2 Corinthians 3:4–11
St. Mark 7:31–37
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And taking the deaf man aside from the crowd privately, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears,—Gross!—and after spitting—Ugh! Droplets. Aerosolized particles.—touched the man’s tongue. Come on, Jesus! This is totally unsanitary! You’re not supposed to touch your own face, let alone someone else’s. Why is no one wearing masks? While we’re at it, back up, Jesus. Six feet, if you please.
Jesus is not a neat and tidy kind of God. He won’t be ordered around or quarantined. He’s not what you might call divinely hygienic. He doesn’t care for social distancing. He is a close God, a God who breathes in your face. He does not fit in well with our sanitized world. That’s because Jesus is the only kind of God who actually deals with sinners. Though He committed no sin, He came to live in the mess that we’ve made of this world. He did not shy away from our filth, all the vile things we do to ourselves and to others. And He took all of that—the iniquity, the uncleanness, the stains, the infirmities. He took it all on Himself. He became the unclean one, the one stained by our sin, the one made weak by our sickness, the filthy one left and forsaken by God, hanging on a cross, in order that we might become clean, whole, healthy, accepted, reunited.
So, no, Jesus was not worried about getting the deaf man’s ear wax on His fingers. He was not concerned about getting infected by whatever germs the man had on his broken tongue. This was why Jesus came—to get infected—to take our infection on Himself.
But the important thing is not only what Jesus does here—all the poking and spitting—but it’s also what He says. “Ephphatha,” that means, “Be opened.” He told the ears to hear. He commanded the tongue to move. He said it, and it happened. The Creator remade His creation right there, healing it, restoring it, calling it to do what it was made to do. Ears were made for hearing God’s Word. Tongues were made for singing God’s praise. Jesus wants that to happen, whatever the circumstances, however gross or sick we might be. None of that stuff matters in the end if we are with our God.
So Jesus’ Word brought the power of His Spirit in His very human fingers and spit. His Word went along with His physical action. He joins His Word to created things, like fingers and ears, spit and tongue, or water, bread, and wine. He is a close God—God with us—God in our business, in our bubble, dealing with all our junk. But it’s not like He just plays around in it. He cleanses us, heals us. Jesus touches us, taking away the guilt of our sin, taking away the fear of our shame, and replacing it with confidence in Him. His very flesh brings life to us.
So, Jesus gives us Baptism, where He sticks His fingers in our ears so that we can hear our Father’s voice and call upon His name. With His Word, He gives us His Spirit in that water, and so washes us clean from all the filth we cover ourselves in. And Jesus gives us the Holy Communion, where He touches our tongues so that we can taste and see that the Lord is good and sing His praise. With His Word, He gives us His body and blood in that bread and wine, and so heals us from all the sickness and death that so infects and corrupts us, body and soul. Do not think little of these lowly gifts: a little water sprinkled with a few words; a bit of bread, a sip of wine while hearing words that appear to our eyes to be nonsense. These lowly things are the medicine you seek. These are the things that make you immortal.
And while we’re all concerned about disease and safety, I think it’s time for me to say something about the chalice of our Lord’s blood—the common cup. Communion means that we share something in common. We share the same body of our Lord, we share His same blood. And drinking from a common cup, a sharing cup, shows that. It is a clear, unmistakable picture of our unity in Christ. And it is frankly a little shameful that so many Christians seem to be afraid of their Lord’s cup. They fear the negligible risk of germs, more than they love the blood of Christ, or at least, so it appears. I am not demanding you all come drink from the chalice today. I am not saying you ever have to. But Jesus took the cup and shared it with His disciples. The one cup is the cup He gave us. And so also I am not saying the individual cups are sinful. But sinful men were the ones who came up with the idea, not Jesus. In fact, the first churches to ever use individual cups, only back in the 1800s, were churches that did not believe the Words that Jesus said about that bread and wine. They feared disease based on their human knowledge, and they denied the Lord’s body and blood based on their sinful understanding. But besides all that, let me just ask, don’t you think Jesus knows what’s best? Is Jesus God? Then He knew about Covid and germs. He knows how this world works better than any scientist. And He thought it best for His church to drink His blood from the one cup He gave them. How can it hurt us? How can our Lord who loved us and died for us give us something that was bad for us? From those vessels, in this meal, Life itself comes to us and pours into us.
But beyond the common cup, what about singing? What about gathering? What about hugging and showing love? In the end, what is more important? Preserving this life for a few more years or days, or receiving the life that will never end? Are we going to follow the example of the Jews and stick with what is passing away? They clung to ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation through the Law and its demands. And it had been a glorious ministry, full of the fire and power of God from Mount Sinai. But then will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? We have the ministry of Christ here in His Word and Sacraments—His Word and Spirit attached to lowly, created things so that His holy flesh can touch us and cleanse us. The Law was brought to an end with the death of Jesus. And this whole world is passing away and being brought to an end as well. But the life that Jesus gives in His Word, in His holy touch, His holy washing, His holy food—that life is permanent. So which do we want? Do we want what is passing away or what will go on forever? If what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. So what do we want? Do we want to get Jesus and all His glory, or do we want to stay safe?
Jesus did not stay safe. He laid down His life. And He didn’t die so that you would never have to. He didn’t suffer so that you can escape all suffering. He suffered to redeem your suffering, to cleanse it and make it work for your eternal salvation. He died so that you can die with Him, and rise with Him. He is a close God, a God who breathes in your face and spits. He does His own kind of sanitary work. He does His washing, His feeding, getting into your mess, into your ears, eyes, and mouth, and so into mind and heart. He’s not interested in keeping you safe just for now. He’s after perfect healing. And His Word with His touch can make that happen.
Ears were made for hearing God’s Word. Tongues were made for singing God’s praise. Men and women were made for life with God. Jesus wants that to happen. And He makes that happen in these lowly, physical ways, whatever the circumstances, however gross or sick or sinful we might be. Because none of that stuff matters in the end if we are with our God. He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. He even gets His body and blood to sinners during a health crisis. He does all things well. Alleluia.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
