31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre,
he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
through the region of the Decapolis.
32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking
and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.
33 So he took him away from the crowd in private.
After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting,
he touched his tongue.
34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him,
“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”).
35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly.
Note the details given in verse 31 concerning Jesus’s travel
and consider why this was significant.
Point out that Jesus went out of His way to travel through non-Jewish areas
and to minister to Gentiles.
Jesus again demonstrated compassion toward all people
by healing the man.
However, He also gave the man an unusual command:
Don’t tell anyone who healed him.
This is sometimes known as the “messianic secret,” and we’ll see what it means in the next set of verses.