Sometimes it seems that the New Testament stories of Jesus healing people are just too simple. Perhaps you find yourself wishing the writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — would give more details. It appears that Jesus needed only to speak a word and the person was well, and sometimes that he did nothing more than to touch the person. Indeed, in one notable case, a woman who needed healing only reached out and touched Jesus — and not even Jesus himself; just the fringe of his robe.

            But today’s lesson offers a little more. You may find some of the details more earthy than our 21^st-century, antiseptic taste desires, but of course, that’s the price of asking for a fuller, more authentic report. That is, there’s always a chance we’ll get more than we really want.

A summary of the story

            Let’s first review the story. Jesus and his disciples rarely went outside Palestine, but on this occasion they had been in Tyre and in the Decapolis and now, they were returning to Galilee, within Palestine. Somebody — we aren’t told who — brought to Jesus a deaf man, who also had “an impediment in his speech.” This second affliction isn’t surprising, of course, because if one is deaf, one has to learn sounds without hearing them — whether from other people or from one’s own voice. There’s also a hint in the story, however, that there was actually some physical problem with the man’s ability to speak. The people who brought the man “begged” Jesus “to lay his hand” on him.

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