The healing of the deaf and dumb man in the Gospel is given even greater significance when it is associated with the Reading chosen to complement it.

 

Isaiah is looking ahead to a time when God will come to the aid of his people. On that day, the ears of the deaf would be unsealed and the tongues of the dumb would sing for joy.

 

Those who witnessed the healing of the deaf man hint at this reading: “he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak”. It suggests that some of the witnesses were able to move beyond what they had seen and heard and put it into a greater context: the whole prophetic history of Israel. Isaiah had spoken of one to come who would open - unseal - make able to sing - and they had witnessed someone do those very things.

 

Jesus was not just a wonder-worker, then, but someone sent by God to do those things. What was not yet revealed to the people - or even to the disciples at this stage was that Jesus was not just sent by God, he was the Son of God. It was in this power that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah - and it is in that context that the full importance of his healings, in particular, can be measured.

 

In his earthly ministry, Jesus foreshadowed what is to come. He healed people - but eventually, illness and age would again hold sway and the person would face death. It was only through his own death and resurrection that the bonds of sickness and death were finally broken. The complete fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy is yet to come for those of still living on earth. We still await the day of the Lord when all eyes will be open to see God - all ears unsealed to hear his Word. We can only long to share the dance and song of those who could not walk or who have been silenced as dry, parched souls are refreshed by an unquenchable source of living water in eternity.