GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:10
Dalmanutha
Alice is a list-maker. Recently, I went to the grocery store, and she gave me a list with the instruction to buy only what is on the list. I’ve, more or less, picked up that habit from her.
We attend the Church of the Nations in Athens, Georgia, which is a multigenerational, multicultural assembly. It’s about thirty miles from our house. Recently, our small group leader asked me to substitute for him in the study group that meets after church. I prepared the lesson and made a list of the topics to discuss. Halfway to church, Alice asked me whether I had the lesson. I assured her that I did and said it was in the back seat of the car. She looked and said that she didn’t see it. I pulled the car to the side of the road, checked, and sure enough—the material was not there. So, back home, fifteen miles, we drove. I found the material and the list on the kitchen counter. It was head slap time! With a not-so-gentle chide, Alice said we’d get to church in time for the benediction. Well, we got there before the benediction but still significantly late.
With a bit of imagination, this event brought to mind an episode in Jesus’ ministry in the region of Decapolis on the upper northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples fed about four thousand men, not including women and children. Mark wrote, “Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.” (8:10) The region of Dalmanutha is on the lower southwest shore of the lake, about fifteen miles away. Matthew called it the region of Magdala (Matt. 15:39). The exact location is uncertain.
Though Jesus didn’t have to return to the region of the Decapolis because he had forgotten something, this journey did mark a trip into the unknown. Jesus didn’t know what lay ahead in this new region of ministry, much like everyone does with the dawning of a new day. I type these words at 7 a.m. and wonder what lies ahead in my own Dalmanutha. You?
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