Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Setting the Scene
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Setting the Scene
by BRF - Dick France
SETTING the SCENE ‘The wilderness’, mentioned four times in verses 1–13 and never again in Mark’s Gospel, is a pointer to the different focus in these introductory paragraphs. They are set not among human society in Galilee or Judea, but in the uninhabited land around the Jordan.…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Priests & Judas Iscariot
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Priests & Judas Iscariot
by BRF - Dick France
The PRIESTS & JUDAS ISCARIOT We have had plenty of indications of how the religious authorities are reacting to Jesus. Even as far back as 3:6 they were plotting his death. Now he is in Jerusalem, within their grasp, and the time has come…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The End?
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The End?
by BRF - Dick France
The End? The death of Jesus Most victims of crucifixion lingered on in pain for many hours, and gradually lost consciousness. Jesus’ death is very different. Now that he has borne the ultimate horror of his Father’s withdrawal from him, his work is done, and his death comes sudde…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Peter Declares his Faith
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Peter Declares his Faith
by BRF - Dick France
PETER DECLARES his FAITH Caesarea Philippi is the most northerly point of Jesus’ journeys, in a remote non-Jewish area in the foothills of the Mount Hermon range. He takes his disciples not to the town itself but into the countryside, and the whole focus of this part of the story…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
by BRF - Dick France
The FRUITLESS FIG TREE A pointless display of power? Interwoven with Jesus’ attack on the traders in the temple is the story of his cursing and destruction of a fig tree because it had no fruit. Jesus’ other miracles save life and restore health, but this one seems quite out of c…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - In at the kill
Four Gospels, One Jesus - In at the kill
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
In at the kill The Passion, Mark 14—15 At last we come to the ending – the Markan Passion, a dark scene to which the whole gospel has been leading. Jesus has made his way to Jerusalem, and this geographical concentration has brought the conflict into focus: a lion’s story should …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels forward to many Jesuses
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels forward to many Jesuses
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
From four gospels forward to many Jesuses Many interpretations tend to create the subject’s portrait in the author’s own image. Irenaeus applies the four living creatures not only to the evangelists themselves, but also to their portraits of Jesus: the four symbols are ‘images of…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - How did the gospels come to be written?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - How did the gospels come to be written?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
How did the gospels come to be written? Source As a schoolteacher, I used to spend long evenings marking children’s exercise books. Occasionally, I would suddenly realize that I had seen this answer before, or something very like it, and a frantic search would ensue back through …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Gwaihir and farsight the Eagles
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Gwaihir and farsight the Eagles
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Gwaihir and Farsight the Eagles Symbolism and meaning If Mark’s Jesus can be seen in C. S. Lewis’ Aslan the lion, perhaps there is something of John’s Jesus in another Narnian character: Farsight the Eagle can fly so high and see so keenly that he can survey all Narnia as he whee…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Fulfilment of the law and the prophets
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Fulfilment of the law and the prophets
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Fulfilment of the law and the prophets Second, this new Teacher of Israel fulfils scripture repeatedly during the opening chapters, and Jesus uses scripture to defeat Satan in the wilderness. Matthew has about sixty references or quotations from the Old Testament – three times as…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - He rides again
Four Gospels, One Jesus - He rides again
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
He rides again The Resurrection, Luke 24 A good ending to a story ties up the various threads; the best sort of ending opens up new horizons. Mark’s gospel ended with the enigma of the empty tomb and an absent Jesus; Matthew had the supernatural happenings and the Teacher commiss…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Plurality within limits
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Plurality within limits
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Plurality within limits If we return to our initial comparison with Churchill, then certainly Lady Churchill believed that there were limits with regard to portraits of her husband, although the criteria seem subjective. Graham Sutherland’s tapestry of Christ can still be seen at…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The bounding lion
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The bounding lion
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The bounding lion Mark’s style, structure and narrative technique Whenever Aslan does appear in the Narnia stories, he dashes from place to place as he is needed in great leaps and bounds: ‘he rushes on and on, never missing his footing, never hesitating’ (The Lion, the Witch and…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Righteousness, morality and judgement
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Righteousness, morality and judgement
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Righteousness, morality and judgement Matthew’s Teacher is concerned about moral teaching; one of his key words (occurring seven times in Matthew, once in Luke, and never in Mark) is dikaiosune, justice or righteousness, with its adjective dikaios (fifteen times in Matthew; once …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The beast of conflict
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The beast of conflict
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The beast of conflict Opposition and ministry, Mark 1—8 One thing is clear about lions in every age and culture: they are powerful fighters with a keen sense of territory. After the opening flurry of chapter 1, Jesus starts to roam far and wide around the northern territories by …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Talons bared for conflict
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Talons bared for conflict
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Talons bared for conflict The Book of Signs and “the Jews”, John 2—12 In Tolkien’s stories, Numenor is an Atlantis-like land blessed by Iluvatar (God) which overreaches itself and turns to evil. Its doom is presaged first by eagle-shaped clouds and then by eagles themselves; few …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Strength to bear the burdens