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
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Biography, faith and worship
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Biography, faith and worship This book has attempted a symbolic reading of the narratives of the gospels as biographies of Jesus. Biography is a form of story, and human beings find their identity through stories, which brings a community dimension to interpretation. There is an …
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Trouble Ahead
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Trouble Ahead
by BRF - Dick France
A DEMONSTRATION in the TEMPLE Mark has carefully interwoven two themes here, as the scene shifts repeatedly between the temple and a fig tree on the Bethany road, thus: Verse 11, temple; verses 12–14, fig tree; verses 15–19, temple; verses 20–25, fig tree; verse 27, temple (which…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Veil Is Drawn Aside
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Veil Is Drawn Aside
by BRF - Dick France
The VEIL is DRAWN ASIDE There is a further possible meaning of Jesus’ puzzling saying in verse 1 about seeing that the kingdom of God has come with power. For ‘some’ (only three) of those who heard it would indeed have a more immediate vision of power and glory, a foretaste of wh…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Ultimate Realities
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Ultimate Realities
by BRF - Dick France
ULTIMATE REALITIES Gaining and losing Verses 35–37 are hard to translate, since the same Greek word, here translated by ‘life’ (but sometimes also by ‘soul’), means both the fact of being physically alive and not dead and also the real self which is far more than physical life an…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Secret is Unveiled
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Secret is Unveiled
by BRF - Dick France
The SECRET is UNVEILED ‘Are you the Messiah?’ The high priest’s question is not so much a change of subject as it may seem. To claim, as Jesus is alleged to have claimed, the right to replace the temple was, in effect, to claim to be the Messiah, since the Messiah was expected to…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Living under the shadow of his wings
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Living under the shadow of his wings
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Living under the shadow of his wings Like most animals, the eagle rushes into conflict when protecting its young, yet the same instinct causes it to exhibit tender care. Moses’ final song compares God’s concern for Israel to an eagle ‘hovering over its young . . . bearing them al…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Literary approaches to the texts
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Literary approaches to the texts
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Literary approaches to the texts Narrative and readers If the authors of the four gospels are not just preachers and theologians, but also skilled literary artists, then we must use the tools developed in the study of literature throughout our culture. Such literary approaches in…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Mountains