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And Then and Then
And Then and Then
I enjoyed being home when my daughter would get home from grade school. I would ask her what she did that day and then set back: I… and then… and then… and then… I don’t recall if she took a breath in between stories. Reading Mark always reminds me of this.
One of the keywords in Mark is εὐθὺς and it is translated ‘immediately’ by the NASB. (the NIV used ‘at once’, and the KJ often used ‘straightway’). According to a Logos Bible Program search, The Greek word appears some 40 plus times in these short 16 chapters.
It is like Mark is so excited to tell this story that he just can’t take a break in between events. And then.. and then.. and then. John came preaching, Jesus was baptized and then… the Spirit came upon Him, and then he went into the wilderness, and then they forsook their nets and followed him, and then he went into the synagogue, and then there was this man in the synagogue, and then the came out of the synagogue, and then they tell Him of Peter’s mother, and then the fever let her, and then the leprosy departed from him, and then he sent him away… That is only chapter ONE. *
If you are a fast reader, it is instructive to just read through Mark in one setting and hear Mark rush from one event to the next to the next. You will come away with AWE at the power and authority of Jesus! Try it. Maybe we can get excited about Jesus.
Hugh DeLong
*see Mark 1:10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, 30, 42, 43
