Ephphatha is quite an interesting word. The first time my eyes passed over this word nothing struck me about it other than its oddness. It was not until Rick Dake explained the story in the book of Mark that I was able to understand the great meaning. Jesus told the deaf mute in Aramaic to "be opened".
Can you imagine having never heard a sound before in your life and first thing you hear is Christ saying "be opened". I like to think it was something like the experience Lucy had in the first book of the Narnia series as she had only known a drab old room with a wardrobe in it. Little did either person realize that on the other side of the opening was a world full of excitement and danger.
Without the ability to hear, this man never experienced things like music, the ocean's crashing waves, or birds chirping. He also never experienced the harshness of mean words, shreaking screams, or cruel whispers. Jesus opened this man's world to exponential new possiblilities. Some of which would be very uncomfortable. He was accustomed to a certain way of things. The ability to hear was something this man had probably dreamed of, yet when God granted him his heart's desire, he had plenty of new uncomfortable things he had to get used to.
When entering into a relationship with Christ, we are opened to a whole new world of possibilities. To be opened to Christ is to be opened to life. One thing to remember is that with new life in Christ come the death of your old life. We don't change into a whole new personality. We change into a whole new life perspective and pursuit. The beauty in being opened by Christ is the gain of purpose in life. Without that purpose we wander aimlessly, making decisions based on feeling and short term gratification. My aimless wandering is over. Time to let the new me Ephphatha!
Can you imagine having never heard a sound before in your life and first thing you hear is Christ saying "be opened". I like to think it was something like the experience Lucy had in the first book of the Narnia series as she had only known a drab old room with a wardrobe in it. Little did either person realize that on the other side of the opening was a world full of excitement and danger.
Without the ability to hear, this man never experienced things like music, the ocean's crashing waves, or birds chirping. He also never experienced the harshness of mean words, shreaking screams, or cruel whispers. Jesus opened this man's world to exponential new possiblilities. Some of which would be very uncomfortable. He was accustomed to a certain way of things. The ability to hear was something this man had probably dreamed of, yet when God granted him his heart's desire, he had plenty of new uncomfortable things he had to get used to.
When entering into a relationship with Christ, we are opened to a whole new world of possibilities. To be opened to Christ is to be opened to life. One thing to remember is that with new life in Christ come the death of your old life. We don't change into a whole new personality. We change into a whole new life perspective and pursuit. The beauty in being opened by Christ is the gain of purpose in life. Without that purpose we wander aimlessly, making decisions based on feeling and short term gratification. My aimless wandering is over. Time to let the new me Ephphatha!
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