Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Dose of Cold Water
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Dose of Cold Water
by BRF - Dick France
A DOSE of COLD WATER The command to maintain silence must have been deflating enough, but what follows is far harder to take. The martyrdom of the Son of man The exciting title ‘Messiah’ is immediately dropped, and Jesus speaks of himself, as he usually does, as the ‘Son of man’.…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Difficult Visit to Nazareth
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Difficult Visit to Nazareth
by BRF - Dick France
A Difficult Visit to Nazareth Nazareth was a small, rather insignificant village tucked away in the hills between the lake of Galilee and the Mediterranean, and away from the main centres of population. It was Jesus’ home (1:9, 24), but for the whole of his public activity so far…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Dead and Buried
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Dead and Buried
by BRF - Dick France
DEAD & BURIED The sabbath The Jewish day began and ended at sunset. So the evening of that Friday would be the beginning of the sabbath. The desire to bury the body of Jesus before the sabbath began was partly due to the convention that it was not proper for the body to remain pu…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Before the Sanhedrin
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Before the Sanhedrin
by BRF - Dick France
BEFORE the SANHEDRIN Mark carefully sets the scene at the high priest’s house on a double stage: Jesus before the full council of the Sanhedrin (v. 53; note again the full listing of the dignitaries) and Peter out in the courtyard among the servants (v. 54). As the spotlight fall…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Woman To Be Remembered
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Woman To Be Remembered
by BRF - Dick France
A TELLING CONTRAST In these verses a scathing attack on the hypocrisy of the religious professionals is followed by an example of true piety. But the example is not of a prominent religious figure, but of a poor widow whom everyone (and especially the scribes?) would overlook. Tr…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Betrayal & Arrest
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Betrayal & Arrest
by BRF - Dick France
Betrayal and Arrest The arrest of Jesus is carried out by an armed ‘crowd’, not specifically described as either soldiers or police, but sent out with the authority of ‘the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders’. Mark has used this full listing of the component groups of the…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Telling Contrast
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Telling Contrast
by BRF - Dick France
A TELLING CONTRAST In these verses a scathing attack on the hypocrisy of the religious professionals is followed by an example of true piety. But the example is not of a prominent religious figure, but of a poor widow whom everyone (and especially the scribes?) would overlook. Tr…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Mark's gospel A Drama in Three Acts
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Mark's gospel A Drama in Three Acts
by BRF - Dick France
MARK’S GOSPEL- A DRAMA in THREE ACTS After a prologue which sets the scene, Mark’s story unfolds in three main sections, each of which has a distinct geographical setting: 1:1–13 Prologue (set in ‘the wilderness’) 1:14—8:21 Act 1: Galilee 8:22—10:52 …
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - He Is Not There
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - He Is Not There
by BRF - Dick France
“He is Not Here” All four Gospels tell about the finding of the empty tomb early on Sunday morning. The details do not all agree—how many women? which women? the stone already gone or an angel rolling it back? How many angels and where were they? and just what did they say? But t…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - PBC Mark: Introduction
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - PBC Mark: Introduction
by BRF - Dick France
PBC MARK: INTRODUCTION Many members of the first-century churches could not read, and many more could not afford to possess a scroll of their own. So we should think of our New Testament books as intended to be read aloud, when the members of the church were gathered together. Ma…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Enter Pontius Pilate
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Enter Pontius Pilate
by BRF - Dick France
ENTER PONTIUS PILATE It was one thing for a Jewish court to decide on the death penalty, but quite another to implement it. Under the direct Roman rule which had now been imposed in Judea the right to pronounce the death penalty was reserved to the Roman governor alone. So to ach…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Homage to the King
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Homage to the King
by BRF - Dick France
HOMAGE to the “KING” In the hands of the Romans Even among the Jewish people Jesus has been subjected to cruelty and abuse both from the members of the Sanhedrin and from their (Jewish) guards (14:65). But now he is in the hands of the Romans, and they too will have their turn. F…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Gethsemane
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Gethsemane
by BRF - Dick France
Gethsemane Here we are on holy ground, privileged to join Peter, James and John in sharing one of the most poignant and personal moments in Jesus’ life on earth. More than once Mark has told us about Jesus praying, but now we come closer and hear the actual words of the Son of Go…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Food for the Gentiles too
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Food for the Gentiles too
by BRF - Dick France
FOOD for the GENTILES TOO Why another impromptu feast? Only a page or two ago Mark has told a story of the miraculous feeding of a large crowd of men. Now he tells another story, similar in general outline, but different in detail, particularly in the numbers (4,000 people instea…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels back to one Jesus
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From four gospels back to one Jesus
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
From four gospels back to one Jesus This basic unity of story outline within the plurality of portraits brings us to the second set of questions regarding the relationship of the four images to the search for the historical Jesus: what continuity is there between Jesus himself an…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Creativity and inspiration
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Creativity and inspiration
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Creativity and inspiration Criticism of scripture Some of our actual readers may be feeling by now that this is all very exciting, but perhaps a bit much! It is usually a good idea in a picture gallery to sit down and take stock occasionally. So far, we have seen that the four go…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Biography, faith and worship