/Is it not yet a little, a small matter and will be turned, Lebanon, to
a plantation, and the plantation reckoned to a forest? And will hear, on
that day, the deaf-mutes, the Word of Scripture; and from darkness and
from dimness the eyes of the blind will see! And will increase, those
humbled, in Yahweh they will rejoice! And the poor of men, in the Holy
One of Israel, they will shout for joy!... Therefore, so says Yahweh, to
the house of Jacob which He ransomed Abraham, "Not now will Jacob be
ashamed, and not now will his face be pale. For in seeing his children,
the work of My hands, in their approach, they will make holy My name,
and they will make holy the Holy One of Jacob, and to the God of Israel
they will have a Master. And they will know, those straying in spirit,
understanding; and those who murmur, they will learn doctrine./
Jesus has just left the land of Lebanon and He encounters a deaf-mute.
No doubt, the prophesy of Isaiah 29 is on His mind, that the day would
come when deaf-mutes would hear the Word of Scripture. So Jesus heals
both the man's ears and his tongue, and the first word he hears is a
word of God from Jesus, "Ephphatha! Be Opened!" An amazing miracle to be
sure, but one that has big implications for this deaf-mute, and for us
as well. Because faith comes by hearing God's Word!
Surely, this man was considered under God's judgment, condemned to a
life of no hearing or speaking. The children of Israel in Isaiah's day
were the same. They had sinned and fallen under God's judgment for
straying after false gods. They turned a deaf ear to God's prophets like
Isaiah. But God sent His spokesmen anyway to proclaim the full message
of God's judgment. Isaiah pulled no punches with them, predicting the 70
Babylonian captivity of God's people. But he also gave hope...
Surely, they had acted deaf toward God's word, but the time would come
that they would eventually hear Him again. It came the hard way, as they
watched the walls of Jerusalem crumbled, and their temple destroyed. No
doubt such a catastrophe woke them up to listen once again to God's Word
of Scripture. They became hearers once again; their eyes were now opened
once more to see God at work in their lives, coming to their rescue,
ransoming them from their captivity after 70 years ended.
You and I are very much the same as the children of Israel. How often do
you turn a deaf ear to God's Word of Scripture being taught or
proclaimed? You think, "not another long sermon...not another boring
devotion before this meeting...not another Bible Study offered here that
you have no intention of attending." With such thoughts, you act like
you are deaf to your God Who is trying to speak forth His words of
judgment to you, a two-fold judgment that you so desperately need to hear!
The first part is the judgment of the Law, which convicts you of your
spiritual deafness & blindness toward God. You think you can listen to
God at your whim, seek Him by your efforts, or confess Him from your own
will. But you can't! In your sinful flesh you cannot do anything to
approach God, for you remain not just spiritually deaf-mute and blind,
but also spiritually dead in your trespasses! This Law judgment reminds
you that you have absolutely no hope whatsoever in yourself. None at all...
That's just when the 2nd part of God's judgment kicks in. This is the
judgment of the Gospel! That Gospel is also a Word of Scripture for your
ears to hear, which opens them up to listen to Jesus! It is a thumbs-up
judgment from God that gives lasting hope! It says, "You have been
redeemed by Jesus at the +, where He paid the ransom price for your
salvation. Not gold or silver, but the price of your ransom was His holy
precious blood shed, and His body given into innocent suffering & death
for you!
You have now become God's Own Children! Not from your seeking, or your
speaking, or from anything else you might try to do. No, you have been
made children of your Heavenly Father by the work of His hands. He calls
you His Own, and named you with His Holy Name given to you at your
baptism. There, He became your Lord & Master, so that you would be made
holy through the forgiveness of your sins & the gift of the
righteousness of the Holy One Himself--Jesus--given to you.
So now, you no longer murmur, grumble, or complain about the Word of God
being taught here. Instead, being made holy in Christ Jesus, God has put
in you the desire to learn the doctrines of His Word. And you no longer
act as those straying in spirit from God's revealed will, but instead
you are made eager to know and to understand the truth of God's Word.
For thru that Word, you who have been humbled are given increase, and
you who are considered poor among men rejoice in Jesus. Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
john.drosend...@gmail.com
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