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The Wow Factor

When preaching, we can often have those “wow” moments. Those “wow” moments are often seeing something that we haven’t seen before. It is having a deeper appreciation of the text in front of us and being struck afresh at the depth and beauty of God’s Word. I am currently preaching through a series in the Gospel of Mark, and there have been many moments where I have been struck afresh by the text, that I have said “wow”. This one here, I felt, needed to be shared.

In Mark 7:31-36, we find Jesus in Gentile territory. He is in the Decapolis, which was traditionally made up of ten Roman cities that were mainly populated by Gentiles, those who weren’t Jews. While he was there, we are told that a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment was brought to Jesus so that Jesus would heal him.

In this scenario, Jesus heals in a profound way. Prior in Mark’s gospel, we have seen Jesus heal with just a word. We have seen people cured with just with a simple touch; even the woman who touched the hem of his clothes was cured of a 12-year disease. Yet this encounter was different, and so it has led me to ask some questions: “Why was Jesus’ touch her so profound? And why did he use spittle?”

According to William Lane in his commentary, “Jesus took the man aside from the crowd in order to establish contact with him. He regarded the personal relationship between himself and the sick to be of supreme importance, and in this instance all of his actions are intelligible in light of the necessity  communicating with a person who had learned to be passive in his life. Through touch and the use of spittle Jesus entered into the mental world of a man and gained his confidence. Jesus stretched open his ears and made it clear to him that he wished to make his tongue alive with own life.”

But we still ask: “Why spittle?” According to R. C. Sproul: “Spittle was classified as an unclean emission in the Jewish purification laws. However, there was a tradition in the ancient world that those who were endowed with healing powers would often use spittle as a medium to communicate that power to the people to whom they ministered.”

What we then see in this account is profound – for me it was a “wow” moment. Jesus not only ministers among the Gentiles, but he also enters into the Gentile world and pastorally cares for these people in a way that speaks to them. In the healing of this man, we  not only see physical healing but pastoral healing. Jesus enters into the Gentile world and cares for this man in a way that would have comforted and reassured him, through that physical touch and the use of spittle. For the Jew, this approach would have been wrong on so many levels, but for this man it would have led him to feel the care and embrace of the Saviour.

Jesus models then for us the best practice for pastoral ministry.  It wasn’t the apostle Paul who first had the idea to adapt his ministry to those who were different (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). Paul rather was modelling his ministry on Jesus. For Jesus became a Jew to win the Jew, and he became like a Gentile to win the Gentiles. Jesus provided care and compassion that would have spoken to this Gentile man. It is therefore an important lesson for each of us: “How should I minister to those in front of me in a way that will pastorally care for them, that will speak to their souls, where the gospel will speak directly into their hearts?”

I hope for you, these verses have given you a deeper appreciation for the ministry of the Lord Jesus, that you likewise have said, “wow.” As we delve deeper into God’s word, we should pray that he will continue to show us many more wonderful things that will make us go, “wow.”

– Michael Riske