attach a primary value to the formal act of this nature on the part of those who unwarrantably claim to be the Lord’s delegates for the purpose. The Way of the Lord in this Healing
1918 88 The Lord displayed a special, personal interest in this case of the deaf stammerer, and the record shows very fully how the Lord performed this cure, and how deeply He was affected by the sad condition of the sufferer. It is interesting to note in the next chapter that a similar fulness of detail is found in the narrative of the other miracle peculiar to this Gospel. There is also a general correspondence in the Lord’s procedure in the two cases, as may be seen from the following comparison of the sevenfold descriptions of the recorded actions and words, though it also reveals peculiarities in each of the cases.
Placing the clauses of the two accounts side by side, we find that the Lord —
1. took the deaf man aside, 1. took the blind man by the hand,
2. put His fingers into his ears, 2. led him out of the town,
3. spat, 3. spat on his eyes,
4. touched his tongue, 4. put His hands on him,
5. looked up to heaven, 5. inquired whether he saw,
6. sighed, 6. put His hands again on his eyes,
7. said, Ephphatha (Mark 7:33-34). 7. made him look up (Mark 8:23-25).
Taking the features which are analogous, the Lord in both instances,
(a) healed privately,
(b) touched the afflicted members,
(c) spat,
(d) spake.
But, distinctively, the Lord, in the first instance, looked up, sighed, and said, "Ephphatha"; and in the latter case He took the man by the hand, inquired whether he saw after He put hands on him, and made him look up. Thus, there is general agreement in four of the clauses, and differences in three. A few remarks upon these various points are offered by way of suggestion.
(1)Privacy.The Lord took the deaf man aside(kat idian)This Greek phrase is used in several instances in the Gospels, and is variously translated "apart," "privately," "when alone," as well as "aside." On seven occasions the Lord sought privacy for Himself alone, or in company with a few of His disciples, separately from the multitudes. They were as follows: —
(1) when He went into the mountain to pray (Matthew 14:23);
(2) when He called His disciples into a desert place to rest awhile (Matthew 14:13;Mark 6:31-32;Luke 9:10);
(3) when He took Peter, James and John into the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1;Mark 9:2);
(4) when He expounded the parables to the disciples (Mark 4:34);
(5) when He impressed upon the disciples their exceptional privileges (Luke 10:23);
(6) when He instructed His disciples concerning His coming death (Matthew 20:17);
(7) when He took the deaf man aside for healing (Mark 7:34). In addition to these, there are two instances of the use of the same phrase, when the disciples sought the Lord in private, viz. —
(1) when they failed to cast out a demon (Matthew 17:19;Mark 9:28);
(2) when they inquired concerning the future (Matthew 24:3;Mark 13:3). From these references, as well as from other instances where the exact Greek phrase under consideration is not used, though the occasion was similar, it appears that retirement was sought by the Lord (1) at specially solemn epochs in His ministry in order that they might be spent in communion with His Father, and (2) for the communication of such instruction as was of particular interest and special importance to the disciples as distinct from the crowds. It was on such occasions that the apostles were prepared for their future service in the world as the Lord’s witnesses, when He Himself should be absent. In the present case it would certainly be for the man’s own moral and spiritual benefit that he should be alone with the Divine Healer, while the Lord, with delicate regard for the acute sensibilities common to most persons so afflicted, spared him in this way from the coarse and curious gaze of the gaping mob. With a similar observance of due propriety in circumstances of solemnity and sorrow, He removed the hired mourners from the death-chamber of the daughter of Jairus. While in a matter of moral wrong and personal offence, the Lord taught His disciples the value of a private interview, enunciating His golden rule for the adjustment of differences between man and man: "If thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone" (Matthew 18:15).
If privacy has its value in an interview between man and man, how much more was this so when the interview was between the man and His Saviour? There were spiritual impressions of the rarest character to be received as well as a physical benefit. The Messiah of Israel was present; was it not important that the man should experience for himself the loving regard which He showed in the case of every individual sufferer? Such an experience would be ineffaceable. Hence the deaf man was taken apart from the curious crowd and from his excited friends, so that his attention might not be distracted from the Master, and that His demeanour, His words and His doings, in their full sweetness and power, might ever live in his memory.
(2) The touch. The kindly friends besought the Lord to lay hands upon the man. Accordingly, when He had gone aside privately with him, He put His fingers into the deaf ears, and touched the fettered tongue. Without pretending to assign specific motives to the Master for these actions, we may surely, without presumption, learn from the incident how thoroughly the Lord in His exquisite sympathy placed Himself in contact with the infirmities of those whom He blessed. If in Him there had been power alone, He might have exhibited it from afar, but there was love also, and this in its exercise must be near at hand.
Hence the Saviour in His compassion came near enough to touch the ear and the tongue, that in an undisturbed privacy the deaf and the dumb might learn the marvellous ways of the God of love present to restore His sin-blighted creation. For the divine love for the sinner was even more wonderful than the divine power to heal. Had He not, by that same power, first fashioned the organs of hearing and speech? Should He not therefore well understand how to recover them when their functions were deranged? The Lord therefore touched, communicating healing and strength, but contracting no defilement. It was as the touch of the sunlight upon the noisome places of the earth, which vivifies and purifies, but is never soiled. In the service of His healing mercy, Messiah fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:17).
(3) The upward look and the sigh. With His hands upon the five loaves and two fishes, the Lord had looked up to heaven and blessed, and thereupon the tiny store of food was multiplied to satisfy the famished multitude (Mark 6:41). Here with His hands, as it were, upon the ears of the deaf and the tongue of the dumb, He looked up to heaven and sighed. As food and gladness are associated gifts of God (Acts 14:17), awakening thanksgiving, so sickness is accompanied by sadness and sorrow, which are audibly expressed by sighing.* The perfect adaptability of Christ is seen in each of the two instances. Looking up to heaven was His habit, whether the occasion called for joy or grief. We also see that while He rejoiced to dispense divine bounties to the hungry and the weary, He mourned to see before Him the mutilated image of God without a tongue to bless His Maker’s name,or ears to hear the voice of His Sent One.
{*Sighing is an involuntary emotion, usually arising from internal causes.}
Heaven, as we learn from the Lord’s attitude is the only resource for the sin-stricken earth. There the Father is, and thence His kingdom will in due course come. Meanwhile, the presence of sin abides below, and sighing over its grievous fruits is the lot of all, wittingly or unwittingly. The prevalence of this under-current of sadness the apostle expressed when he declared that "the whole creation groaneth [lit., is sighing] and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only so, but ourselves also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan [lit., are sighing] within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:22-23). In another Epistle, Paul wrote, referring to the body and its infirmities, "In this we groan [sigh] . . . for we that are in this tabernacle do groan [are sighing], being burdened" (2 Corinthians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 5:4) * It is to be observed that in each of these instances the Spirit, in conformity with the action of our Lord in the presence of the deaf man, directs the eye of hope upwards for that release from bodily imperfection to be granted when the Father’s kingdom shall come.
(4)The word of authority.Following His touch of sympathy, the Lord uttered His word of command, Ephphatha. The Servant of Jehovah, in the plenitude of His rights as the Son of God, spoke, and it was accordingly done, for His word was equally potent to control and to correct as it was to create. Had He not "planted the ear" (Psalms 94:9)? If He made the hearing ear (Proverbs 20:12), should He not cause the deaf ear to hear His voice? Addressing therefore the impotent member rather than the man himself, the Lord said, Be opened, and accordingly the ears of the deaf man were unstopped, and the bond of his tongue loosed, so that he spoke aright. The miracle was wrought in secret, and not as a public sign. Hence the Lord, having opened the ears and mouth of the man brought to Him, gave direction that no one should be told. But this command fell upon the deaf ears of disobedience, for the more He charged this upon them, so much the more a great deal they published it. . . . Being beyond measure astonished they said, "He hath done all things well: he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."
Ears and Tongue in Divine Service
It may be of some help and interest to bring together a few remarks by way of suggestion on the subject of the connection between dumbness and deafness, and of the general analogy in spiritual things presented by them. The subject of service, too, has a direct bearing upon the special feature of the Second Gospel.
Deafness and dumbness are frequently associated as disorders in the same person, and, except in cases where there is malformation in the organs of speech, inability to speak is the direct result of an inability to hear. So that, generally speaking, the deaf man is also dumb. And, in consulting the various occurrences in the New Testament of the word kophos, usually in the A.V. rendered "deaf," we find that in some instances it is translated "dumb."
Thus, in the case of a certain demoniac brought to Jesus for healing, we read, "They brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out the dumb spake" (Matthew 9:32-33; Luke 11:14). Literally, in these instances the word "dumb" might be translated "deaf," the fact being that the man was both deaf and dumb.
Take the case of another demoniac. A father came to Jesus with his lad, saying to Him, "I have brought unto thee my son which path a dumb (alalon) spirit." But the boy appears to have been deaf as well as dumb, and presumably he was dumb because he was deaf: At any rate, the Lord, in ejecting the demon, addressed him as, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit (to alalon kai kophon) (Mark 9:17; Mark 9:25). It will be noticed that in the narrative of this incident a distinct Greek word (alalos) is translated "dumb."
Further, the dumb persons in the Decapolitan region who were made to speak by the Lord’s power were, according to the literal translation of the description, deaf (Matthew 15:30-31). Also, Zacharias became speechless(kophos),but it is clear from Luke’s account that he was deaf at the same time (cp.Luke 1:22with Luke 1:62). In connection with these foregoing examples of Scriptural usage, it may be useful to quote from modern encyclopaedias the following extracts, which present the intimate relation of deafness and dumbness from a physiological standpoint. One authority states: "It is not an uncommon supposition that deaf mutes are dumb on account of some vocal or organic defect, whereas the dumbness arises, with very rare exception, from the deprivation of hearing caused by some natural or accidental disease." Another says: "Dumbness is the consequence of deafness. Children ordinarily hear sounds, and then learn to imitate them,i.e.,they learn to repeat what they hear other persons say. It is thus that every one of us has learned to speak. But the deaf child hears nothing; it cannot therefore imitate, and remains dumb. . . . The ear is the guide and directress of the tongue; and when the ear is doomed to perpetual silence, the tongue is included in the ban: though if we could by any means give to the ear the faculty of hearing, the tongue would soon learn for itself to fulfil its proper office. To correct the error involved in this apparent misnomer, some authorities use the termdeafsimply, others speak of thedeaf-dumbanddeaf-mute.The latter term is common in America, as in France is its equivalentSounds-muets.In the Holy Scriptures the same original word is translated ’deaf’ in some places (as inMark 7:32) and ’dumb’ or ’speechless’ in others (seeMatthew 9:33andLuke 1:22)."
It is therefore well-established that the function of speech is dependent upon the function of hearing, and in order to communicate rightly to others it is necessary to hear well. The two faculties are indispensable to a person who acts as a medium between one and another.* {*Written communications are in a different category, and are obviously not in question here.}
Applying this principle in the spiritual plane, the faithful and useful servant would be the one whose ear and voice are so accurately attuned that he transmits without failure the exact message he receives. Accordingly, Jehovah, in commissioning Jeremiah to be His prophet, said to him, "Whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak" (Jeremiah 1:7). Also, the Lord, when sending forth the twelve Apostles, said to them, "What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops" (Matthew 10:27;Luke 12:3). The Apostle Paul writes in one of his epistles, "I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you" (1 Corinthians 11:23). And again, John writes similarly, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard . . . of the word of life . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you" (1 John 1:1-3). In the Apocalypse the Lord’s "servant John" (as he terms himself in the first verse) on about thirty different occasions states his record to be what he "heard." The Son as Hearer and Speaker The Incarnate Son of God in the exercise of His office of Mediator between God and man was pleased to exhibit an absolute dependence upon God in the presentation of the grace and truth that came by Him. His ear and His tongue were ever in perfect accord with the’ divine will with respect to His service. This obedient attitude was fore-determined in the eternal counsels when the Son voluntarily elected to take the place of the coming Servant to do the will of God with great delight. The Holy Spirit revealed this secret planning in one of the Psalms: "Mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalms 40:6-8). This great purpose, originating in eternity, was fulfilled by the incarnation of the Son and by His sacrifice, as the apostle expressly declared (Hebrews 10:5-10). The marvellous spirit of meek submission assumed by the Creator Son is also the subject of one of the prophecies of Isaiah. Looking forward in the power of the inspiring Spirit, he saw that the ear of the Servant of Jehovah would be opened continually to receive directions from the Lord God, and His tongue guided from on high to speak the words of divine comfort. The beautiful passage runs thus: "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary; he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back" (Isaiah 50:4-5). The New Testament records the fulfilment of these predictions, for in the Gospels the acts of the Lord Jesus all testify how He "emptied Himself," and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And in the Fourth Gospel especially, where the Son of God stands most revealed of the four, there are writ ten many of His own verbal testimonies to this subjection of His own will to that of the Father.
Thus, surveying at its close the execution of His earthly mission, the Son, in the outpouring of His heart to the Father, declared, "The sayings which thou gavest me I have given them" (John 17:8). Similarly, the Lord instructed His disciples concerning the true source of that stream of heavenly wisdom which had come down to them: "All things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you": "The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me" (John 15:5; John 14:24). To the Jews the Lord testified that God was then speaking to them in a manner different from the days of old, for they were, in His teaching, listening to the Son (Hebrews 1:1), who had assumed a relation of obedience for this purpose. On one occasion He said to them, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me" (John 7:16). Again, "the things which I have heard of him [the Father], these speak I unto the world": "For I speak not from myself; but the Father which sent me he hath given me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak" (John 8:26;John 12:49).
These passages all combine to show that the Servant-Prophet in His work as Jehovah’s Spokesman to the nation was Himself first of all the Hearer of God, illustrating thereby for all time the essential nature of true and approved service. So absolutely was this attribute true of the Lord, that even when speaking of the exercise of the divine prerogative of judging which the Father had committed to Him as Son of man, He said, "As I hear, I judge." The whole passage reads, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just: because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent me" (John 5:30).
Israel a Deaf Servant The term "servant" is frequently used in Scripture with reference to persons commissioned by God for the performance of some special duties for Him. Amongst others it is applied to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Job, and even to the first great head of Gentile dominion, Nebuchadnezzar (Genesis 26:24;Numbers 12:7;Judges 2:8;2 Samuel 7:8;Job 1:8;Jeremiah 25:9;Jeremiah 43:10). Each of these men was called of God to serve Him in some particular capacity. The same term is employed in a national sense with reference to the chosen people of God. As Adam was set in the world to be the representative of his Creator, and to rule for Him over the works of His hands, so Israel was elected from’ among all other nations to be the accredited representative of Jehovah in the earth. They were formally appointed as a people to execute certain important functions of direct service to the Lord. This high purpose with regard to the seed of Abraham was clearly enunciated by Jehovah to Moses in mount Sinai, when He said, "For unto me the children of Israel are servants: they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 25:42; Leviticus 25:55). This national relationship was recalled by Isaiah in words which Jehovah spoke to the people through him: "But thou Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend; thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant" (Isaiah 41:8-9; cp. alsoIsaiah 44:1-2). Accordingly, this favoured people, in their capacity as God’s agents, were made the recipients and custodians of His holy oracles, the exponents of the worship of the One and Only Deity, and the seat of Jehovah’s earthly government among the nations of mankind. In consequence of the service due from them in these and in other respects, it was necessary that Israel should be faithful to this trust and obedient to all the precepts of Him who dwelled between the cherubim in their Holy of holies. The people, however, did not possess a circumcised ear for the messages which came to them from on high. Their attention was continually claimed by Jehovah, and the great declarations by Him when they became the repository of the divine law were prefaced by that significant formula which they vainly made their boast: "Hear, O Israel" (Deuteronomy 5:1;Deuteronomy 6:3-4;Deuteronomy 9:1;Deuteronomy 20:3). But Israel was deaf to all the revelations made. Their condition of irresponsiveness to the divine communications is the charge brought against them by the prophet Isaiah, who said to the Servant-nation, "Thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened" (Isaiah 48:8). Again, deploring their spiritual deadness, the same prophetic messenger said, "Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I send? his ears are open, but he heareth not" (Isaiah 42:18-20). They had a separate and favoured position given them as a nation, and they are accordingly described as the "blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears" (Isaiah 43:8), inasmuch as they utterly failed to utilize the privileges and opportunities afforded them.
Clearly then, the Jews were spirituallyincapableof hearing the voice of God, even as the Lord said to them, "Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word" (John 8:43). Still mere inability to hear was not a condition without remedy. There was a Great Physician for those who were not obdurate. He had come to make such as were not wilfully deaf "hear joy and gladness." Did not the prophetic Spirit of Christ invite the nation to listen to the voice of mercy? saying "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live" (Isaiah 4:3). And when Messiah was present in Jerusalem, He said, "The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25). But in addition to those who were so incapable of hearing that they are even described as "dead," there were those whowouldnot hear. They were deaf also, but wilfully so. Like the deaf adder, they deliberately stopped their ears (Psalms 58:4;Isaiah 33:15;Zechariah 7:11), lest they should hear the words of wisdom and truth and life spoken unto them by the Great Prophet of God. They were the rebellious people who had ears to hear but heard not (Jeremiah 17:23;Ezekiel 12:2). This obstinate refusal on the part of the Jews to hear their Messiah aggravated their guilt to the utmost, as the Lord declared, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin" (John 15:22). The stage of wilful deafness is followed by serious results. For Scripture speaks of a third category which consists of those who, having refused to hear the word of God, become subject to the terrible infliction of a judicial deafness. Having exceeded the limits of the divine forbearance by closing their ears in the day of their visitation, they are no longer permitted to hear.
Isaiah warned the people of Israel that such a judgment would come upon them if they failed to receive the messages of Jehovah. The sentence pronounced upon them would be, "Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy . . . lest they hear with their ears . . . and be healed" (Isaiah 6:10). This solemn prophecy is cited by each of the four Evangelists in connection with the stubborn unbelief of the Jews in the face of the Lord’s teaching and miraculous signs (Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11-12; Luke 8:10; John 12:37-40).*
John, however, views their conduct in a stage subsequent, as it were, to their wilfulness. Having hardened their own hearts, their hearts are there-upon hardened penally. They would not believe, therefore they could not believe. John’s words are emphatic that a judicial infliction from God had fallen upon the people. He says, "For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and should turn, and I should heal them" (John 12:39-40). This quotation is made from the Hebrew text of Isaiah, where the ultimate result of unbelief upon the nation is the prominent theme.
It will be observed that only a part of the original prophecy is quoted in the Fourth Gospel, and that the clause relating to their hearing is not included. From the context we see that the Evangelist is speaking of the signs of Jesus rather than of His teaching (Mark 7:37), and His miracles were for the eyes of the people while His doctrine was for their ears. John brings forward therefore only the clauses referring to their eyes and heart, which God had blinded and hardened because of their stubborn opposition to the gospel of the kingdom. But the principle of judicial penalty is equally applicable to the ear, as the actual form of the prophecy of Isaiah shows. The Sea of Galilee. As this occasion is the last one in which the Sea of Galilee is mentioned in this Gospel, it may be of interest and help for further study to bring together the various passages where the name occurs. They serve at any rate to show how large a portion of the recorded ministry of Jesus was exercised in the northern province.
Mark 1:16, walking on its shores, Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John;
Mark 2:13, Jesus taught the crowds gathered by the seaside;
Mark 3:7, Jesus withdrew to the sea from the plottings of the Pharisees and Herodians;
Mark 4:1, from a boat Jesus taught the people who were assembled on the shore;
Mark 4:39, Jesus stilled the storm upon the sea;
Mark 5:1, Jesus crossed the sea to the country of the Gerasenes;
Mark 5:13, the herd of swine under the impulse of the demons stampeded into the sea;
Mark 5:21, Jesus re-crossed the sea;
Mark 6:47, Jesus walked upon the sea to His disciples during a storm, and stilled it;
Mark 7:31, Jesus returned to the sea of Galilee after His journey to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. This beautiful lake, which is a striking natural feature of the North of Palestine, is only mentioned three timesinthe Old Testament, where it is referred to as the Sea of Chinnereth in connection with the division of the land of Israel among the several tribes (Numbers 34:11;Joshua 12:3;Joshua 13:27).