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Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Whose is the Kingdom of God?
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Whose is the Kingdom of God?
by BRF - Dick France
Whose is the Kingdom of God? The ‘kingdom of God’ is mentioned twice in these verses, and three times more in verses 23–25. The phrase, as we have seen, means ‘God’s rule’, and what the disciples are being forced to face in this series of incidents are some of the radically diffe…
Mark The People's Commentary - Insider and outsiders
Mark The People's Commentary - Insider and outsiders
by BRF - Dick France
Insiders and outsiders Here is the other end of the ‘sandwich’ which began in verses 20–21; the family have arrived. At the same time, a further layer is added to the sandwich, in that the inner circle of the disciples, whose call was narrated just before the family were introduc…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Another Gentile Healed
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Another Gentile Healed
by BRF - Dick France
Another Gentile Healed The previous story focused on the question of Jesus’ mission to Gentiles as well as Jews. Now we see him continuing in Gentile territory: Sidon, like Tyre, was Phoenician, and Decapolis was the Greek-dominated area to the east of the lake of Galilee (see on…
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…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
I HAVE GIVEN YOU an EXAMPLE Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet and returned to the table (13:12). From our experience of church services and the other gospels we expect the institution of the holy communion next—but it is completely missing. Instead, Jesus begins to explain thi…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - Do you love me more than this?
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - Do you love me more than this?
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
Do you Love me More than These? Breakfast is finished, but the lingering smell of the charcoal fire is a potent reminder that something is still hanging around. Peter showed willing by jumping into the sea to greet Jesus and leaping to get more fish. But Jesus has to take the ini…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD In a pastoral society like ancient Israel, sheep and shepherds were used to describe the relationship of God with his people: ‘the Lord is my shepherd’ and ‘we are his people, the sheep of his pasture’ (Pss. 23:1; 100:3). Good leaders were ‘shepherds of the…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - FOLLOW ME
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - FOLLOW ME
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
FOLLOW ME Jesus warmed and dried Peter by the fire, fed him with fish and bread; then he restored him to his pastoral care of God’s people and hinted at his glorious martyrdom to come. Only one thing remains to be said, ‘Follow me’ (21:19). It is Jesus’ last word, yet also his fi…
Mark The People's bible commentary - Barabbas
Mark The People's bible commentary - Barabbas
by BRF - Dick France
BARABBAS The insurrection Barabbas was not just a common criminal. He was a ‘rebel’, who had been involved in an ‘insurrection’. We have no other record of this particular uprising against the Roman occupation, but it need not surprise us: several such incidents are recorded in t…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Another Warning of What is to Come
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Another Warning of What is to Come
by BRF - Dick France
Another Warning of What is to Come In this brief paragraph we find several of the key themes which run through the middle section (Act 2) of Mark’s story, as Jesus and his disciples make their way from Galilee towards Jerusalem. We may therefore take it as an opportunity to remin…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Crumbs for the Gentiles
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Crumbs for the Gentiles
by BRF - Dick France
Crumbs for the Gentiles The question of purity, discussed in the first part of this chapter, would have important repercussions for the eventual expansion of the church to contain Gentiles alongside the original Jewish believers. This strange little story illustrates the point, a…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - What is Purity?
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - What is Purity?
by BRF - Dick France
What is Purity? The last time we met scribes who had come from Jerusalem to Galilee to confront Jesus (3:22) their arrival spelt trouble. Here again they are a hostile group, a foretaste of the sort of reception Jesus is going to meet when he eventually goes to Jerusalem himself.…
Mark The People's Commentary - The Dynamics of Growth
Mark The People's Commentary - The Dynamics of Growth
by BRF - Dick France
The Dynamics of Growth This time we are offered no explanation, beyond the opening phrase, ‘The kingdom of God is as if…’ Or, to paraphrase it, ‘This is how God works out his purpose in the world’. For ‘the kingdom of God’, remember, means God being king, God in his sovereign pow…
Mark The People's Commentary - Disreputable company
Mark The People's Commentary - Disreputable company
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…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - NICODEMUS by NIGHT
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - NICODEMUS by NIGHT
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
NICODEMUS by NIGHT In the last chapter, Jesus did not ‘trust’ himself to people who ‘trusted’ in him because of his signs (2:23–24). Over the coming chapters, many people come to Jesus because of his signs—the Samaritan woman (4:29), the official whose son is healed (4:47), the p…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Startling Symbolism
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Startling Symbolism
by BRF - Dick France
STARTLING SYMBOLISM The Passover meal consisted of a series of courses interspersed by cups of wine (four in all), and for each course and each cup there were appropriate words of blessing and explanation repeated by the head of the family. Jesus, as head of the ‘family’ of his d…
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?