JESUS DOES ALL THINGS WELL
PRINCETON CHRISTIAN CHURCH
MARK 7:31-37 19 NOVEMBER 2023
There is a great Christian song that is titled “He Does All Things Well.” It has been sung and recorded by many singers and quartets. The song has an inspiring and uplifting message. The words remind us of the faithfulness of God, His love, and His mercy in every aspect of our lives.
It speaks of the unwavering belief that God is in control of every situation we face. It reminds us to trust in his perfect plan. But it does not tell us that we won’t ever have difficulties and uncertainties in our lives.
The words of the song highlight God’s ability to meet our every need. It reminds us of His faithfulness and that He keeps His promises.
The Bible – God’s Word to us is also filled with those same truths and promises. It is filled with occasions where we see God’s faithfulness at work, his provisions for our every need.
We will look, this morning, at an event in the life of Jesus where we see that He Does All Things Well.
Let’s go to Mark 7:31-37.
Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. They *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Just before this, Jesus had cast a demon out of a young girl. And now a deaf man was brought to Jesus.
Jesus always took every opportunity to do good. We know that Jesus had only one appointment and that that appointment was with the cross. And, as we know – He kept that appointment.
But every day He walked on this earth – everything He did – every encounter He had with any person was not an appointment. They were all unplanned but performed at the moment.
Does anyone remember the old TV show called Candid Camera? They went about filming people on camera on TV without any warning. They aimed to catch them off guard, pretty much being at their worst self.
Today we would say these encounters were met “on the spur of the moment” – the serendipity moments. “Serendipity” means: the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not looked for.
Consider His encounter with Nicodemus. Nicodemus didn’t contact Jesus or any of His disciples and make an appointment to see Him. The Scripture (John 3:1-6) says that he was a ruler of the Jews and that he came to Jesus by night. And Jesus took the time to talk to Nicodemus and to teach him, as we find recorded in this 3rd chapter of John.
This was just one of the opportunities Jesus took control of to teach a man about his soul.
Then there is the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus didn’t “just happen” to be there at the same time she was. It was unplanned – at least on her part.
And the widow’s son. Luke 7:11-17 – Jesus and His disciples came to the city of Nain. As they came to the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out to be buried. This encounter wasn’t planned. But Jesus took that moment to raise that man from death and return him to his widowed mother.
And this deaf man we just read about.
The greatness of the ministry of Jesus on this earth is the collection of the many little opportunities he accepted.
He was different than most of us. We sometimes don’t want to be bothered by someone else’s needs or concerns. We find ourselves too busy with more important things. We don’t want to stop and listen to someone who, by the way, may have been guided to us by God Himself.
I read this saying concerning the stewardship of our time, money, and compassion.
“It’s not what you’d do with a million if a million should e’er be your lot.
It’s what you’re doing right now with the dollar and a quarter that you’ve got.”
Proverbs 3:28 says: “Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it; when you have it with you (now).”
Now, of course, that applies not only to money but to our time as well.
Going back to the event in Mark 7, Jesus understood the sensitiveness of the man who was deaf and could not speak plainly because of his deafness.
He knew the difficulties this man must have experienced trying to make people understand what he was trying to say.
Did you ever get to the place where you were convinced that no one understands you? And that they not only don’t understand you, but they won’t take the time to try to understand you.
It is such a blessing to know that there is One who takes the time to understand us, whether it is in our speaking, our work, or even in our thoughts.
Jesus understands our every need, our every struggle, our every good day, and our every bad day.
Let’s look a little closer at Jesus as He heals this man of his deafness.
Jesus was considerate and respectful of the man. Look at verse 33 – it says this: “Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself. He was protecting the man so that he would not be exposed to an embarrassing spectacle.
I can just imagine that Jesus spoke to the man – not just speaking vocally, but also speaking to him with hand gestures – what we would call today – sign language. I can think that the deaf man could have lip-read Jesus’ words.
What is of greatest importance as we look at this, and so many other of Jesus’ encounters with different people throughout His earthly ministry, is that He dealt with people as people.
Jesus never considered anyone as a thing. He gave them a part in their own healing.
He does the same thing as He calls us to salvation. He considers all mankind as the creation of His Father. And God is more often more considerate of us than we are of Him.
As you read this account of Jesus healing the man who was deaf and had difficulty talking, did you wonder what his first words were? “Hallelujah!” Comes to mind. And maybe a “Thank you, Jesus!” As a tongue-tied man, he could never have said it before.
His ears were opened, and his tongue was loose. I can imagine he might have spoken for hours. And I can imagine that he wanted to hear other people speak as well, as he had never heard a word spoken before.
Does your faith ever grow dim or weak? I think for most of us, that probably may have happened a time or two.
But we must remember and know by faith that God’s power, through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, that His power is for each of us as well.
His power is great enough to forgive sin.
His power is great enough to help us conquer sin.
His power is great enough to bring contentment.
And that contentment reminds me of one of my favorite, and most quoted in my head, verses of Scripture – Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” What we often want to do, though, is to say just the first part of that: “I can do all things.”
But Jesus does all things well. He is the power that allows us to do anything.
There are many supermen or heroes in the world today, at least in the minds of many people. Very often, those heroes are found in the world of entertainment, sports, and others in the limelight. They are admired – and so often worshipped – because they seem to be so successful and perfect in every way.
Those idols, and that is what they are, will soon fade away. Their appeal will wither; they will, in time, become forgotten – a has-been.
Jesus will never fade away. His attraction will never wither. His power will never diminish. He will continue throughout our time on this earth and throughout eternity. He will never change.
He will continue to be present in those serendipitous moments. He will continue to do all things well!
Let me close with these thoughts – not mine, and I know not who wrote them, but they speak volumes of Jesus and His doing all things well.
“No other fame can be compared with that of Jesus. He has a place in the human heart that no one who has ever lived has in any measure rivaled.
No name is pronounced with a tone of such love and veneration.
All other laurels wither before His. His are ever kept fresh with tears of gratitude.
Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life and every setting sun as its close.
Then let every one of these short lives leave its sure record of some kindly thing done for others, some goodly strength or knowledge gained for yourself.”
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