Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Mark”
Mark 12:38 A scribe was more or less a “Bible teacher” and, all things being equal, should have been a good role model for Jesus’ disciples. However, these scribes greatly abused their role. The scribes disliked ordinary work but liked people to look up to them, so they took advantage of people’s piety to receive gifts. Instead, a disciple of …
Mark 12:36 Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1, the most quoted verse from the OT in the NT. Just before his death, Stephen saw Jesus at God’s right hand in heaven (Acts 7:54-56). Paul teaches more about Jesus’ enemies in 1 Corinthians 15:23-28. Mark 12:37 In his humanity, Jesus is a descendant of David (Matthew 1:1) but in his divinity, Jesus …
Mark 12:28 The Law of Moses has 613 commandments, and even though they were all to be kept, the Pharisees used to discuss which of these commandments were more important. In the Talmud, Rabbi Simlai writes: “Moses gave Israel 613 commandments, David reduced them to eleven (Psalm 15), Isaiah to six (Isaiah 33:15-16), Micah to three (Micah 6:8), Isaiah again …
Mark 12:18 The Sadducees were a small but influential movement, largely made up of members of the clergy or upper classes, and were often opposed to the more popular Pharisees. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, a future judgment, or the existence of angels and spirits, which led to quarrels with the Pharisees (Acts 23:6-8). They accepted only …
Mark 12:13 Since they don’t dare to arrest Jesus because of the people, they now try to trap Jesus with difficult questions so that the people will turn against Jesus. This was not the first time that the Pharisees wanted to entrap Jesus (Mark 10:2). When Jesus eventually stood before the Great Council, an unsuccessful attempt was made to use …
Mark 12:1 Jesus speaks specifically to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders (Mark 11:27). With this parable, Jesus shows that he knew what they were up to and thus gives them a chance to repent. The symbolism of this parable: The “man” is God. The “vineyard” is Israel. The “vineyard workers” are Israel’s leadership. The “servants” are the …
Mark 11:28 Israel’s top religious leader comes to Jesus and asks these two questions. Jesus was not out to debate theology with the religious leaders, he was out to tell the people the good news. The religious leaders had seen and heard about the miracle of Jesus, but they accused Jesus of being led by Satan (Matthew 12:24). Mark 11:30 …
Mark 11:20 What Jesus had said the day before had now been fulfilled. The fact that the tree had dried from the root down shows that it will never be able to bear fruit again. Mark 11:22 Jesus urges his disciples to trust that God has the power to do what he wants. Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). …
Mark 11:15 The temple area was divided into different sections: The outer court where everyone could stay, including gentiles, non-Israelites. The court of the women was for all Israelites. The men’s courtyard was for men only. Gentiles and women were not allowed to stay there. The priests’ courtyard was for priests only. Malachi prophesies that the Lord will come to …
Mark 11:13 Since this story of the fig tree comes both before and after Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, it serves as a framing device that gives us clues as to how to interpret the cleansing of the temple. The fig tree pretended to have figs, but it turned out to be false advertising. Just as the green leaves of …