A Deaf Man Hears

Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, worked as a teacher at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. His mother was almost entirely deaf, and Bell eventually married a deaf woman. About 1 in 800 babies are born deaf, but there are dozens of other causes of deafness. Worldwide, about 200,000 deaf people have received cochlear implants, which converts sound into electronic signals. The signals are delivered to the acoustic nerve, which relays them to the hearing center of the brain for interpretation. Though the result is very different from natural sound, it is a great help to many.

Since the deaf man who came to Jesus for help also suffered from a speech impediment, it’s likely that he had been deaf from birth or from a young age. Can you imagine how exciting it must have been for him to suddenly have perfect hearing and speech? It’s likely that the first thing he heard was the voice of his Healer.

Spiritually, we all have speech impediments (we don’t always say the right thing or speak with grace) and we are all deaf to some degree (we don’t always listen as carefully as we should). If we ask Him, God will open our ears to His Spirit and loose our tongues so we can speak His truth plainly and with love.

Key Bible Texts

And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. (Mark 7:32-35 KJV)