Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

There’s a bit of gumption here, in the people who ‘zealously’ testified about the miracle Jesus performed on the deaf man, despite Jesus ‘ordering’ them not to. But I imagine they couldn’t hold themselves back. They had just seen Jesus restore the hearing and speech in this man; his story was incredible – it had to be shared!
We all have our own God story, I guarantee it, otherwise why would you be making time to read the gospel every day? For some, the story is like a miracle that this man experienced, for some, it’s a moment of grace, a moment where we’ve felt the presence of God or been moved by His power. If we could have the same gumption as those who testified in this gospel by sharing our own testimony about our experience of God, then perhaps, we can give someone else the chance to be “astounded beyond measure” by God.

+ Lord, give us the courage to be a witness of faith and share a testimony of what you have done in our lives. Help us recognise these moments when they come, give us the wisdom to share and the encouragement from the Spirit to speak. We pray that through our testimony, others can be astounded by you Lord, and become curious and open to what you can do in their lives.

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