GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 5:2
Immediately
There is a cliché in Southern Illinois, where I spent my childhood years, that something which took time to complete was “slow as molasses.” Some things, on the other hand, were “quick as lightning.” These two conditions each have their own peculiarities. Alice and I ate at a crowded restaurant recently, and there was a buzz of conversation from the other diners, but in the background there was an annoying thumping sound from some piped-in music. The sound of the music gradually faded from my mind so that by the time dinner was over, I had to strain to hear the annoying music. Writers refer to this slow, gradual process of accommodation as “habituation”—slow as molasses. The server, a young woman with a charming voice, took our order, brought the drinks, returned with a salad, and, before the salad was gone, she had the entrée, as quick as lightning.
After a day of teaching, ministering to a large crowd, and a perilous voyage across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples came to the region of the Gerasenes, and St. Mark wrote, “As he was getting out of the boat, a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit immediately met him.” (5:2) The adverb “immediately” (euthys)—quick as lightning—was a favorite for the writer. He used the word forty-seven times, giving his gospel a sense of motion and urgency. The image here is that, as Jesus’ foot touched the beach, a man confronted him. This was not just any man but a man living in the tombs on the hillside with an unclean spirit. St. Matthew said there were two men (Matt. 8:28); Mark and Luke seem to focus on the more damaged of the two.
Like other stories in Mark’s Gospel, there are many unanswered questions in this account: how did the man know about Jesus? After being chained and abusing himself, why did he run to Jesus? What did he hope to gain? How did he overcome the bad forces within himself? The one thing Mark does emphasize, however, is the immediacy of this man’s behavior, though the other writers imply it.
Whether an event is as slow as molasses or as fast as lightning, the presence of Jesus is important.
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