LHM Daily Devotions - Be Opened

"Be Opened"

Sep. 6, 2018

And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."

~ Mark 7:34 (ESV)

Mark 7 tells the story of the time people brought Jesus a man who could neither hear nor speak. Jesus took him off privately and touched his ears and tongue. Then Jesus said, "Be opened," and the man could speak and hear.

That was a great miracle! Jesus said, "Be opened," and the man's ears and mouth were opened. Nobody had ever seen anything like that before.

But then Jesus tried to do the opposite. He tried to shut the mouths of the onlookers who saw the miracle. The Gospel says, "Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it" (Mark 7:36).

It probably would have been a miracle if Jesus could have shut their mouths! People talk about what they see, especially when it's as wonderful as Jesus' actions. The news went all over the country, and Jesus was mobbed with crowds coming to Him.

How about us? Jesus doesn't say "Be quiet" to us. Instead, He says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Jesus kept His promise and sent the Holy Spirit to live in His people on Pentecost. Now all of us have the privilege of telling others about the wonderful things Jesus has done -- for us, and for them, too.

We are the people Jesus has rescued through His love. We know what He has done for us -- how God came into our world as a human baby, born into a poor family, utterly dependent on the very people He made. As a child, He became a refugee in another country. As a man, He was homeless and poor. He traveled around teaching and healing thousands of people like this man. Jesus faced the hatred of the religious leaders of His day, and eventually submitted to arrest, torture, and execution. All this He did because it was how God planned to rescue us from sin and evil, breaking the power of the devil over us. Who else but our God would choose to save people in such a humble, painful way as that?

But that isn't the end of the story. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. Death's doors are open now, and they will never be shut again. Everyone who trusts in Jesus has His promise that we, too, will rise again and come out through those open doors into the kingdom of God He has promised us. We will live forever in joy and peace with God our Savior.

This is what Jesus has done for us, closing the way to hell and opening the doors of heaven to all who believe. Truly, "He has done all things well" (Mark 7:37).

THE PRAYER: Dear Father, give me the Holy Spirit and open my mouth to tell others about what Your Son Jesus has done for us. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus

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Mark 7 tells the story of the time people brought Jesus a man who could neither hear nor speak.