BRF
John The People's Commentary - Feeding the Five Thousand
John The People's Commentary - Feeding the Five Thousand
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
Feeding the Five Thousand Jesus’ miraculous feeding of a vast crowd is such a well-known story. This is the only miracle narrated in all four gospels—indeed, it is the only incident from Jesus’ ministry before his last week which they all include. The Synoptic gospels each descri…
Mark The People's Commentary - More Healings
Mark The People's Commentary - More Healings
by BRF - Dick France
More Healings Once again Mark allows us a brief respite from the breathless series of amazing events. This more general summary of what Jesus was doing in Galilee at this period, like that in 3:7–12, shows us that the relatively few specific miracles which he has included in his …
Mark The People's Commentary - Panic on the Lake
Mark The People's Commentary - Panic on the Lake
by BRF - Dick France
Panic on the Lake What Jesus did next If our speculations about the insurrectionary atmosphere in the wilderness were right, the disciples, fresh from the amazing experience of the loaves and fish, may well have shared the crowd’s hopes and enthusiasm, and wanted Jesus to declare…
Mark The People's Commentary - Food in the wilderness
Mark The People's Commentary - Food in the wilderness
by BRF - Dick France
An Abortive “Retreat” This is the only time in Mark’s Gospel that the Twelve are called ‘apostles’. The word means ‘those sent out’, and it describes well the experience they have just shared as Jesus’ emissaries. But having been ‘sent out’, they now return and report back to the…
Mark The People's Commentary - An Abortive "Retreat"
Mark The People's Commentary - An Abortive "Retreat"
by BRF - Dick France
An Abortive “Retreat” This is the only time in Mark’s Gospel that the Twelve are called ‘apostles’. The word means ‘those sent out’, and it describes well the experience they have just shared as Jesus’ emissaries. But having been ‘sent out’, they now return and report back to the…
52 Reflections on Faith - John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus
52 Reflections on Faith - John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus The bones of John the Baptist have been discovered in Bulgaria, or so some newspapers have implied. A number of remains, including a knuckle bone, have been found in a sarcophagus in the grounds of a monastery on an island called Sveti Ivan, of…
Mark The People's Commentary - The Dance of Death
Mark The People's Commentary - The Dance of Death
by BRF - Dick France
The Dance of Death Mark 6: 17-29 Mark The People’s Bible Commentary In the previous study we thought about why this story is here, and why Mark may have felt it appropriate to insert it into the story of Jesus. But now we shall look at the story of the death of John in its own ri…
Mark The People's Commentary - Jesus and John the Baptist
Mark The People's Commentary - Jesus and John the Baptist
by BRF - Dick France
Jesus and John the Baptist A change of scene The disciples, sent out on their mission in verses 7–13, will return and report back in verse 30. The intervening space is filled with an unexpected return to the person with whom Mark’s story began….
Mark The People's Commentary - Not Dead but Sleeping
Mark The People's Commentary - Not Dead but Sleeping
by BRF - Dick France
“Not Dead, but Sleeping” After the unhappy confrontation the last time we heard of Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum (3:1–6), it is a relief to find that at least one leading member of that institution still holds him in high regard, even if it is under the pressure of urgent p…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - A Difficult Visit to Nazareth