BRF
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Jesus welcomes everyone
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Jesus welcomes everyone
by BRF - Rona Orme
This session encourages everyone to learn each other's names. Knowing names, and being known, helps everyone to feel that they belong. Christians believe that God knows individuals by name, so it is important to show the same level of care. This session would work well when start…
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - 50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Introduction
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - 50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Introduction
by BRF - Rona Orme
A year's worth of material for running a midweek or weekend group with families from the local community 50 Praise, Play and Pray Sessions provides a practical way for churches to engage with families who might not normally attend Sunday church. Requiring little preparation or se…
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 - Getting Rid of the Son
Mark The People's bible commentary - Getting Rid of the Son
by BRF - Dick France
GETTING RID of the SON In the last study we heard Jesus’ claim, by implication, to divine authority for what he was doing. Now the same claim is made, this time in the form of a fictional story with a transparent meaning. His opponents know exactly what he means (v. 12), but they…
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 - 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 - Alone on the Cross
Mark The People's bible commentary - Alone on the Cross
by BRF - Dick France
Alone on the Cross If to overhear Jesus praying in Gethsemane was to tread on holy ground, surely here we venture into the Holy of Holies, as we hear the only words of Jesus on the cross which Mark has recorded. Indeed, these are the only words of Jesus in this Gospel after his e…
Mark The People's bible commentary - Golgotha
Mark The People's bible commentary - Golgotha
by BRF - Dick France
GOLGOTHA Crucifixion was a particularly cruel form of execution reserved normally for slaves and for political insurgents. The Roman writer Cicero called it ‘the most cruel and revolting punishment’ and the Jew Josephus called it ‘the most pitiable of deaths’. A crucified person …
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 - 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…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The KING is BURIED
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The KING is BURIED
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
The KING IS BURIED After describing Jesus’ three last sayings and the flow of blood and water from his side, suddenly John inserts a narrative comment with two of his key words both used twice, ‘witness’ and ‘truth’ (19:35). John the Baptist was a ‘witness’ to Jesus at the very s…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The DEATH of the KING
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The DEATH of the KING
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
The DEATH of the KING The Romans would usually leave a crucified body hanging on the cross to be picked clean by animals and birds, as a warning to others, like the old gibbets for hanged highwaymen at cross-roads. According to John, it is the Day of Preparation for the Passover,…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The KING is CRUCIFIED
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - The KING is CRUCIFIED
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
The KING is CRUCIFIED Through these seven balanced trial scenes, Pilate moved from mocking Jesus to a grudging respect for his kingship while “the Jews” rejected the rule of God, preferring Caesar. Now Pilate ‘hands him over to them’, using the word for ‘betray’, after the action…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - NO KING BUT CAESAR
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - NO KING BUT CAESAR
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
NO KING BUT CAESAR Pilate had thought it was all over; Jesus had been whipped and the idea that he was a king duly mocked, so everything was all set for his release, when those wretched religious leaders brought the gods and their offspring into it! Unsettled by this mention of s…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - HAIL KING of the JEWS