Bible Study series: Mark 13:1-31. This is not his final Second Coming, but his judgment on Jerusalem and the temple. It happened from A.D. 66-70, in Jesus’s generation, just as he said. It would have been odd if he had not predicted this major upheaval. Roman generals stomped all over the temple and committed the “abomination of desolation.”
Bible Study series: Mark 12:41-44. She challenges us to be generous.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:38-40. They deserved it. In today’s Big Church Corporations, they need to hear the same thing.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:35-37. Jesus taught this truth in the temple. He was greater than David.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:28-34. The man who answered was not far from the kingdom of God.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:18-27. Jesus deftly handled their hypotheticals.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:13-17. His answer was stunning and brilliant. Even his opponents acknowledged this. His answer always impresses me, no matter how many times I read it. Every. Time.
Bible Study series: Mark 12:1-12. This parable is about the Jerusalem and temple establishment. We should expect more confrontations, since he is now in Jerusalem. The establishment had already heard of him.
Bible Study series: Mark 11:27-33. This is a bad idea, because his Father supports him.
Bible Study series: Mark 11:20-25. Jesus gives us permission to speak to obstacles (and diseases and evil spirits). But everything must surrender to the will God, even our words. And speaking to obstacles right in front of us is not the same as decreeing, which only God does. Don’t confuse the categories and roles.
Bible Study series: Mark 11:15-19. Jesus said this is his Father’s house. Time to clear out one area of the temple. This was another action parable. It sent a message to the temple establishment.
Bible Study series: Mark 11:12-14. This is an action parable. Jesus lived in an agrarian society, where animals were slaughtered and trees uprooted or chopped down often enough. Just talk to a farmer today.
Bible Study series: Mark 11:1-11. He was destined to die, but for now the people honor him.
Bible Study series: Mark 10:46-52. Evidently Bartimaeus reported his healing to Mark’s community. That’s why Mark knew his name.
Bible Study series: Mark 10:35-45. They had the wrong outlook. Be a servant, not the lord.
Bible Study series: Mark 10:32-34. Jesus understood his ultimate mission. He was ready.
Bible Study series: Mark 10:17-31. What will Jesus say to the rich man? Did his love for wealth hold him back?
Bible Study series: Mark 10:13-16. We should also bless children, especially those in our own household. Don ‘t mistreat them.
Bible Study series: Mark 10:1-12. God himself set up marriage. We trifle with it to our own hurt.
Bible Study series: Mark 9:42-50. Keep your life scandal free. Then be salt for the kingdom community and the world.
Bible Study series: Mark 9:38-41: Be for Jesus, not against him. Then help his disciples. You won’t lose your reward.
Bible Study series: Mark 9:33-37. Take the low road before God. Be a servant. Become like little children. Don’t lord it over people.
Bible Study series. Mark 9:30-32. He understood his mission, tough though it was.
Bible Study series: Mark 9:14-29. Demonization is real. Be free of it.
Bible Study series: Mark 9:1-13. Jesus reveals more of the glory of the kingdom in himself.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:34-38. These verses may be the most important ones for our discipleship. We must kill our sins and vices and selfish ambition and foolishness and stubbornness (etc.).
Bible Study series: Mark 8:31-33. Peter had just declared that Jesus is the Messiah. Then he speaks for Satan and his cause.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:27-30. This is his confession of faith.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:22-26. We can learn from this healing, when we pray for the sick.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:14-21. False teaching nowadays is everywhere.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:11-13. Jesus does not grant their demand. He moved on.
Bible Study series: Mark 8:1-10. God can work a miracle with a few resources.
Bible Study series. Mark 7:31-37. The crowds were amazed. But Jesus worked the miracle to help the man, not to amaze the crowds.
Bible Study series: Mark 7:24-30. Jesus lifts her faith by putting her off at first, just to bring out the faith he saw in her.
Bible Study series: Mark 7:1-23. The word of God is central. Traditions take a back seat.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:53-56. This is his ministry of putting bad things right. The kingdom of God has come.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:45-52. Do not fear! Jesus miraculously comes to save you.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:30-44. The apostles report back after their short-term mission trip. Then they go on a retreat. Afterwards, he feeds the five thousand.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:14-29. Let’s do a deep dive into John’s life.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:7-13. Proclaim repentance. They healed saw many healings and deliverances. They used oil to pray for the sick.
Bible Study series: Mark 6:1-6. Jesus went there to teach and preach. But they rejected him. He simply moved on.
Bible Study series: Mark 5:35-43. Jesus performs the greatest miracle– a resurrection. He is putting things right. The final accomplishment of this will happen in a twinkling of an eye, at his Second Coming.
Bible Study series: Mark 5:24b-34. Power went out from him because she reached out in faith, which rose above her desperation.
Bible Study series: Mark 5:21-24a. Jesus is heading towards a house where he will perform a wonderful miracle.
Bible Study series: Mark 5:1-20. Jesus went out of his way, across the lake, to get to him. This is the compassion of God.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:35-41. Jesus calmed the storm to demonstrate God’s power, but it also has a practical need–to save other lives and boats.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:33-34. Parables keep everyone keen and reveal who leans in to pursue truth.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:30-32. Don’t despise small beginnings. Be patient for God to work.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:26-29. The kingdom of God is not fireworks, but grows little by little, often unnoticed except by the farmer who plants the seeds.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:21-25. Several hard-hitting truths delivered with such few verses.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:13-20. The parable is profound, and he explains it to us.
Bible Study series: Mark 4:10-12. Are you hungry enough to dig for their meaning?
Bible Study series: Mark 4:1-9. Jesus introduces the parable, and then just a little later he will explain it.
Bible Study series: Mark 3:31-35: True disciples belong to his new kingdom family.
Bible Study series: Mark 3:22-30. The teachers of the law from Jerusalem falsely accuse him of expelling demons by the prince of demons. The blasphemy of the Spirit is also looked at here.
Bible Study Series: Mark 3:20-21. Yes, even his mother Mary thought her son was out of his mind.
Bible Study Series: Mark 3:13-18. They will become the official overseers of the gospel stories about Jesus and leaders of the church. Then they will become missionaries.
Bible Study Series: Mark 3:7-12. It is a clear and revealing summary.
Bible Study Series: Mark 3:1-6. Jesus broke traditions on the Sabbath.
Bible Study Series: Mark 2:23-28. The Sabbath does not hang over our heads like a sword, with the death penalty for an infraction Jesus offers liberty.
Bible Study Series: Mark 2:18-22. How did he respond to the challenge from the people? He teaches them about new wine and new wineskin and the presence of the bridegroom among them.
Bible Study Series: Mark 2:13-17 Matthew-Levi said yes. What about you?
Bible Study Series: Mark 2:1-12. He has the authority to forgive sins and heal people. How has he forgiven your sins?
Bible Study Series: Mark 1:40-45. He was moved with compassion. How is this a good motive to heal?
Bible Study Series: Mark 1:35-39. Jesus had a mission. What is yours? How do you seek God to find it?
Bible Study Series: Mark 1:29-34. How do you minister to the sick? Is your ministry biblical?
Bible Study Series: Mark 1:21-28. Jesus was a teacher and ministered in the power of the Spirit. How did he expel a demon? What can we learn from his ministry?
Bible Study Series: Mark 1:16-20. What is your calling like? How did you decide to follow Jesus?
Bible Study series: Mark 1:14-15. This ministry will eventually change the whole world. It began in Galilee.
Bible Study series: Mark 1:12-13. How did Jesus overcome his temptation?
Bible Study series: Mark 1:9-11. Jesus got water baptized. He is our example.
Bible Study series: Mark 1:1-8. John introduces the coming Anointed One to the crowds. How do we introduce Jesus to our world?
Once again the hyper-critics pounce. But do we have a reasonable explanation?
Did Jesus indirectly endorse same-sex marriage by his silence on it? I teach briefly and realistically on sex in this post, so immature readers should not click on it. Parallel passages in Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospel are looked into here.
Are you ready for the Lord’s return?
Parables are purposed to challenge us (among other things). As a kingdom citizen, are you ready to allow the kingdom of God do its work, overseen by God? It is his kingdom after all. Mark 4:26-29.
Was Jesus a failed prophet? Matt. 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27 say that some standing there with Jesus would not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. How can that be true, when the Second Coming has not happened in the past two thousand years (and counting)? The answer will surprise you because it goes beyond the “standard” one.
Was Jesus a failed prophet? Critics seem to think so because he told Caiaphas the high priest and the Sanhedrin (the highest court and council of Judaism) that they would see him coming, sitting in clouds of glory.
The Jerusalem and temple establishment may have rejected Jesus, but God calls him his beloved Son and made him the chief cornerstone of a new temple.
How are the chronological differences to be reconciled?
Wow. Now we have entered the realm of nitpicking to the nth degree. We have to move grains of sand one at a time with tweezers.
There are definitely differences in the three accounts of Jairus’s daughter being raised from the dead, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But do these differences blind us to the central truth of the story?
Are the four Gospel writers all that clumsy, or do they employ the story teller’s art to narrate the story of these disciples from the writers’ own point of view?
Would Jesus show indignation or anger towards a leper, a needy man? Hostile readers pounce on some ambiguity.
The kingdom starts off small and grows slowly. Then it grows in your life and in millions of lives around the globe, individually. Through changed lives after the salvation of each person, the kingdom can influence society for the better.
Will you let persecution or the anxieties of life steal or crush the word out of you? Or will you allow God to change your heart to become good soil? This is the most important parable for challenging our hearts to be receptive to Jesus and his gospel.
We cannot answer all the questions in this overview, but we can exegete the Lord’s Supper in its original context in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This post also looks very briefly at 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 11:23-34 and John 6:35-59. Then, what do various churches teach about the Lord’s Supper (or Communion or Eucharist)? I am here to learn. I updated this post with information that startled me. I also learned something new from Exodus 12:14. Once more I updated this post!
The Fathers quoted here lived in the second to third centuries. They are unanimous that Mark wrote the second Gospel, and it was authoritative for them–so it should be for us too.
These chapters are on Jesus’s discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70) and then the Second Coming, which has not happened yet 2000 years later (and counting). Looking at the chapters side by side clarifies what he really taught. I updated this post.
It’s about God’s love and favor, not yours for him. Great for a series of sermons or Bible studies or your personal edification.
The evidence suggests that Peter was indeed a portrait painter, but he used words alone. Jesus was his subject.
In the empty tomb an angel tells three women to report the resurrection to the disciples. They leave, trembling and amazed, and in awe. Let’s look at the Longer Ending in the light of other Scriptures.
In continuity with Mark 14, Jesus is turned over to Pilate, who is amazed at his silence. Pilate delivers him to be crucified. Jesus is beaten and mocked. He is crucified. He dies, by giving up his spirit. A centurion says that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathea asks permission from Pilate to bury Jesus, and Pilate is amazed that the crucified one is dead already. Mary Magdalene and Mary (the mother of James and Joses [Joseph]) and Salome are following and observe from a distance. See the table of events during Passion Week at the end of this post.
The Passion Narrative begins. (See the table at the end for the events in Passion Week.) Jesus is anointed at Bethany. Judas betrays Jesus. Jesus institutes the Last Supper and New Covenant. He foretells Peter’s and the other apostles’ denial. Jesus prays in Gethsemane. He is arrested, a young man flees, and Jesus is brought before the Council. At the same time, Peter denies Jesus.
In verses 5-31, Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which will happen before his generation passes away (v. 30). He saw the near-future and accurately predicted it. In verses 32-37 he talks about the day or hour of his Second Coming, which has not yet happened for the past two thousand years (and counting).
Jesus tells the Parable of the Vineyard Owner and Wicked Tenants. He brilliantly replies to a challenge about paying taxes to Caesar. He answers the Sadducees’ question about the resurrection. He tells a teacher of the law what the Greatest Commandment is. He clarifies who the Son of David is. He says to beware of the teachers of the law who devour widows’ houses yet say long prayers. He observes a poor widow giving all she had.
Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey in an action parable. He tells a fig tree not to bear fruit ever again, in another action parable. He clears out an area of the temple in yet another action parable. The chief priests, the teachers of the law (scribes), and elders fight back and challenge him. Who authorized you to do this? See table of the events during Passion Week, at the end of this post.
Jesus teaches on divorce and marriage. He blesses the children. He tells a rich young man to sell all he has and follow him. Jesus predicts his death and resurrection a third time. Right after Jesus makes this prediction, James and John request to sit next to Jesus in his glory, and the other ten become indignant. Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus.
Jesus goes up the Mount of Transfiguration. He heals a boy with severe demonic possession; he again predicts his death and suffering and resurrection, and the disciples don’t understand. Ironically, they argue over who is greatest. John tried to prevent a man who expelled demons, but Jesus replies that the man is doing good. Jesus teaches about removing hand, foot or eye, if it “causes” you to sin.
Jesus feeds the four thousand. Pharisees demand a sign. He tells the disciples to beware of the leaven of Pharisees and Herod. The disciples are confused about his meaning. He heals a blind man at Bethsaida in an unusual way. Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection and has to rebuke Peter. He tells the crowds about the cost of following him.
Jesus talks about washed and unwashed hands, clean and unclean foods and the command of God taking priority over the traditions of the elders. He goes up north to retreat, but he is spotted. He heals a Syro-Phoenician Greek woman—a Gentile and a woman!—who “defeats” his challenge to her, in his role as a reluctant teacher who is testing his “student” to answer correctly. Finally, in the Decapolis, east of the Lake of Galilee, he heals a deaf and mute man, in an unusual manner.
Jesus is unable to work many miracles in his hometown because of their unbelief. Jesus sends out the twelve. John the Baptizer is beheaded after a girl’s dance and a foolish promise. Jesus feeds the five thousand. He walks on water. He heals many sick people, when he walks by in the marketplaces, and they merely touch his garment. This post briefly discusses his divine attributes, his miracles, and his human nature.
Jesus delivers a man with a legion of demons. He raises up Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter and heals a woman with an issue of blood.
This chapter has the parable of the sower; the purpose of parables; parable of light under a container; the parable of the growing seed; the parable of the mustard seed; the use of parables; and the calming of the storm.
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. He teaches and heals the multitudes by the lakeside. He chooses the Twelve. His family intends to take custody of him. The teachers of the law claim that he expels demons by Satan’s mastery. He warns them not to blaspheme the Spirit. He tells the crowd that the one who does the will of God is his brother, sister, and mother.
Jesus forgives and heals a paralytic, and the teachers of the law criticize him for his forgiving sins. He calls Levi. Jesus says that his own mission is to reach the unhealthy. People question him about fasting. Pharisees criticize Jesus because his disciples were plucking grain on the Sabbath.
In this Gospel, in the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry: John the Baptist is introduced; Jesus is baptized by John. Satan tempts Jesus. Jesus begins his Galilean ministry. He calls four fishermen: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He expels an unclean spirit from a man. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law and many others and expels many demons. He goes on a preaching tour. He cleanses a leper with a command.
Jesus seemed to be “rude” to a Gentile (pagan, non-Jew, or foreign) woman, someone outside his outreach to Israel. Here’s an exegesis (close reading) that explains his reasons, in a little more detail, in his own cultural context.
This is quick reference guide to religious and political Jewish groups who appear in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
This may be the shortest post in my series on Matt. 24-25, Luke 17 and 21, and Mark 13.
We must look at these verses in their textual and historical contexts. And we must not skip over the most stubborn verse in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke); then we can interpret this Scripture more clearly. Please view the photos at the end.
Mark 2:1-12 says that the Son of Man–Jesus–forgave a paralytic’s sins. Does this mean that Jesus claimed authority that only God has, thus making himself equal to God? Did he use a Hebrew word for “forgiveness” which only God can offer?
Why did Jesus say that not even the Son knows the day or the hour of the Second Coming? Puzzling.
Things are not so clear-cut as I had thought they were. Please be sure to check out my photos of the Arch of Titus at the end; they show rhe Romans stomped all over the Jerusalem temple.
It is the major technique of Jesus’s teaching, right up there with his direct teaching. So how do we define it?
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 