Sept 16, 2012 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.
PENTECOST
September
15-17, 2012
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Mark 7:31-37
“HE HAS DONE EVERYTHING WELL!”
1.
Was
said about Jesus.
2.
Can
still be said about Jesus.
3.
Must
be said about Jesus.
How many of you have ever heard
of Helen Keller? She was the lady who had some disease when she was 19 months
that caused her to go blind and deaf. Can you imagine what that must have been
like? Really still a baby. All of the sudden the world changed. That process by
which God imprints language and speech abruptly halted. Ever since I read that
story I’ve wondered how that little brain adapted. How frustrated she must have
felt. But then around age 7 Anne Sullivan entered her life. She was the one who
found the breakthrough to help this blind and deaf girl communicate and grow.
Certainly you could say about her, she did very well.
God’s Word presents us with another
who dealt with some physical problems that come from living in a sin messed
world. Jesus. About him it was said, “He has done everything well!” Why did
they say that?
Mark tells us that Jesus had left the
vicinity of Tyre and Sidon and went to the Decapolis on the Sea of Galilee. If
I could show you on a screen you would see that this area was north of Jesus
homeland and he had gone east around the Sea of Galilee to the south. He was in
Gentile, non Jew, land because they too needed a Savior. These Gentiles had a
natural knowledge of God. They knew they were supposed to love their neighbor.
They had heard something of the power of Jesus and so they brought to Him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.
It’s hard to know what sounds to make when you can’t hear. What did Jesus do
about it?
“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers
into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said
to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s
ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.” Jesus is the Son of God. The power of God is in His word. He speaks
and the winds are stilled. He commands and the world comes into being. There is
something a little different here. Jesus does use His powerful word. “Ephphatha!
Be opened.” But he does more. He takes the man aside, away from the crowd. He
puts his fingers in the man’s ears. He spits and touches the tongue. Why does
He do this? We aren’t told but can guess. Away from the crowd to protect him
from embarrassment. Fingers in the ears. I will take care of this problem. Spit
and touch the tongue. My power to you. Brothers and sisters while we can’t be
sure why Jesus did all of these things we can be sure of this: the Savior of
all takes time for one. He’s on a mission to pay for sin but does not ignore a
physical need when the healing is better. And unlike some of the other miracles
Jesus did deliberately to gather a crowd so He could preach the Gospel to them
or to display His power as the Son of God, about this one Jesus commanded the
people not to tell anyone.
That’s
not what happened though. “But the more
he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were
overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even
makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Jesus had done
a miracle of healing but another miracle was taking place. Whether they
realized it or not the people were pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. In chapter
35 of the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah making the deaf hear and the
mute speak was given as a sign of the Messiah. About Jesus it was said, “He has
done everything well.”
Can
that still be said about Jesus? Is He still doing everything well? Are you
sure? Everything? Yes, that can still be said about Jesus. The Savior of all
still takes time to deal with the individual. He takes time to deal with you.
The Bible tells us that God has determined the exact time and the places for
everyone to live. That means you. And whether you realize it or not or will
admit it or not this wonderful Savior is treating you according to your needs.
He knows when it’s time for you to laugh and it’s time for you to cry. He knows
when a disease or hardship is good for you and how long you should struggle
with it. He knows when to take it from you and the best way to do that.
Remember that Jesus did not heal every disease he encountered. Only when it was
best. And you know, if you don’t get that miracle you are praying for He will
use you to be a miracle for someone else. “He has done everything well!” can
still be said about Jesus with our earthly needs.
And
it can still be said about Jesus with our spiritual needs. For while Jesus did
not heal every physical disease or solve every earthly problem He did take care
of everyone’s spiritual need and solve the problem of sin. He came to be the
world’s Messiah, its Savior. And He did that job well! He resisted every
temptation the Devil threw at him and provided us with a wonderful robe of
righteousness we get to wear all the days of our lives and gives us the right
to enter heaven as the perfect children of God. He stayed on the cross and
endured the agonizing punishment for every sin, not giving up His spirit until
all punishment was finished so that we will never experience the real
punishment of even one sin. “He has done everything well!” can certainly be
said about Jesus.
Yes,
in fact, it must be said about Jesus! By us! Everyone needs Jesus. People who
die without faith in Jesus keep dying forever. This is serious. When Jesus
commanded, commanded people not to talk about Him they couldn’t keep their
mouths shut. They were blabbing what Jesus had done to everyone. It’s a sad
irony then if the people Jesus has commanded to talk about Him don’t. “You will
be my witnesses,” Jesus said to you and to me and to every believer and it is a
privilege and an honor to do that. “Go and make disciples of all nations,”
Jesus said. We are commissioned and equipped by the Lord Himself to do this.
People from the Milwaukee area certainly got used to a long running commercial
that said, “Who do you know wants to buy a car?” Should I sing it? “Ernie Von
Schledorn, Main Street in Menomonee Falls.” I ask you “Who do you know needs to
hear about Jesus? Who do you know needs the comfort and confidence for this
life that Jesus is doing all things well in their life whether their times are
hard or easy? Who needs to know that there is actually a good and Godly purpose
behind suffering and hardship and a loving God who will even work evil for the good
of those who love Him? Who do you know needs to know, to know, like you and I
do, that their sins are already forgiven, that heaven is their home and they
can live like it right now?” He has done everything well must be said about
Jesus by us. And you can do it. You can do it by choosing to talk about Jesus
as the living Lord of your life that He is. When trouble comes let others know
you are counting on Jesus because He does everything well. When your death is
coming or your loved one dies let them know it’s OK because Jesus does
everything well. When you get the promotion at work or the good grade on a test
or the wonderful birthday present find a way to talk about Jesus because “He
has done everything well!” was, can be and must be said about Him. Amen.
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