Most of us have two types of friends- the close ones and those who are more like acquaintances. The close friends we trust and can share even our secrets, where we share less with those we don't know as well. Chapter 3 closed by showing that the scribes and even Jesus' own family could be… Continue reading Walking through Mark: Mark 4:1-20
As the list of disciples closes in the previous passage with a traitor's name, here we see a different type of betrayal of Jesus from an unlikely source, His own family. In this passage Mark uses a literary device where he sandwiches one story in the middle of two other related stories to make a… Continue reading Walking through Mark: Mark 3:20-35
As Jesus continues His ministry, there is increasing conflict with the religious leaders. Chapter 2 ends with a discussion about the Sabbath and chapter 3 begins with the same issue. Jesus continues to do good on the Sabbath, but the religious leaders begin their plot to destroy Him, presumably also on the Sabbath. The echo… Continue reading Walking through Mark: Mark 3:1-19
Jesus continues to show His authority as He conflicts increasingly with Jewish religious leaders. It is interesting to note that the previous verses talk about a feast with "sinners and tax collectors" and this text opens with a discussion of fasting (From France's Mark Commentary of the Greek Text.) Every facet of Jewish life is… Continue reading Walking through Mark: Mark 2:18-28
As Jesus continues to heal, He gains status and popularity in the region. Crowds are flocking to Him to see what's happening and to have their problems solved. These crowds aren't always a good thing and here at the beginning of the chapter, they actually block access to Jesus so that a group of men… Continue reading Walking through Mark 2:1-17
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