Withered Trees … and Unwithered
I have read many, many commentaries on Mark 11:12ff. All of them mention that Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” But none of them mention what is in...
View ArticleEunuchs
Isaiah 56 describes the good news of coming salvation in terms of the inclusion of eunuchs in the house of God. Formerly, they were excluded from the assembly of Yahweh; they could not draw near to...
View ArticleThe Old Temple and the New
In his Study in St. Mark, Austin Farrer shows how Mark 13 parallels Mark 14. Jesus pronounces judgment on the old temple in Mark 13, but he forms his disciples into a new temple, a true house of...
View ArticleJohn’s Baptism
When John the Baptizer begins his work, Jerusalem sends a fact-finding committee to to inquire about his identity and about his baptism. In particular, the Pharisees ask why he’s baptizing since he’s...
View Article“Hear Him”
Peter has the spiritual insight, apparently, to recognize Moses and Elijah when they appear at Jesus’ transfiguration. And yet he blurts out the wrong thing. And when the Glory Cloud surrounds them and...
View ArticleTransfiguration and the Lord’s Day Service
The story of the Mount of Transfiguration tracks, to some degree, with what happens in the Lord’s Day service. Jesus ascends a high mountain, which in the Bible is often associated with drawing near to...
View ArticleThe Catholicity of Jesus
Was there ever anyone with more integrity, and who made greater demands, than Jesus Christ? Yet look at the catholicity of His practice: He ate with publicans, harlots, and sinners, and He took nursing...
View ArticleHumility & Pride (Mark 10:41)
From Mark 10:41 it appears that the “ten” were aware of what Zebedee’s sons had asked and that they were indignant about it. Thereby they betray themselves. Humility is grieved over the sins of others;...
View ArticleLeaving Behind (Mark 10:29-31)
For the sake of Christ and the good news of the coming kingdom, one can come to stand before choices in connection with which one either trusts in the gospel or drops that for the sake of family and...
View ArticlePast Them (Mark 6)
When Jesus walks across the water through the storm (Mark 6), he wasn’t intending to get into the boat with the disciples or to calm the storm. He intended to go past them, so that they could see him...
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