Mark 7:31-37 - Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

The prevailing modern theory on the origins of the four gospels is that Mark was first and that Matthew and Luke took Mark’s basic outline and shaped it into their own image. So according to this theory Mark wrote first, then Matthew and Luke/Acts, then John. 

The first three gospels, of course, are known as the synoptic gospels because they follow roughly the same outline and cover many of the same events. John’s gospel has a different outline and covers many different events, in some cases filling in gaps left by the previous writers. 

Think of the gospels as witnesses in a court room. Each writer tells the story from his own perspective, emphasizing what is important to him, writing for the purpose of convincing his prospective audience to believe in and become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

Mark is the shortest of the gospels and if it was first then that does make sense, because Matthew and Luke then become sort of expansions of his more concise telling of the story. But that's an oversimp-lification. The truth is that in some cases Mark gives more detail than Matthew or Luke when covering the same event. And sometimes Mark includes stories that are completely ignored by Matthew, Luke, and John. Such is the case with this one.

What we have in these seven verses is one of three pericopes unique to Mark’s gospel. Matthew gives a brief allusion to it, but without details. It is a miracle story told in parabolic form. In other words, the incident is recounted in a way specifically designed to convey deeper truth than what lies on the surface. So Mark tells the miracle truthfully, as it happened, but he also manages to craft it in terms that paint for us a larger picture and remind us of larger truths. In this miracle Jesus is revealing himself to us clearly--if we have eyes to see it.

Below you will find a link to the audio from the sermon I preached from this text. The sermon was just short of 27 minutes long. I hope you will take the time to listen and perhaps see Jesus in a greater way than ever before. God bless you.



Click here: Mark 7:31-37 - Jesus Heals a Deaf Man


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