"Ephphatha" (be open)

Unity of Birmingham Spiritual Writer's Club Series:

By Jane Phillips

“They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they

begged him to lay his hands on him. Jesus took him aside, away from the crowd, and

put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to

heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha”, that is, ‘be opened’. And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue released, and he spoke plainly.”

Mark 7:31-35

Jesus’ way of healing can only be described as “gritty.” He was a man of the

earth. He spat in the dirt and made a paste for blind eyes, the spat and touched the deaf

man’s tongue, he sighed, he breathed on people. He told them, “your faith has made

you whole…your sins are forgiven…be opened.” He never claimed the healing as his

own work, and in fact, later in this same text, he asked his disciples, “Who do you say

that I am?” as though he, too, felt mystified by his gift of healing.

Jesus said to the deaf man, “be opened.” That injunction is a powerful one—

...be opened so that you can hear and speak clearly.

It is akin to Jesus’ frequent admonition “he who has eyes to see…ears to hear…let him see, let him hear.” It is a call to see and hear with understanding. “Be opened” is the same call—be open in heart and mind so that you can understand with compassion. Open yourself to new information, to new understanding, to differences. Let go of your close-minded certainty.

Jesus was trying to teach his followers that God wanted a different kind of

relationship with humanity; one that included others who were not Hebrew. He

responded to the pleading of a Syrophoenician woman to heal her daughter, at first with

hesitation, but when she persisted, his own heart opened, and her daughter was

healed. When a Roman centurion begged him to heal his servant, Jesus told his

disciples he had not seen such faith in all of Israel, and the servant was healed.

“Be opened” was the guiding principle of Jesus’ ministry. He blessed faith where

he found it, accepted hospitality when it was offered, and taught his disciples to do the

same. He never turned anyone away—clean or unclean, foreign or domestic, leper or

“demon possessed,” even though they were rejected by his culture and condemned by

religious law. Jesus never admonished his followers to “be closed.” There are no

exceptions to grace.

We are invited to do the same. When we are open and accepting of others,

regardless of how different they are or where they came from, when we say that all are

welcome at this table, and healing is free, then Jesus’ spirit is right there, standing with

us. “Be opened” to this blessing.

In the Spirit,

Jane

Jane Philips is a retired Special Education teacher, Licensed Professional Counselor, and Licensed Massage Therapist. She has also lead Spirituality Groups, Wisdom Circles, drumming circles, and she wrote a daily blog for twelve years called Spiritually Speaking.

Jane is currently working on a memoir titled, Old Crazy Town. She is a fifth-generation quilter.