Immediately

One of the accounts of the gospel I love is that of mark. When I set my eyes on this book my Adrenalin goes on a high pedestal. It’s like being taken through a whole season of Game of thrones in a single episode. Its in this book that the author loves to display the flow of events using words as,’once’ ‘Immedeately’’then Jesus said or did’ .There seems here to be a seamless flow of events which is very captivating .

Mark 1:21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching (esv)

The author isn’t interested in giving a detailed account of the genealogy of Jesus. He just plunges us into action. It’s not to belittle the account of Mathew who dedicates almost a whole chapter to give an account of the genealogy of Christ. The author just plunges us into action boom, Jesus’’ ministry.

Mark 1:23-26 and immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God."

25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!"

26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him(esv)

I can imagine how Jesus storms into a religious meeting and starts teaching about the kingdom of God. He was a student of no one neither had he any reputation against the scholars of the day, nevertheless he storms right there and begins his teachings and all who were around were amazed at how he spoke with such authority, immediately off course .

Mark 1:40-42And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."

42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.(Esv)

After Jesus storms into a religious meeting and his authority is made manifest before the people , a case study actually does the icing sugar on the cake . Here comes a leper imploring and kneeling before him but immediately Jesus reveals himself , who he is, Lord manifest in the flesh but moved with pity . I am thinking the first thing that immediately must be registered in my mind is about the compassion and the loving kindness of our lord . He always precedes our diverse situations such that even before the leper came imploring jesus to heal him, he was already moved with pity/compassion .

Well that’s how the Book of Mark rolls. You may want to read it for yourselves and get captivated in its thrill but what’s the point here ?

 The word ‘immediately’ or once as used in the gospel of mark in Greek is eutheos which when translated means straight away, at once , directly . This is what captivates me about this account of the gospel . While the religious party are caught up in their normalcy , Jesus enters the scene and straightaway introduces a new way of ministry, a new message that completely disrupts the normal flow of events, of understandings or conceptions . I think that’s what the gospel does by immediately pervading our lives and scandalizes all the misconceptions we have heard about God, about the gospel and even about ourselves.

The gospel when immediately enters the heart of a sinner , that sinner is immediately made a saint . Its not about the process. the religious folks in Jesus’ time were so much into process, into methodologies. “Who is Jesus? Where is he from? Who taught him these things?” etc the gospel is the good news of God towards mankind that when proclaimed immediately enters human hearts and dislodges everything that is not in accordance with it.

The whole point of the use of this ‘euthos’ language in the book of mark is to display the ministry and the works of jesus; his message of the gospel and how it breaks into human life making all things new. It sounds like the effect the gospel has in us , how it lands on us like ton of bricks submerging us in it and making us all new .

As you enjoy reading the book of mark, How about being submerged in its breathtaking narrative, How about being aware of Gods immediate activity of pervading your life, after all that’s what being baptized in Christ really means .

Romans 6:3-4Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Esv)

6:3similarly through baptism we have been murdered, dead and buried. Sin is now a dead foreign language.

6:4 the baptism of Christ In which we share In an equal stature shows us how dead we are and how alive and active we have raised up to life to walk in a kainos new way of life to the glory of God.(Kainos amplified)

The gospel is as the murdered life . The person and the being opf God has immediately pervaded our lives, we are dead and buried. Sin becomes a foreign language and now the reality in experience is how we can live and walk his life in a newness of way so to say. We live now for his glory .