In today’s gospel reading (Mk 7:31-37) we hear of the curing of a deaf person. It’s nicely introduced by a reading from Isaiah about how God will cure the blind and the deaf, the lame and the mute (Is 35:4-7a). We’ve heard such stories many times and are not surprised by any of this.
But maybe there is a little more in this reading which should surprise us.
Mark reports how Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone about what had happened. Well good luck with that! Why does Jesus give such a pointless instruction – and this is not the only time. Mark often has Jesus tell his disciples not to tell others what they had experienced. It’s very frustrating that he never explains why Jesus says this, since it really doesn’t seem to make any sense. Surely Jesus wants people to know what he is doing? And his healing is one of the things that bring people to him. And doesn’t his healing help to show his power and act as evidence for who he is?
Maybe this is where our perspective is wrong. Jesus isn’t engaged in some sort of campaign to convince people he is the Son of God; he isn’t out to market his achievements; and he isn’t some sort of conjuror pulling miracles out of his hat to entertain people. Maybe this is why the behavior of the crowd frustrates him, even if they are apparently promoting his message “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” They are nevertheless missing the point.
What does Jesus do when the deaf man comes to him begging for help? He doesn’t stand up in front of the crowd and say – look what I can do! Quite the opposite: “He took him off by himself away from the crowd.” As always Jesus is interested in individuals, not crowds. Even the link to Isaiah’s prophecy is a little misleading. If we make it too directly we would have Isaiah saying “Here is your God, … he comes to save you (you just have to wait 700 years)”. The point is that God has already saved us, even before Jesus came on earth, we just didn’t know it (although Isaiah did tell anyone who would listen). For all their awe and wonder, Jesus’s audience should already know what he was trying to tell them. He wanted them to recognize that, not to treat him as some sort of celebrity.
So are we still looking for miracles? Do we feel a little envious of those in past times who apparently saw more than we do of the power of God? I think then Jesus might also be a little frustrated with us: You don’t need more miracles, you know everything there is to know, just believe. If you listen I will speak in your heart, I am with you, I love you. There is nothing more to know.