Jesus Of Nazareth Research Paper

One miracle that Jesus of Nazareth performed was the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. The story of this miracle starts in a crowd where a deaf man comes up to Jesus and asks to be healed. Jesus takes him away from the crowd, heals the man, and tells him not to inform anyone about Jesus’ healing of him. The man disobeys him and proclaims the goodness of Jesus to everyone. The use of the word “proclaim” in this passage, “But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed” (Mk 7:36), has also been utilized in other parts of Mark’s Gospel, and according to Catholic New American Bible Revised Edition Footnotes, “Implied in the action of the crowd is a recognition of the salvific mission of Jesus,” (pg 4336-4337). The
passage is also an allusion to the healing of the paralytic because according to The New Collegeville Commentary, New Testament, “Jesus says ephphatha which means “be released”, and Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are released,” (Durken, pg 139).

In the time of the deaf man’s healing, the Romans still had power over the Jews and all of Israel.
According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus healed the deaf man when, “Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis,” (Mk 7:31). Decapolis was largely non-Jewish, and so it was unconventional for Jesus to preach and heal there. Jesus’ healing of the deaf-mute man, according to Oxford Biblical Studies, “Confirms that the kingdom of God and the movement of renewal has extended to the peoples round about Israel.” There are also several prophesies in Isaiah that point to Jesus’ actions in the healing of the deaf-mute man specifically. According to New Collegeville Bible Commentary, New Testament, “Mark indicates that there is more happening here than a simple cure. The whole event echos ideas and language in Isaiah” (Durken, pg
139).
In this passage, the healing of the deaf-mute man could have rendered Jesus as unclean as the disabled and impaired were often viewed as inferior in Jesus’ times.
According to the Collegeville Bible Commentary, New Testament, “He was also the innocent one who suffered on behalf of his people,” (pg 919). Jesus gave up part of his social standing when he healed the sick and poor because of how low of a class they were. The healing of the deaf-mute man further enhances the counter-cultural approach that Jesus takes to his teachings and to how we should behave. Jesus himself was counter-cultural, and so we should be too, for the better of those around us. One of the most important details of this story is that Jesus “Ordered them not to tell anyone,” (Mk 7:36). He didn't want his miracles to be projected and praised as he was not just a miracle worker, he was so much more than
that.

In the miracle that Jesus performed on the deaf-mute man, there were several allusions to prophesies made earlier in the Bible, and the language used also parallels with other passages in the Bible. Back when this miracle was performed, the region that Jesus healed the man in “the district of Decapolis,” (Mk 7:31), was different than other Jews at the time which helped establish Jesus’ identity. This healing, though seemingly simple, demonstrated many different things about Jesus. Jesus is not just a miracle worker, but is so much more. He wants us to serve the poor and lowly and take risks instead of just staying in our comfort zone. Also, as the crowd recognized at the time of this miracle, Jesus Christ is truely the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for since Isaiah’s prophecies.