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THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY August 23, 2026 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Our Bible Readings: Old Testament – Isaiah 29:17-24 Psalm 146 Epistle – 2 Corinthians 3:4-11 Gospel – Mark 7:31-37 Our Hymn of the Day from Lutheran Service Book is LSB 683, “Jesus Thy Boundless Love to Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjIjf3_z_mU&list=RDvjIjf3_z_mU&start_radio=1 The Sermon – Today’s Gospel tells of a man who couldn’t hear and could hardly speak. His condition left him isolated from others. Yet people brought him to Jesus and begged Christ to lay His hand upon him. Jesus did something remarkable. He took the man aside from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, spat, and touched the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.” And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. The people who witnessed this couldn’t contain their amazement. They said, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Those words are an appropriate confession of faith concerning Christ. Everything Jesus does is good. Everything He does is directed toward our salvation. And yet, sometimes what Jesus does may not, at first, appear good to us. Sometimes His work seems slow. At times, His answer to our prayers is not the answer we wanted. Sometimes He leads us through suffering rather than immediately removing it. But the Gospel teaches us to trust the One who has done all things well. Isaiah had proclaimed that a day was coming when God would intervene to save His people. “The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,” Isaiah wrote, “and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” That promise is being fulfilled before the eyes of the people in Mark’s Gospel. The signs Jesus performs are not merely demonstrations of supernatural power. They reveal who Jesus is. He is the promised Messiah. He is the One through whom God has come to restore His broken creation. The problem, however, is much deeper than deaf ears and an impaired tongue. The physical condition of this man is a picture of the spiritual condition of fallen humanity. By nature, we are spiritually deaf. We do not naturally hear and believe the Word of God. We were not just disabled, but as the Apostle Paul wrote, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. . . . ” (Ephesians 2:1-2) We may hear the sounds of Scripture with our physical ears, but the sinful heart cannot naturally receive God's Word as truth and treasure. We are also spiritually mute. We do not naturally confess Christ rightly. We’re often remarkably capable of speaking about ourselves, our opinions, accomplishments, complaints, and desires. But when it comes to confessing Christ, our tongues can become strangely silent. And so, this miracle in Mark Chapter 7 directs us toward something greater than the restoration of one man's hearing and speech. It points us toward the work of Christ in restoring sinners to God. This is why the words of Jesus are so important: “Ephphatha”—“Be opened.” Jesus doesn’t merely provide advice to the deaf man. He doesn’t tell him to try harder. He does not ask him to demonstrate sufficient faith before Jesus will act. Christ speaks, and His Word accomplishes what He commands. That is how Christ continues to work among us. As Biblical Lutherans, we take the power and efficacy of God's Word seriously. God's Word is not merely information about the Almighty. It is God's living and effective instrument through which He gives His gifts. This is precisely what Paul teaches in today’s Epistle reading. “Our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant.” The new covenant is not based on our ability to keep God's Law. It isn’t based upon our spiritual strength. It is not based upon our goodness. It is based upon Christ. The Law exposes our sin and shows us our inability to make ourselves righteous before God. But the Gospel gives what the Law cannot. The Gospel gives Christ, and through Him forgiveness. The Gospel gives life. And the Gospel creates faith. Therefore, when Christ speaks His Word to us, He isn’t merely telling us something. He is giving us something. He gives us His forgiveness, His righteousness, and a new life that leads to life eternal. He opens ears that are closed to His truth. He loosens tongues that are hesitant to confess His name. This is why Psalm 146 calls us to praise the Lord who “opens the eyes of the blind,” who “lifts up those who are bowed down,” and who “watches over the sojourners.” Our salvation doesn’t begin with our reaching out to God. It begins with God reaching down to us. It does not begin with our ‘decision’ for Christ. It begins with Christ's gracious decision to seek and save sinners. It does not rest upon the strength of our faith. It rests upon the object of our faith — Jesus Christ. There is also something wonderfully personal about the way Jesus heals this man. Jesus takes him aside from the crowd and deals with him individually. Jesus knows the man's particular need. He knows his suffering, His isolation. Jesus acts with compassion. This reminds us that Christ is not distant from those who suffer. He is not indifferent to the burdens we carry. The Lord knows every sorrow, every fear, weakness, and prayer that remains unspoken. And He deals with His people according to His wisdom and mercy. Sometimes He grants healing in this life. Sometimes He permits suffering to remain for a time. But the Christian knows that Christ’s love and grace remain the same. He remains the Saviour who has done all things well. The greatest evidence of this is found not in the miracles of Mark 7, but at the cross. There Jesus appears to do nothing well according to the world's judgment. He is rejected, mocked, and beaten. He is crucified. His disciples flee. And yet, precisely there, Jesus is doing all things well. At the cross, the Son of God bears the sins of the world. There He suffers in the place of sinners and satisfies divine justice. There He reconciles us to the Father, and wins forgiveness for you and me. Three days later, the Father raises Him from the dead. The resurrection declares that Christ's saving work is complete. “He has done all things well.” That is the confession of the Christian Church. It is also our confession when life is difficult. When we cannot understand what God is doing, we cling to what God has already done. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ has forgiven us. He has claimed us as His own. He has promised to raise us from the dead. And Christ will keep that promise. Therefore, brothers and sisters, listen to His Word. Hear once more the Gospel of forgiveness, the absolution, the promises of Holy Scripture. Hear the words of Christ concerning His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins and placed into your mouth in the Lord’s Supper. And having heard these things, confess. Confess Christ before the world. Not because we are strong, but because He has opened our ears. Not because we are eloquent, but because He has loosened our tongues. Not because we have made ourselves worthy, but because He has made us His own. The day will come when every promise of God will be fulfilled completely. The deaf will hear. The mute will speak. The blind will see. The dead will rise. And God's redeemed people will stand before Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Then in Heaven we will see with perfect clarity what faith already confesses today: “He has done all things well.”