3. A deaf and mute man healed (7:31-37)

Jesus' journey into the region of the Decapolis is roundabout, keeping him in primarily gentile territory. Mark’s recounting of the story highlights the relation of Jesus' ministry to OT prophecy, as both the description of the man’s malady and the people’s response to the healing allude to Isa 35:5-6. The time of salvation has indeed come!