HE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU

XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 7:31-37

Jesus was passing “through the Decapolis region”, east of the Lake of Galilee and the river Jordan. He was in a pagan land, where Greek culture was prevalent. The man brought to Jesus, who could neither hear nor speak, symbolises that pagan region needing someone to open their ears to the Good News and their mouth to proclaim their faith. That man also represents the situation of human beings, handicapped by all kinds of weaknesses and shortcomings. The society we live in is full of deaf and dumb, unable to hear and understand the word of God. We need someone to touch us and say: “Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.” We need to be saved. And Jesus came to save us, fulfilling the promise foretold by Isaiah:

“Courage! Do not be afraid.

Look, your God is coming,

vengeance is coming,

the retribution of God;

he is coming to save you.” (Is 35:4)

The healing done by Jesus is a sign of God’s presence in our midst fulfilling his promise and carrying out our salvation. Jesus’ action goes beyond the borders of Israel as he reaches out to foreign lands and pagan nations. The people’s reaction was of surprise and recognition: “He has done all things well!”

We live in difficult times. The limitless optimism we had disappeared and we live in a world that has lost direction. The words of Isaiah are addressed to us: “Courage! Do not be afraid.” Jesus, the Son of the living God, is with us to bring salvation. In Him, we find hope and this hope gives a new purpose for our lives. The Christians are called to live in hope and to become a source of hope in this hopeless world. We are sure that:

“the scorched earth becomes a lake,

the parched land springs of water.” (Is 35:6)