Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God…he has come to save you. The above words from the prophet Isaiah constitute the good news of salvation that is the content of the preaching of the prophets. They are words of hope and encouragement, words that men and women long to hear on a daily basis. They are words that, while not belittling the darkness that at times seem to overwhelm the present, nonetheless afford those to whom they are addressed as well as those who hear them a glimmer of hope for a better tomorrow. They are words that were definitely the content of the message of each and every prophet whom the Lord raised and sent as his messengers to the people. They are words that must have been whispered by Jesus every now and then as he ministered to those who came to him. They are words that must have taken on a new meaning to the deaf and mute guy whose healing by Jesus we have heard in today’s Gospel reading.
Although the exact words that Jesus said to the man as he healed him were ‘ Be opened,’ he must have uttered them with the above words from the prophet Isaiah in mind. As he led him away from the crowd in order that they could be alone, and although there might have been a limited attempt at a conversation because of the man’s situation, we can assume that Jesus must have tried to assure him that everything was going to be okay. Despite the man’s inability to hear, Jesus must still have found himself saying to him, “ Be strong and fear no longer, for today is your day of vindication and salvation. Your God has come to save you.” The good news of salvation by the Lord God that had been the subject of the preaching of the prophets took flesh that day in the healing activity of Jesus Christ. To the individual whom Jesus healed, the saving words of the Lord pronounced through the prophets were no longer mere utterances or empty promises. Those saving words were no mere words of prophecy pronounced in the Scripture. In his being healed by Jesus, he had come to touch and behold God’s saving acts. It was this feeling of having experienced salvation that made him to defy Jesus’ command to keep silent about the event. Even the crowd who witnessed the healing were too excited to remain silent. They were particularly impressed by Jesus’ ability to heal the deaf and the mute. It was a special miracle, they said.
Whereas a case can be made for the crowd’s excitement at the healing of the man (although they might have heard about Jesus’ mighty deeds, it can be that this was the first miracle that they witnessed), the relevance of the healing goes deeper than Jesus providing a spectacle for the amusement of the crowd. The healing of the deaf man was a special one because it was symbolic of the entire mission of Jesus. The healing miracles were integral to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus came to restore wholeness. He came to do away with the conditions (physical, spiritual, emotional, social, or psychological) that had become obstacles in the pursuit of eternal life (life with God) that was God’s gift to creation. To the people living in the society of Jesus’ time, being deaf and mute was a real obstacle to living a happy and fulfilled life. Not only was the deaf and mute believed to be possessed by demons, they were also looked upon as “lesser” human beings and as such were restricted in the things they were allowed to do. And so by healing them, Jesus was not only restoring wholeness to them but rather gifting them with a new life. Jesus was re-creating them.
Secondly, the healing of the deaf symbolized the goal goal of the preaching of Jesus: making into one family of God the scattered peoples of the universe. The responsibility for seeing that this goal is successfully carried out has been delegated to Jesus’ disciples. The disciples have been charged by Jesus to proclaim to the ends of the earth the good news of the kingdom. To effectively do this, a disciple must proclaim what he/she has heard from the master. In other words, a disciple must be able to hear and to speak. Since the deaf and mute cannot hear and pass to others the good news about God (symbolically speaking), they consequently cannot be disciples. It was thus important for Jesus to heal his prospective disciples of these two illnesses. As Jesus’ disciples, we have been invited to join him in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. We can do that only if we can hear and speak. We have to be open to receiving God ("be opened") so that we can pass to others the God whom we have received.