There are only a handful of times in the gospels when we see Jesus speak Aramaic words instead of Greek. One of those instances is in Mark 7:34, where He heals a deaf man using a word that means “be opened.”

“And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”

“Ephphatha” represents the healing power of Jesus. It was true then, and it’s still true today. When Jesus speaks, something is set into motion. Today, that work happens through the Holy Spirit, usually working through God’s people.

1. By His Spirit, Satan is cast down. Evil is pushed back. What was once intended for destruction, God turns and uses for His good. However you want to say it, it’s true: Good wins, evil loses.
2. When the Spirit moves, it’s always because of love. And when the Spirit moves in your life, it produces love.
3. “Seek ye the ancient ways” refers to Jeremiah 6, where it says, Selfless love is the ancient way, which is the greatest command and the path toward peace.
   
   “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Selfless love is the ancient way, which is the greatest command and the path toward peace.

How and why of it all from the beginning — Love.

This is why Jesus, by His Spirit, chooses to heal. Because of love. Which leaves us with a choice: Will we do the same for others as He did for us? And to truly do that, it requires faith.

4. Faith is the next thing set in motion here. If there’s a God out there who loves me so much, my reaction is to trust that God.

5. Faith requires us to be strong and courageous — Joshua 1. The reality is this: What God will ask of me won’t come naturally to me, so I have to have faith.

Faith isn’t a feeling; it’s a decision. To be strong and courageous isn’t a feeling either; it’s a decision. Courage isn’t the absence of fear — it’s the presence of “YES.” Whenever God asks something of me, it’s probably going to be scary and/or difficult, but I’m going to say yes regardless. That’s faith.

6. Through faith, we acquire power.

• Accepting Jesus means we’re adopted into the family — Romans 8
• Being in the family means we have access to everything in the kingdom of God, and God himself — Romans 8
• When we receive Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 1:13-14
• When you receive the Spirit, you receive power — Acts 1:8

7. With great power comes great responsibility. So, we’re “called to arms” to use this power accordingly. A few thoughts on that:


To use power responsibly, you have to know who to use it for and who to use it against. In other words, you have to know who’s your friend and who’s your enemy. Ephesians 6:12 helps with this — “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” What did Paul mean here? My enemies aren’t people; my enemies are spiritual.

Yes, I have an enemy, so take up the armor of God — Ephesians 6:13

My enemy is spiritual. My friend is my neighbor.

To take up arms is to use this power to oppose the works of the devil and to love my neighbor. I’m to use this power for the good of God’s people.

8. So to truly take up “God’s call to arms” is to realize that my job is to help other people experience “Ephphatha” and all that comes with it. If Jesus spoke healing into my life, Satan is pushed back a little further. My response is a greater love for the One who healed me, causing me to live a life of greater obedience. From there, He asks me to trust Him through faith, and then gives me power to help others experience the exact same thing. It’s a revolving door — a cycle that you experience repeatedly throughout a lifetime, and something you help others experience.