Jesus Gets Dirty
And kind of gross, too. But he doesn't seem bothered.
We’re still in the season of Easter. Today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Blessings to you as you receive life again today through the resurrected Christ.
Jesus could perform a miracle with a spoken word. And from a distance. He just did it for the Greek woman’s daughter in our previous passage.
And yet in today’s, he gets his hands dirty to heal a man. Did he need to do this? Stick his fingers in the guy’s ear? Make a saliva mixture? It’s earthy and intimate.
Who knows if he needed to. But Mark doesn’t seem as concerned with the mechanics of healing as he is with its embodiment. There’s something happening here — not just power, but presence.
It’s hard not to think of Genesis. God created with dirt — forming humanity from the dust of the earth, breathing into nostrils, bringing life through mess and breath and touch. Jesus does something similar here. This isn’t magic; it’s incarnational. Healing not from afar, but with contact, with breath, with flesh.
This is a God who doesn’t just speak restoration into existence, but who enters it. Who touches broken ears. Who sighs alongside our pain. Who reaches into what’s stopped and says, Be opened.
And maybe that’s the word for us today — not just for the ears and the mouth of this one man, but for our own hearts, our assumptions, our barriers to grace: Be opened.
Mark 7:31-37
After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities. Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing. Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.” At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly.
Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone. But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news. People were overcome with wonder, saying, “He does everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can’t speak.”
Psalm 146:6-10
God: the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever, who gives justice to people who are oppressed, who gives bread to people who are starving!
The Lord: who frees prisoners.
The Lord: who makes the blind see.
The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
The Lord: who loves the righteous.
The Lord: who protects immigrants, who helps orphans and widows, but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!
The Lord will rule forever! Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!
Praise the Lord!
Prayer
God,
Thank you for Sundays. Prepare me to receive you all the more today as I gather with your Church.
I pray for your Church everywhere. Surprise us. Move in us. Rebuke us. Make us dirty. Make us clean. Move us to Christ-like action. We are quite unwilling to get our hands dirty, so do what you need to. Make us his Church.
Holy Father of all creation, I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit and in Christ, make me more like him.
Amen.