GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:12
Groaning Deeply
Our third son was born on January 1, 1970. The pregnancy had been normal until the seventh month, when Alice began hemorrhaging. My aunt Lois rushed her to the hospital; I was a few miles away at the university in class. After an examination, the physician said Alice had placenta previa and would have to stay in the hospital in bed. Much movement could trigger the hemorrhaging again, which was dangerous for the baby and the mother. She remained in the hospital through the month of December until the physician said the baby needed to be delivered by cesarean section. The delivery was successful on January 1, 1970, but the baby had to be kept in an incubator.
The physician, known for his bluntness, said to us, “Your baby is sick.” To this day, I remember the punch in the stomach from that abrupt statement. Alice was recovering from surgery; we were serving as church leaders; it was the holiday season; final examinations were underway in the university classes; and we did not know what lay ahead for our baby. An ambulance took him over a hundred miles to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, where a team of doctors and nurses treated him for double pneumonia. Today, with parents recovered, the church program successful, final exams over, and the son being taller than his father—now a husband, father himself, and a successful businessman. But I still remember the groan coming from that hospital room gut punch.
In his account of the Pharisees’ (and Sadducees’) visiting Jesus on the seashore in the region of Dalmanutha, seeking a sign from him to confirm or authenticate his message, St. Mark wrote, “And groaning deeply in his spirit, he said, ‘Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you that no sign shall be given to this generation.’” (8:12) Mark took the word “groan” and added an intensifying prefix, making the word mean to groan from one’s deepest part. His groan came from the rejection he received at Dalmanutha. I suspect Jesus’ groan was similar to the one I let out in that hospital room in January 1970, though for quite different reasons. I’ve stood with others who have experienced that deep groan—the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, a serious medical report, or disappointment by a friend. There is some comfort in knowing that Jesus understands the angst of that deep groan.
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