GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 5:8
Victory never comes to one who quits
Victory never comes to one who quits.
A cliché often attributed to the Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock says that if you don’t succeed, try and try again. Another sage said that advice does not apply to a skydiver.
The phrase “Nothing is impossible until you give up” appears frequently in modern motivational and self-help psychology circles. The phrase does emphasize the importance of persistence in keeping the door open to success. Thomas Edison reportedly tried over 1,000 different materials for the filament for his electric light bulb before he found carbonized bamboo, which lasted over 1,200 hours. He famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
In St. Mark’s account of Jesus and his party landing in the region of the Gerasenes, they were confronted by a naked man who, Mark said, had an unclean spirit. Some writers think that Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to leave the man—using his usual method of issuing an authoritative order to the demon to come out, but on this occasion, that was not successful. Mark wrote, “For he said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.’” (Mark 5:8) The word Mark used in this instance for “said” (ἔλεγεν, elegen) is in the imperfect indicative active tense, which can be translated “had told him,” “had been saying,” or “said,” as in the translation above. The picture is of an action that began in the past with ongoing consequences. In this instance, Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out; the unclean spirit did not obey; so Jesus used another approach.
This interpretation inspires faith, for it shows that even Jesus faced a tough situation, and he did not stop or give up. An agricultural saying for a tough situation is “up against a stump.” The reply is to “dig up the stump.” Believers face tough situations—as Jesus faced one in this instance—but, with assurance of the Father’s presence, strength, and help, they refuse to abandon their faith in Him.
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