There's a simple word that shows up with unusual frequency in the opening chapters of the Gospel of Mark. In Greek it's euthus, which means, "immediately," or "right away." Jesus came up out of the baptism water "immediately," the Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted "immediately," the first disciples left their fishing nets to follow him "immediately." It actually appears 5 times in the first 21 verses alone (about once every 4 verses), and 42 times in the entire book (which is about 10 more times than all the other Gospels combined).
Jesus' Gospel is breaking over Mark's world with breathless urgency, and in his telling of the tales, the immediacy of the events seems to get special emphasis: things happen one after the other at such break-neck speed that the next wave's upon you before you even have time to clear the foam of the last one from your eyes.
This all stood out to me the other day as I was reading through the Gospel of Mark. It got me wondering if I share Mark's sense of urgency about the Story of Jesus. Do I feel the same immediacy and excitement and expectation about what's happening in our midst and all around us as long as Jesus is walking among us, as Mark seems to have?
Truth be told: not really.
I sort of "spiritually saunter," most of the time in my walk with Jesus; not a peaceful stroll, mind you, but a lally-gagging shuffle, sure I'll get there eventually... So I'm trying to catch a bit of Mark's spirit these days, and feel it in my core how urgent it is, what Jesus's doing immediately, here, right in front of me, in his mission to bring the Shalom of God to the world.
The Immediacy of the Gospel, a devotional thought
Labels: devotionals
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