The Surprising God

This post exegetes parts of Mark chapters 12 and 13, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on 11/3 through 11/17 (Pentecost 24 through 26). This post draws on commentary from Alan Cole ("New Bible Commentary"), and John Grassmick ("Bible Knowledge Commentary").   "The Exhortation to the Apostles" by Tissot (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction In chapter 11, Mark begins a section that presents various warnings of the Kingdom of God—ones that precipitate crises as Jesus is seen for who he truly is. Beginning at Mark 12:28, we come to the conclusion of the section with warnings directly relevant to Jesus' first disciples and to us. The greatest commandment  Mark 12:28-34 In this passage, a teacher of the Law approaches Jesus with what seems a sincere question. In a sense, Jesus’ answer contains nothing new; it is drawn from the the Old Testament, which is quite familiar to this teacher. In his reply, Jesus places love for God and nei

This post exegetes part of Mark chapter 9 and all of chapter 10, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on 9/22 through 10/27 (Pentecost 18 through 23). This exegesis draws on commentary from Alan Cole ("The New Bible Commentary"), John Grassmick ("The Bible Knowledge Commentary"), and N.T. Wright ("Mark for Everyone").   "Follow Me" by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with artist's permission) Introduction We now continue in the second main section of the Gospel of Mark, the cost of the Kingdom of God. Peter and the other disciples are seeing that Jesus is the Messiah. However, their sight is only partial—they do not yet understand that Jesus is the Messiah who will suffer in order to serve and save. As we learn earlier in this section, there is a very high cost of the Kingdom of God paid by Jesus. Now Jesus teaches them that, as his followers, they too will pay a high cost. Paying that cost is not about earning entrance into the Kingdom, but

This post exegetes parts of Mark chapters 8 and 9, providing context for the RCL Gospel reading on 9/15/24 (Pentecost 17). This exegesis draws on commentary from Alan Cole ("The New Bible Commentary") and John Grassmick ("The Bible Knowledge Commentary").   "Who do you say I am?" (artist unkown) Introduction Beginning at Mark 8:27, we come to the central turning-point in Mark’s Gospel, which is Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah). This confession begins Mark’s second main section, the cost of the Kingdom of God , which spans 8:27-10:52. As we enter this section, we learn that Peter’s eyes have been opened to “see” that Jesus truly is the promised Messiah. However, he remains partially blind (like the blind man healed by Jesus in stages). Though Peter now sees that Jesus is the Messiah, he does not yet see that Jesus is the Messiah who will suffer to save his people. That is why this turning point begins Mark’s section about the cost of th

This post exegetes Mark chapter 7 (plus part of chapter 8), providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on 9/1 & 9/8/24 (Pentecost 15 & 16). This exegesis draws on commentary from Alan Cole ("The New Bible Commentary"), John Grassmick ("The Bible Knowledge Commentary") and N.T. Wright ("Mark for Everyone").   Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman  Etching by P. del Po after Annibale Carracci (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction In the seventh chapter of Mark's Gospel we come to the last segment in Mark’s powers of the Kingdom of God subsection (4:35 to 8:26) which is part of Mark’s lengthy Kingdom preaching section (1:1 to 8:26) presenting miracles demonstrating Jesus’ possession of the Kingdom’s powers. Doing so is paving the way for the climactic scene in Mark 8:29 where Peter confesses that Jesus truly is the Christ (the Messiah). 1. Jesus’ power over sin  Mark 7:1-23 Jesus is taking a negative perspective to convey a positive a

This post exegetes John chapter 6, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on 7/28 —8 /25/24 (Pentecost 10—14). This exegesis draws on commentary from Warren Wiersbe ("The Bible Exposition Commentary"), Michael Card ("The Parable of Joy") and F.F. Bruce ("The Gospel of John").  "Bread of Life" by Mironov (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction John 6 addresses a significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Here he ministers to the crowd and his disciples—granting both grace and truth; food and teaching—revealing through both more of his true identity. The response is a reminder of the scandal of the gospel, the hardness of the human heart, and the overwhelming grace of our Savior. The events of this chapter occur near the third Passover of Jesus’ ministry. Time is short. Jesus’ death is only a year away. Jesus ‘ramps up’ his work and teaching. Jesus feeds the crowd  John 6:1-13 The words “some time after this" clue us in th

This post exegetes Mark chapter 6, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on 7/14 & 7/2124 (Pentecost 8 & 9). This exegesis draws on commentary from Alan Cole ("The New Bible Commentary"), John Grassmick ("The Bible Knowledge Commentary") and N.T. Wright ("Mark for Everyone").  "Christ Heals the Deaf and Stammering" by DeVere (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction Mark chapter 6 continues a subsection of Mark's Gospel where Jesus is using miracles to demonstrate the powers of the Kingdom which he possesses as Messiah (the Kingdom’s King). Chapter 6 opens by noting the limitations of such miracles, then continues with stories of a few more miracles.  1. The limitation of miracles  Mark 6:1-6 A common theme of Mark’s Gospel is that Jesus’ miracles often do little to illicit faith in those who witness them. This is a reminder that miracles in themselves do not produce faith—rather they are intended to witness to Jesus