Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, May 7, 2023

Are You Open? Today, Pastor Michael is giving us a story that is unique to Mark; it doesn’t appear in any of the other gospels.  The question we’re centering on in this study is, “Are You Open?”.   As in, open to the will of God. Jesus has just left Tyre, to the north of Israel, and He decides to go around the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  Folks brought a deaf man to Jesus, and He told him, “Be Opened,” and the man could hear again. Jesus told the people not to tell anyone, but the more He ordered them, the more they proclaimed it. The great thing here, however, is that the man could now hear and hear the most important thing he could ever hear: Jesus! The question is not is the Lord speaking?  The question is, are you open to what He has to say? Are you open? (CSB Study Bible Notes) While Jesus’s other healing miracles brought astonishment and amazement (1:22,27; 2:12; 5:20,42; 6:2,6,51), this is the only time that extremely or “beyond all measure” appears. He has done everything well, echoes the Septuagint wording of Gn 1:31. Once again, Jesus had done what only God could do (Ex 4:11). Verses can be found in Mark 7: 31-37. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.