Marc. 7, 31-37.
And going out again from the borders of Tyri and Sidon, he came to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the border of the ten cities. And they brought unto him a dove that was dumb, and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him. And he took him from the people specially, and put his fingers in his ears, and spit, and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, Hephatha, that is, open thyself. And straightway his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed, and he spake aright. And he forbade them, that they should tell no man. But the more he forbade, the more they spread it abroad. And were astonished at the measure, and said: He hath made all things well: he maketh the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak.
This is a poor and light gospel, because it does no more than tell of the miraculous work that the Lord did here on the dumb and deaf man. Of this and other such miraculous signs your love often hears in the year that Christ has shown Himself and let it be seen that He is the Savior who wants to help and assist us against the devil's wrath. Therefore, we may give special thanks to God for such a blessing, that he has given us such a man, who wants to help us out of pure grace, against everything that the devil can inflict on us.
For the fact that this poor man is so injured that he can neither use his tongue nor his ears like other people, these are all blows and stings of the wretched devil. In the eyes of the world, it seems that everyone thinks they are natural infirmities; for the world does not know the devil, that he causes so much harm, makes people mad and foolish, causes them all kinds of misfortune, not only in the body but also in the soul, so that they die of fear and sadness and can have no joy; but we Christians should believe that such defects and infirmities are nothing else but the devil's blows; he causes such misery on earth and does harm wherever he can.
3 Therefore, we should thank our dear Lord God that He took care of our affliction and gave His Son, our
*) Held in the house, 1533.
He has sent the Lord Christ Jesus to help this poor man and has also graciously protected us so that we are not also afflicted with the same plague of the evil enemy. For every man, if he has healthy eyes, ears, hands, feet and other limbs, should believe that it is not a natural, harmless growth, as the world sees it; but it is only the gift of God. But because the world does not believe this, but, because it is so common, considers it to be a naturally bad thing, God must sometimes allow this to happen, so that the devil makes someone dumb and deaf, blind or even kills someone, so that everyone may learn that God has allowed the devil to do this, and thank God all the more diligently for having so graciously protected us from such evil.
4 It is also the work of the devil to blind the hearts with false doctrine, so that they will not see or accept the truth. But all God's works are good, for he is good and creates nothing but what is good. The devil, however, is evil; therefore, where God has decreed it for him, he does no good. Like a tree that bears beautiful good apples, but when the vermin come and destroy it, the fruit becomes wormy and perishes. This is not the fault of our Lord God, who created the tree good, nor of the tree and the fruit, but of the worms and the vermin.
So it is with us humans, too. God
is a God of life, therefore he gives a healthy body and fine, dexterous limbs. But the devil, wherever he can, and God has given him such, he corrupts the body and does harm. Therefore, we should learn what such evil reflects on us, that it is the devil's sting, which is bitterly hostile to all people, but especially to Christians, and does no good.
Now it is terrible that the wicked, evil, powerful enemy should cause so much distress. But against this we are comforted in today's gospel, of a certain help against such an enemy. For there we see, as John says 1 John 3:8, that the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. Because the devil came to paradise to break the work of our Lord God and to make disobedient evil men out of the holy, pious people, Adam and Eve, and he succeeded in such an attempt, the Son of God thought again how he could take revenge on his enemy. He therefore became a man and made whole and better what the devil had broken; he also broke the devil's work, sin, death and hell, and, as we see here, he loosed the tongues that the devil had bound and opened the ears that he had stopped up. Christ came to do this work, and does it for and for among his Christians, as we will hear further on. Let this be said of the miraculous sign and work of our Lord Christ, so that he has shown himself today to be a helper of the wretched, and to heal all the afflictions that the devil has brought upon us, and to deliver us from his tyranny.
7 By this miraculous work the Lord also wants to show us how these two things especially belong to a Christian, that his ears are opened and his tongue loosed; and that he wants to practice this work daily in his church against the devil. The bodily benefit, that he gives healthy ears and tongue, he also lets happen to the heathen; but with the Christians alone goes this spiritual benefit, that he spiritually opens their ears and loosens their tongue. For this is ever certain, that all our blessedness
We have the truth only through the word of God. What else would we know of God, of the Lord Christ and His sacrifice, and of the Holy Spirit? Therefore, this is still today the greatest miracle and highest blessing, to whom God gives such an ear that gladly hears His word, and a tongue that honors God and does not blaspheme.
(8) Our opponents, the papists, are a thousand times more wretched than this mute here. For they have deaf ears; and though they hear God's word, yet they cannot and will not hear it. Just as we see in the case of the unbelieving Jews: when our dear Lord Christ preached the most beautiful sermon about the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, they became mad and foolish, not only not wanting to hear it, but also blaspheming. So all those who do not want to hear God's word are still deaf and dumb, and much more yearly than this poor man here. For they cannot do anything else with their tongues but blaspheme God and speak the worst of His word, the highest treasure. But those who gladly hear God's word, and to whom Christ says, as here to the mute, "Hephatha," ear, you shall stand open: these are they who are rightly helped against the devil. For God has shown us no other way on which we can go to heaven, but his dear word, the holy gospel. Whoever hears it gladly, heeds it diligently, and loves and enjoys it, is helped. This is the one miraculous work that still goes on daily in Christianity, that our ears, which the devil has blocked through sin, are opened again through the Word, that we hear God's Word.
(9) The other thing is, that he also stirreth up the tongue, and maketh us to speak, as Paul saith Romans 10:10: "If a man believe with his heart, he shall be justified; and if he confess with his mouth, he shall be saved." Through faith in Christ we come to forgiveness of sins. Then confession must follow, that we are not dumb, but speak as we believe in our hearts. This then makes a true Christian; all other works do not make a Christian.
(10) It may well be that a monk fasts and watches, and hurts his body.
for a Christian: but by this he cannot become a Christian; for he lacks that, that he is still deaf and dumb. He will not hear the word, much less confess it. But a Christian hears, and believes, and afterwards confesses. These two things make a Christian whole. So our dear Lord Christ is still doing this work daily in his church, in the spirit and through the word; which work he did there bodily, so that he might be seen to help us against all the harm the devil does to us, but especially against spiritual harm, so that we might believe in him and learn to put our hope in him.
Now we must also see what the Lord means by the special splendor here. The people bring the poor man to him and ask him to lay his hands on him. So he approaches him, leads him away from the people, puts his fingers in his ears, pricks them out and stirs his tongue with them. Then he looks up to heaven, sighs and says: "Hephatha. All of this is a special gift that the Lord performs especially in this miraculous work. Since we have now heard what it is to be quite dumb and deaf, we must also see why the Lord wanted to use a special ceremony or ostentation for this miraculous work, when he could have accomplished such a work with a few words. For we see through and through in the gospel that it is only a matter of a word; when he wants something, it happens.
(12) But the Lord is doing so much for the sake of spiritual miracles. For he wants to show how much effort it takes to make a deaf man hear and a dumb man speak. He wakes up Lazarum with one word. To the gouty man he says: "Get up and walk"; there he was already helped. But with this deaf and dumb man here he does not deal so briefly and badly; but needs a special gesture, that he reaches into his ears with his fingers, and with the saliva stirs his tongue before, looks up to heaven, and sighs; then first of all he says: "Arise"; to indicate to us, if we want to be freed from the devil's bonds, and a
If we are to have a ready tongue and open pure ears, it must be through the outward word or ministry, and through outward signs. For we must first hear the word, and then not leave baptism and sacrament behind; then the Holy Spirit will be present to make ears and tongue free.
(13) Therefore, beware of the evil spirits, who despise the outward word and sacrament, and wait until God speaks to them in their heart. No, says Christ, there is my finger, the outward word, which must resound in the ears. There is my saliva, which must stir and moisten the tongues. So my work will be right and finished. As you can see, where the outward word goes right, you will certainly find Christians. Where it does not go right, you will not find any. For as the shepherd is, so are the sheep.
(14) Therefore, let every man think that he may be found on this path and gladly hear the word of God. For God will not reveal Himself without the Word in your heart. If you are to see and know Him, it must be through the Word and the outward sacraments alone; otherwise the Holy Spirit will not do His work. As God teaches us from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, whom you shall hear." Item, Christ commands his disciples: "Go into all the world, teach and baptize all nations"; item: "He who hears you hears me." Then our dear Lord Christ commanded to open one's mouth, preach the gospel to the people, and baptize them. This is the right way, by which we must be saved; otherwise it is all in vain and lost. "He that heareth you," saith he, "heareth me."
(15) After the ministry of preaching, God has also ordained father and mother, lord and lady of the house, and temporal authorities in the government. They are not there for their own sake, but sit in God's stead: you should also hear them, as far as your outward life and all your actions toward others are concerned, and know that when you hear them, you hear God. But if they abuse their office, if they speak against the word of God, and if they command, they shall not be heard.
For you should be more obedient to God than to men. And, as reported, you shall first hear God in the church through His servants; then first of all men, as your father, mother and authorities; what they say to you on account of their office, that God says to you. Therefore also think that you accept it and follow it. Now it is ever true that ours is not a man who thinks he would walk a hundred miles to such a church when our Lord God Himself preached; for everyone would want to hear the voice. But our Lord God says: I will make it nearer to thee, that thou mayest not run so far after: hear thy pastor, thy father and mother, and thou hast heard me; for they are my disciples and ministers; when thou hearest them, then will I speak unto thee in thine heart, as unto this deaf man, that thine ears shall be opened, and thy tongue shall be loosed, and thou shalt henceforth be a hearing and speaking man, no more deaf and dumb, as before.
(16) But how is it done? Children and servants in the house let their parents and rulers preach and say what they want, but they do not do a thing unless they are forced to. It is the same with the authorities, they create and say whatever they want, so you will not find one among hundreds who would seriously think of obeying such an order. Especially now, when it is necessary, for the sake of the great danger Germany is in, that one should be pious and improve oneself, keep to God's word more diligently and beware of all trouble; for this the secular Christian authorities faithfully admonish their subjects. But it will not go away, and the world acts as if it deliberately wanted to be worse than it was before we had the word.
17 Just as it is in the home and in the government, so it is also in the church, that there are very few who listen to the sermon with real earnestness and open their ears properly. Most of the townspeople and peasants are hostile to the church servants, if only they could feel too sorry for them, give nothing and take everything, which they would gladly do with all their hearts, as one unfortunately sees everywhere.
18 Therefore the punishment follows, because one does not want to hear God, who speaks to us through father and mother, through worldly authorities and church servants, that the longer the devil plugs the ears the harder, and the longer the tongue is bound and made heavier, so that one cannot hear God's word, nor speak of it. On the other hand, the devil unplugs the ears, so that one likes to hear his lies, perversions, false teachings, fornication and other things; he also loosens the tongue, so that it blasphemes God and is annoying to everyone. Such a reward tends to follow where one despises the word; and it hardly serves people right, they want it that way and not otherwise. Above this, the temporal plagues will not remain outside, but will certainly follow, as pestilence, war, the Turk and all misfortunes; so that such boys, according to what they have deserved, will receive their punishment, as one can already see before one's eyes. God help us that we may mend our ways and become more pious.
19 This is the reason that the Lord looks up to heaven, sighs, and immediately says in anger: "Hephatha, open yourself. For it grieves him, since God would gladly help and free people from the devil's bonds through his word, that they will not let themselves be helped, and hasten to their own destruction and urge God to punish them.
(20) Therefore let us mark this miraculous work carefully and diligently, and follow the examples of the pious people who praise the Lord Christ here, that he has done all things well, so that the deaf hear and the speechless speak. He still does this, as I said, in Christianity, with his finger and spittle, that is, through the holy sacraments and the outward word that he preaches, so that the ears of the deaf are opened and the speechless are made to speak. By this, and by nothing else, the Holy Spirit wants to have his effect in us. Mark this well, and be all the more diligent to do it; for this is the nearest and surest way that our ears may be opened, and our tongues loosed, and we may be saved. May our dear Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, grant us this, amen.