Mark 3:1-6: I cannot imagine the frustration that Jesus was facing at this point. He showed up in the synagogue as was expected. Upon entering he was aware that the religious leaders had set up a situation of entrapment. They planted a man with a withered hand to […]
I am closing out Mark 2 today. Studies will probably drop off for the next few weeks. Next Saturday we fly out for the Philippines and will spend time ministering to the Philippino’s until April 13th. I do not know if internet will be available or not. If […]
Festival of the Jews I am going to deviate from the study for a moment to discuss the Jewish festival Purim. It will start tonight at sundown and goes to tomorrow night at sundown (March 20-21st). It occurs on the 14th day of Adar on the Jewish calendar […]
Mark 2:14-17 Calling of Matthew. Parallel passages: Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32. Jesus called Matthew, and he dropped everything and followed Jesus. Not only did Matthew drop everything, he had a big reception at his house and invited all of his friends to meet Jesus. Let’s hit a rabbit […]
Remember, Context rules! We saw in the previous chapter several verifications that Yeshua was the Messiah. In our discussion we discussed how John preached turning away from sin and taking a new direction. He did not preach “forgiveness” but rather “redirection”. This chapter starts with a marked situation […]
This section complets the study on Mark chapter 1. It whittles through a few details to look at some interesting aspects of the few compact verses that finish the chapter. I hope that you enjoy and learn from them as we examine the nuances of Judiasm and the […]
It has taken a few days to complete this study. I wrestled with some of the ideas in it and refined my thoughts more than usual. What is a Rabbi? What did the New Testament Synagogue look like. How does this influence our understanding of the Gospels? These […]
I wish everyone a magnificent Sabbath rest today. This is a short study today. It is geared to encourage you to think, what is the Gospel? How do I act upon it? Where do we go with Jesus’ message? I will give the study from the New Testament […]
Mark 1:9-11 Jesus is Baptized and Verified. John was rather disturbed at Jesus coming for immersion. He felt that it would be better to be baptized by Jesus (Matt 3:13-17). The purpose of this immersion was not for repentance, it was to set the record straight for His […]
I have been working on this study for several days. It gets a little detailed, but worth the read. I hope that you glean from it nuggets of value. Mark 1 Who was Mark? Mark was not an apostle. Mark never claimed authorship to this book, this was […]