Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Mark”
Mark 7:31 Decapolis means “the ten cities” and was an area in modern-day Jordan where ten cities had joined together in a confederation. The last time Jesus was here, he drove the Legion out of a man who was badly possessed and who was then asked to tell about Jesus in Decapolis (Mark 5:1-20). Mark 7:32 Jesus often healed the …
Mark 7:24 Tyre was an important port city in Phoenicia (present-day Lebanon). We have seen earlier in Mark that Jesus has tried to withdraw from the crowds in order to rest and teach the disciples a little more undisturbed (Mark 6:32-34). Having failed to escape in the past, Jesus now goes away from Jewish areas and stays among the Gentiles …
Mark 7:15 The Pharisees believed that food became ceremonially unclean if eaten with unclean hands. Jesus now goes against this view and explains to his audience that food cannot defile a person, whether or not they have washed their hands. Jesus explains to his disciples that uncleanness comes from the heart instead. A person becomes unclean if what Jesus describes …
Mark 7:1 The “Pharisees” were a “revival movement” among the Jewish people who studied the Pentateuch carefully and tried to live their lives accordingly. The word “Pharisee” roughly means “the consecrated”. The Pharisees were very careful not to break any of the commandments of the Pentateuch. They were so careful that they even put a “fence” of extra rules around …
Mark 6:56 The horned toad was a Jewish symbol that served as a reminder to obey God’s commandments (Numbers 15:37-41). Perhaps these people had heard about the woman with hemophilia who had been healed earlier when she touched Jesus on the back of her head (Matthew 9:20). It was not the fact that they touched Jesus’ clothes that made them …
Mark 6:46 Because Jesus had worked hard, he now wanted to spend time alone with his Father to pray. When Jesus was born a man, he took on the form of a “servant when he became a man” (Phil 2:6-8), thus making himself voluntarily dependent on his Father to know what he should do (John 5:19) and dependent on the …
Mark 6:30 The word “apostle” means “sent” and is a title that also indicates mission. Jesus had previously sent his twelve closest disciples to represent him by preaching repentance, casting out evil spirits and healing the sick. Now that they have returned, they will report back. It is Jesus who is the true shepherd and teacher, but a disciple can …
Mark 6:14 Herod was not really a “king” but a “tetrarch” or “governor”, a lower rank of leader (Matthew 14:1). However, he very much wanted to be king, so this may be an ironic detail that Mark adds. Herod ruled over Galilee and Perea and founded the city of Tiberias. This Herod was the son of Herod the Great who …
Mark 6:6 Even though Jesus worked hard and taught everywhere, he could only be in one place at a time. Now Jesus thinks it’s time for the twelve apostles to join in Jesus’ ministry and thus extend Jesus’ teaching. Mark 6:7 The word “apostle” means “sent out”. According to the Pentateuch, every case was to be decided by “the testimony …
Mark 6:2 Like all Jews, Jesus celebrated the Sabbath. The Sabbath starts at nightfall on Friday evening and lasts for 24 hours. Remembering to keep the Sabbath is part of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). Just as God worked to create the earth in six days and rested on the seventh, so man is meant to work six days and …