Last week we looked at the prophecies which indicated that the Messiah would heal the blind. Those prophecies were recorded in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. In that same book, we find a number of prophecies indicating that the Messiah would also heal the deaf:
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. [Isaiah 29:18 ESV]
Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [Isaiah 35:4-6 ESV]
The book of Mark records the events in the region of the Decapolis when Jesus healed a deaf man with a speech impediment:
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [Mark 7:31-35 ESV]
Finally, when John the Baptist’s disciples inquired of Jesus as to whether or not he was the Messiah, he pointed to the healing of the deaf as one of the things indicating that he was:
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” [Matthew 11:2-6 ESV]
Like the healing of the blind, God prophesied through Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth that he would heal the deaf. This was given to us by God as another sign of the coming Messiah and would be fulfilled by a carpenter from Nazareth named Jesus.
Return to the Monday Morning Prophecy index page.
Image courtesy of Abby Reed