Mark Introduction
Mark’s Gospel is by far the shortest of the four gospels, and it reads like the story of an eye witness. Much of the early church believed that the author was John Mark, whose mother provided an upper room that was a gathering place for the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). He likely was the same man who traveled with Paul and with whom Paul had a falling out (Acts 13:13, Acts 15:37-39) but later commended (2 Timothy 4:11). He has also been identified as the man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52). Early post-apostolic writers described Mark as a friend of Peter who recorded the recollections of Jesus’ closest disciple. Therefore, while the writer himself may have been an eye witness to much of Jesus’ life, he would have relied on Peter for an even closer eye witness view.
Even though the account written by Mark is the shortest of the gospel accounts, it comes across as a coherent story. In fact, it is filled with action, with the stories of Jesus’ exploits frequently joined together with the words “and immediately”. Even though most of Mark seems to be repeated in Matthew and Luke’s accounts, those accounts usually add additional observations and materials. However, there are places where Mark has details not captured in Matthew or Luke.
Mark appears to be talking to a Greek-speaking audience. This is indicated where he sometimes translates words for his reader from an original language (likely Hebrew or Aramaic) to Greek. It appears that Mark is most concerned with explaining that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Anointed One, and he describes a great deal of the battles between Jesus and the religious leaders for the hearts and minds of the people of the time.
Based on the variety and age of the manuscripts, Mark’s Gospel originally ends with Jesus’ tomb being empty and the risen Lord having appeared to the women but not yet the disciples. It is not known if his abrupt ending was intentional. It may be that the need for getting out the story was greater than the need to research the experiences of the followers of Jesus and record their story.
The traditional ending of the gospel (Mark 16:9-20) appears to have been added by someone other than the original author. There were several different proposed endings, the traditional one being the most complete and most inspired. All of these endings were composed much later, and the early church fathers were not aware of them. They were likely added after the other Gospel accounts were written, to make Mark more consistent with the others.
Mark Guide to the Transcommentary
This is a little bit more than a translation and a bit less than a full commentary. It serves a similar function to the Amplified Bible, though that work’s purpose was to provide a complete sense of the meaning of the words used by the writers of scripture. This work has a somewhat different purpose:
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To convey as close as possible the actual meaning of the sentences as they would have been understood at the time they were originally spoken or written. To accomplish this for twenty-first century Americans, dynamic equivalent words and sayings have been used at a sentence level. An attempt has been made to preserve intended wordplay and irony from the original author.
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We have attempted to clarify ideas, references, and thought sequences that would have been clear to first century audiences but are not clear to modern audiences because of differences in culture, customs, language, or degree of familiarity with Old Testament scriptures and Messianic prophecies. The phrasing of the translation itself aims at that clarity, but we have also added words, phrases, and sentences to the narrative for improved understanding. All such additions are in brackets []. This allows the reader to have the explanatory additions when reading but also insulate these additions from the translated scripture – indeed, with a little effort they can be skipped entirely when reading aloud.
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Color codes for different types of additional material are intended to further aid understanding:
- As in many editions, the words of Jesus are shown in red.
- Words of Father God or the Holy Spirit are shown in blue.
- Green is used for words added to descriptive narrative because they are implied or as commentary to explain the context.
- References to scriptures are shown in gold.
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As in many translations and editions, we have added headings in bold to help understand when a new theme is introduced by the author.
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The author frequently refers to "Christ" or to "Jesus Christ". We have employed the words “the Anointed One” rather than "Christ", since that is the meaning of “Christ”. We wanted to avoid the sense of "Christ" as Jesus’ surname, yet still recognize it as a well-known title.
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We have also added study questions at the end of each chapter to help you think more thoroughly about the meaning and application of the author’s writing.
An example of the use of bold headings, color, and brackets can be seen in the following paragraph taken from Mark 8:
Jesus the Anointed One and the cost of following him
27 Jesus and his disciples went forth from there to the area of Caesarea Philippi [in the farthest northern part of Israel near the town of Dan and the Roman enclave of Banias]. On his way, he asked his disciples, “Who are men saying I am?” 28 They answered, “John the Baptist, or some say Elijah, others say one of the prophets.” [This is the same answer that people gave when Herod was interested in Jesus back in Mark 6:14-16.] 29 And Jesus said back to them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Anointed One. [We have watched you do everything we ever heard that the Anointed One would do, and even more. We have heard from you words of wisdom that could only come from God.]” [The Jewish people had been waiting for the Anointed One to come ever since Moses had told them that He would send them a prophet who will speak God’s words to them. They and the world were waiting for the Anointed One to appear and make all things right. Now the disciples realized that Jesus was that mighty prophet.] 30 And he commanded them to not tell anyone about him.
We will have succeeded in this translation if you the reader find that you can read this Gospel with greater comprehension and enjoyment than ever before. Please let us know if you find the various supplementary materials helpful. or too distracting, or if you have any other suggestions about how to improve this approach to translation.
Richard Tittle, pneuma9@gmail.com
Mark Chapter 1
John the Baptist
1 The [report of the] good news about Jesus, the Anointed One, son of God, begins 2 just as written in the prophets, “Notice, I am sending a messenger before me [Malachi 3:1], who will make the pathway ready for me, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight’ [Isaiah 40:3]”. [This was the assignment of John the Baptist. He would make straight paths for people to God by leading them to give up their sins and be cleansed. And he also revealed the Anointed One, Jesus, to them.]
4 John baptized in the wilderness and proclaimed baptism as a means for turning lives around and being set free from sin. 5 And people came to him from all around the land of Judea and from Jerusalem, and all of them were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John wore a camel skin tied with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. [John sacrificed all comforts for the opportunity to fulfill his assignment of introducing Jesus to the world.] 7 And he said, “There's someone coming after me, more powerful than me, and I am not worthy even to untie his sandals. [John honors Jesus to such a degree that John sees himself as not even qualifying to do the lowliest task for him.] 8 I have baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in Holy Spirit.”
[Water was for purifying, but the Holy Spirit being poured out on believers would bring divine enablement and power. What John sees about Jesus – that he would baptize in the Holy Spirit – does not even happen until Jesus leaves the earth. Jesus will need to remove the judgment for sin through his death on the cross before the Holy Spirit could abide in each person’s heart.]
Jesus’ baptism and temptation
9 It was during this time that Jesus arrived from Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As he came up out of the water, he saw the skies torn open and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 11 And there was a voice from heaven, “This is my son whom I love and who pleases me.” [This is a standard blessing of a Jewish father towards his son when he comes of age and is acknowledged as the heir of the father.]
12 Immediately [after his baptism, filling, and blessing], the Spirit pushed him into the wilderness. [At some point, he must have described this to the disciples. It is an important principle - as soon as something or someone is fully fashioned and released, he or it needs to be proved through testing.] 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted [and tested] by Satan. He was among the wild beasts, but angels ministered to him [to protect and strengthen him at the end of that time].
First disciples
14 At the same time John [the Baptist] was imprisoned, Jesus came into Galilee. [Their ministries just barely overlapped. John's was done, now that he had identified the Anointed One.] 15 Jesus was proclaiming the good news about God, saying, “The time is now, and the kingdom of God is here. Revise your thinking and believe the good news. [You don't have to wait any more. God is ready to show his goodness if you will trust him.]”
16 As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon [whom he called Peter, or “Rock”] and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, because they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come and follow me [as my disciples] and I will turn you into fishers of men.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 And when he went a little farther he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat repairing their nets. 20 And with no hesitation he invited them as well, and they left their nets with their father Zebedee and his hired servants and followed Jesus.
[According to John 1:35-41, Jesus already met these four through John the Baptist around the time Jesus was baptized by John. Luke 5:1-11 tells the story of this calling of the first four disciples in more detail, including the story of the miraculous catch of fish. By the time Jesus calls the disciples full-time they have already spent some time with him, which may help explain why they were able to respond so quickly to his call to abandon their nets and become his disciples.]
First deliverance
[Now that Jesus had his first followers, he was ready to get to work.] 21 He took them into Capernaum and, since it was the Sabbath, without hesitation he entered the synagogue and began teaching. [It would not have been unusual for there to be a guest speaker. Jesus' four disciples all lived around there so he would have been welcomed as their teacher.] 22 And they [in the synagogue] were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with authority [, as one who knew what he was talking about], not as the teachers of the Law [the usual teachers].
23 At that point there was a man with an unclean spirit [a demon] in the synagogue who cried out with a loud voice, 24 “What are you doing here, Jesus? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!” [It is not unusual in gatherings of believers for there to be among them people oppressed by demons. The person may appear normal, or they may be a trouble-maker or simply resistant to God. When the Spirit of God shows up through a person walking in authority like Jesus or even during anointed worship, the demon becomes uncomfortable and manifests. In this case, the demon understands that Jesus has come to overturn the kingdom of darkness.] 25 Jesus interrupted him, saying, “Shut up! Come out of him!” 26 And tearing himself away [and causing the man to convulse], the unclean spirit cried out in a loud voice and left him.
27 They were amazed, saying to one another, “What new kind of teaching [ability] is this? He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him!” 28 And the news about him immediately spread throughout the region of Galilee. [Jesus was declaring war on the realm of darkness. At the same time, he was declaring the reign of God's goodness to all who would believe.]
First healings
29 When they left the synagogue, they went directly over to Simon and Andrew's house, accompanied by James and John [to have their Sabbath meal together]. [Excavations of ancient Capernaum show that Simon's house was only a block away from the synagogue.] 30 But Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, so they told Jesus about it. 31 He came and raised her up by laying hands on her. The fever left her immediately, and [she felt so well] she began to serve them.
32 And that evening, after the sun had gone down [and it was no longer the Sabbath day], they brought to him all who had diseases or were demonized. 33 The whole town came together at the door [to Simon's house]. 34 Jesus healed many who were sick from various diseases and cast out demons from others, but he wouldn't allow the demons to speak because they recognized him. [Jesus didn't want people to learn that he was the Anointed One first from demons.]
Around Galilee
35 The next day, Jesus got up during the fourth watch of the night [three to six am], while it was still quite dark, and went out to a solitary place, and prayed. 36 Simon and the others that were with him searched everywhere for him. 37 When they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He replied, “[Instead of spending more time here,] let's go to the nearby towns, so I can preach there, for that's why I came. [I came to spread the good news about God and demonstrate it all over, so that people everywhere would know how good God is, and so that people would trust and follow me.]” 39 And he preached in their synagogues and cast out demons all around Galilee. [Preaching with authority causes darkness to leave.]
Cleansing a leper
[And then came the case that made it hard for Jesus to go anywhere without large crowds.] 40 A leper came to him and pleaded with him, falling on his knees [before him], saying, “[I know that] if you want to, you can make me clean.” [Lepers by law were treated as carrying infection and were required to go around crying out, “Unclean, unclean,” so that others would steer clear of them. So, it was unusual for a leper to come so close.] 41 And filled with compassion, Jesus stretched forth his hand and touched him, and said, “I do want to! Be clean!” 42 And immediately, the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus instructed the cleansed leper firmly even as he was sending him off, 44 saying, “Say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priests and give the offering Moses required [Leviticus 14:1-9] as a testimony for your cleansing.”
[Jesus knew that if the man talked about his healing, it would cause a sensation. When a person with a skin disease was healed, the Law required he show himself to the priests and offer two doves as a sacrifice before the Lord, to be restored to society. In Jesus’ day, no Jewish lepers had ever been healed. It was believed that such a healing would be a sign that the Anointed One had come. Thereforee, when Jesus sent the man to validate his healing, he was also making a claim that he himself was the Anointed One.] 45 But [instead of obeying Jesus about remaining silent,] the man told what had been done for him everywhere and reported about it in detail. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter towns but had to stay out in the countryside, but people still came to him from every direction.
Discussion questions
1. How do you think John the Baptist knew so well about what would be true about the Anointed One?
2. How would you feel at your church on Sunday if someone acted strange and the pastor cast a demon out of him right in front of you? Should Jesus have done that in a back room or outside?
3. Do you think it was unrealistic for Jesus to think that someone would not tell others about their healing? Can you imagine what it was like for Jesus to travel with people following him everywhere?
Mark Chapter 2
Forgiving/healing a paralyzed man
1 Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, and it was reported that he was at the house. [This most likely was Peter and Andrew's house where Jesus had healed Peter's mother-and-law (Mark 1:31) and many in the local community (Mark 1:34). It could have been Jesus' own house. Matthew 4:13 says that Jesus moved his home to Galilee, but the historical tradition is that Jesus stayed at Peter and Andrew's house when in Capernaum. In Matthew 8:20, Jesus stated he had no place to lay his head, though this may have referred to a later point in his ministry. In John 1:38-39, when some of the disciples first met Jesus, they came to where he was staying but that was when all of them were at the site where John baptized Jesus in Jordan, and Jesus later left for Galilee in John 1:43.] ​
[This time,] 2 so many gathered together that there wasn't even any room to get in the door, as Jesus preached the word to them. 3 And they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 When they could not get near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof above him and, when they had made an opening, lowered his bed to where Jesus was.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Your sins are forgiven you.” 6 There were certain of the teachers of the Law there, and they were reasoning in their hearts, 7 “What he is speaking is not allowed. Only God can forgive sins.” [Jesus had put forth his claim to be the Anointed One when he healed the leper and sent him to be examined by the priests. The teachers of the Law and other leaders who were present came to examine him in person to prove he was not the Anointed One. He saw that the people present had the faith to accept who he truly was. Therefore, he could say out loud what only the Anointed One would be allowed to say. He was pressing his claim forward.]
8 Jesus immediately perceived in his spirit what they were thinking and said, “Why are you reasoning like that? 9 Which do you think is easier to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or ‘Rise up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins” - he turned to the paralyzed man – 11 “Rise up, pick up your mat, and return to your home!” 12 Immediately, the man rose up and walked in front of them all. They were thoroughly amazed, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” [Jesus showed several things in this episode. 1) Sin indeed can cause sickness (as was generally believed). 2) Forgiveness is sometimes necessary for healing. For example, a person may feel they deserve the sickness which has gripped them because of guilt. 3) Jesus is the Anointed One who has authority to forgive sins and to heal. Later he will give this authority to all who follow him.]
Calling sinners
13 Jesus once again went walking by the seaside and all the people came to him, so he taught them. 14 As Jesus was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus [also known as Matthew] sitting [where he worked] at the tax collectors' booth, and said to him, “Follow me [as my disciple]”, and Levi got up and followed him. [As a tax collector, Levi likely felt guilty for making a living by taking money from his fellow Israelites. Hearing that Jesus healed a man by forgiving his sins likely helped Levi decide he would be accepted if he followed Jesus. Like many a new convert, he desired that his friends would also hear and follow Jesus. So he invited them to dinner to meet Jesus.]
15 [Later,] while Jesus reclined at the table at his [Levi's] house along with his disciples, there were also many tax collectors and sinners[, classified so because they did not observe all the Pharisees’ rules], because there were many [interested in] following Jesus. 16 And the teachers of the Law, who were Pharisees, when they saw him eating with tax collectors and sinners, said to Jesus’ disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard this, he said, “It’s not those who are well who need the doctor, but those who are sick. [Likewise,] I have not come to call the righteous, but those who are sinners.” [Jesus chose to be with those who knew they needed him. The self-righteous did not even know they needed him.]
Feasting not fasting
[The Jewish leaders were still examining Jesus for his claim to be the Anointed One. Part of their examination concerned the holiness of the man and his disciples. The Pharisees and John the Baptist both followed an ascetic lifestyle, the Pharisees being more concerned about outwardly observing rules than inner attitudes.] 18 The disciples of John [the Baptist] and the Pharisees fasted [as part of their religious observance], so they [the religious leaders] came to Jesus, saying to him, “Why do the disciples of John fast, and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don't fast.” 19 And Jesus replied to them, “Can the children of the bride chamber [the friends of the bridegroom] fast while the bridegroom is still with them? They cannot! [It's a time of celebration while I am here demonstrating the goodness and love of God.] 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and they will fast in those days. [Jesus is describing the short time after his death before his resurrection, because after the resurrection, the bridegroom is indeed with us always.]
21 “No one sews a new [unshrunk] piece of cloth onto an old garment [to mend it], or else the new piece will pull away from the old and make a worse tear than was already there. [You are trying to apply a lifestyle that doesn't fit these new followers of mine - if I gave them a set of rules they would fail. First, they need to know that they are loved, and that God is a God of love.]
22 “And no one puts new wine in old wineskins, for the new wine [when it expands from fermentation] will burst the wineskins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be spoiled. No, put the new wine in new wineskins. [The experience of these new disciples is like new wine - they are full of enthusiasm and sharing their new life with others. If you tried to fit that atmosphere into an ascetic religious structure, they would fall away and the rule of life they were trying to follow would be ruined as well. Let this be a time of celebration!]”
Sabbath for man’s use
23 Some time after that he was walking through a field, and his disciples began to pluck the ears [to eat them]. 24 And the Pharisees said to him, “Why do they do what's not lawful on the Sabbath?” [The Pharisees were still examining Jesus and his disciples with a fine-toothed comb, since Jesus had essentially claimed to be the Anointed One. They were looking for reasons to discredit him so that they would have good reason not to follow him.]
25 Jesus replied to them, “Don't you remember what David and those with him did when he had the need, when he was weak and hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God during the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the showbread that was on display, which only the priests are to eat, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” [According to 1 Samuel 21-23, it was Ahimelech that was the high priest that gave David the showbread, and it was his son Abiathar whom David later saved from being murdered for his father’s help to David. However, Abiathar may well have helped his father when David came, and Abiathar played a much bigger and longer role as high priest and friend in David's life, hence the credit is given by Jesus to him.] 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
[God designed the Sabbath to help and preserve men's lives and to increase their trust in God. Despite what the Pharisees claimed, it was a common argument among the rabbis that eating to sustain life had a higher priority than not working on the Sabbath day. Besides, it was when Jesus and the disciples were on the way to the synagogue to celebrate the Sabbath that they grabbed breakfast from the field, which itself was valid according to the Law. Though they may have violated the man-defined rules of the Pharisees about what constituted working on the Sabbath, they were trusting in the supply of God, which is the point of the Sabbath. When Jesus says the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath, he is saying two things. One is that he is in fact the Anointed One, who has the authority to restore God's original plan. Second, we are all "sons of man" and therefore we have the authority to interpret how best to honor God on the Sabbath.]
Discussion questions
1. Why was the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man important for Jesus publicly forgiving the man? Why do you think forgiveness might be important for healing?
2. Have you ever felt that others who were among the followers of Jesus came from an unacceptable lifestyle? Have you ever had trouble accepting the legitimacy of others’ call?
3. Why fast? And why would you not fast if you were with Jesus daily? Should believers fast during this day?
4. How should you regard the Sabbath, based on what Jesus says about it?
Mark Chapter 3
Doing good on the Sabbath
[The Pharisees continued to harp on Jesus’ attitude about other things being more important than keeping the Sabbath traditions.] 1 Jesus came back to the synagogue again, and a man was there with a paralyzed hand. 2 The Jewish leaders watched to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath, so they could accuse him [of violating the Law]. 3 And Jesus said to the man, “Come here.” 4 And he said to the leaders, “What is allowed on the Sabbath? To do good or to do bad? To save life or to destroy life?” And they remained silent. 5 Jesus looked around him in anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and then turned to the man, and said to him, “Stretch forth your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was made whole. 6 And the Pharisees went out and immediately met with the Herodians [the political leaders] to determine how they might kill him.
[This question of doing good on the Sabbath had been endlessly discussed by rabbis, so Jesus' answer was not revolutionary - the leaders simply wanted a reason to not accept him. Jesus healed the man without either he or the man doing work on the Sabbath by any definition. The way Jesus healed is instructive in that he simply told the man to do what he couldn't do before, and some combination of the man's faith in Jesus and Jesus' faith brought forth the healing. Jesus did not need to ask the Father - he already knew that healing was the Father's will.]
Revival at the shore
7 Then Jesus and his disciples returned to the shore, and great crowds followed him. They came from Galilee, Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea [the desert land south of the Dead Sea], from beyond the Jordan [present day Syria and Jordan], and even from Tyre and Sidon [Lebanon]. A great crowd came when they heard how many [miraculous] things he did. 9 He spoke to his disciples to make sure they had a small boat standing by in case he should be pressed by the crowd. 10 For he had healed so many, that all who had diseases got as close as possible that he might touch them. 11 And the unclean spirits [demons], when they saw him, fell before him and said, “You are the son of God.” 12 And he instructed all of them [the demons] to not make known who he was [for he desired each person to reach their own conclusion].
Appointing the apostles
13 Jesus went up to a mountain [perhaps near Capernaum and the northern end of the Sea of Galilee] and there he summoned the ones he wanted [as his closest followers and ambassadors], and they came to him. [Luke 6:12-16 tells us that Jesus prayed all night before deciding whom he was going to call. Likely all the disciples who were traveling with him came up the mountain with Jesus, and he went off by himself to pray, then selected the ones he was commissioning as apostles, and had them come to him.] 14 He appointed twelve and called them apostles ["sent ones"] so that they would travel with him and go out to preach [the good news of the kingdom] 15 and exercise authority over demons [by casting them out].
[The most common usage of the word "apostles" in the Greek and Roman world was military. When a territory was conquered, generals were appointed as apostles to communicate and enforce the new rule of the conquering king. This is like what the apostles of Jesus were to do. They were given power to heal as well as authority over demons to enforce the rule of their "conquering king", according to Matthew 10:1 and Luke 9:1. Perhaps Mark doesn't mention the power to heal because casting out demons was so central to the healing Jesus did.]
16 The twelve he appointed were: Simon whom he named Peter [“the rock”], 17 James the son of Zebedee and John his brother whom he named Boanerges which means “sons of thunder”, 18 Andrew [Peter's brother], Philip, Bartholomew [also called Nathaniel], Matthew [also called Levi], Thomas [also called Didymus or 'the twin" possibly because he looked like Jesus], James the son of Alphaeus [also called James the Less (or younger)], Thaddeus [also known as Judas Thaddeus or Lebbaeus], Simon the Canaanite [also called Simon the Zealot], 19 and Judas Iscariot who [later] betrayed him.
Not crazy
20 After [this time of commissioning and explaining what he expected of them], Jesus and his disciples all went back to their home [likely Peter and Andrew's house]. And there was so much of a crowd that came [and there were so many needs that Jesus and his disciples met through healing and casting out of demons], that they didn't even have time to eat.
21 And when those around him heard [that he wasn't taking care of himself], they went out to take hold of him, for they said, “He's crazy!” [They simply didn't understand his level of commitment and the calling of his life.] 22 And the teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem, and they said, “[We think he's crazy too]. He has Baalzebul [he's possessed by a high-ranking demon] and it is by [the power of] the prince of demons that he casts out demons.”
23 Jesus invited the teachers of the Law over to him and said to them using illustrations, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom is divided against itself, how can that kingdom even stand? 25 And if a house is divided against itself, how can the house stand? 26 And if Satan rises against himself, then he can't stand, and his end has come! 27 No man can enter a strong man's house and take his belongings, unless he first binds the strong man [a demon who has a person in bondage] - then he can take his belongings.
[It is true that workers of Satan's kingdom can sometimes use one demon to apparently cast out another. Many people go to shamans and witch doctors and psychics for exactly this purpose. But it's just a deception from the kingdom of darkness to get people more deeply bound, since Satan does not want to divide his kingdom. The only way to handle Satan is what Jesus does and gives us authority to do - bind Satan and take back what he stole from us.]
28 “[Furthermore,] all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever evil they say. 29 However, whoever speaks evil against the Holy Spirit [and does not repent], has not received forgiveness, and is subject to an eternity paying for their sin.” [He said this] 30 because they said he had an evil spirit. [Jesus was saying that he doesn’t take it personally for people to say nasty things about him, even though he is the Son of God. But since he is doing things by the Holy Spirit who dwells in him, and people are attributing those things to evil spirits, they are calling God himself evil. This cuts them off from God himself now, but if they don’t change their minds, also for eternity.]
31 Then his mother and brothers came, sending a message through the crowd for him to join them. 32 All around Jesus was a large crowd, and they told him, “Your mother and family are outside asking for you.” [Knowing that his family did not understand him at that time and was actually trying to interfere with his work], 33 he answered the crowd, “Who are my mother and family? 34 Look right here! See my mother and my family. 35 For whoever does the will of my Father is the one who is my mother and brother and sister.”
Discussion questions
1. How can we say that Jesus “healed” the man with the withered hand if he neither spoke a prayer nor touched the man? What does that tell us is the essential element of healing, even when prayer and touch are employed?
2. Why do you think Jesus appointed twelve to have a special role? What was different about them? Do you suppose the other followers would have been jealous of the twelve?
3. Have you ever been obsessive in your pursuit of a goal? Did others think that you were acting somewhat crazy and not caring for yourself properly? Are there times when a goal is so important it is worth ignoring your own needs to pursue it?
Mark Chapter 4
Story of the sower
1 Again he taught by the sea, and the crowd that came to him was so large that he sat in a boat on the sea, and the crowd was all around him on the land. 2 He taught them through stories that illustrated points. In one of the stories, he told them, 3 “Listen! Imagine this. A man went out to sow seeds. 4 And as he sowed, some of the seed fell alongside the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5 And some of the seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much soil, and it sprang up quickly because the soil wasn't deep enough. 6 When the sun was up, the plant dried out, and because of the lack of roots, it quickly withered. 7 And some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, and the thorny branches climbed up and choked the plant, so that it produced no fruit. 8 And other seeds fell on good soil, and it sprang up and grew and produced fruit - some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “Let those who have ears hear and understand!”
10 And when he was alone [after the crowd had gone], those who were around him and his disciples, asked him about the illustration. 11 He said to them, “It is a gift to you that you will know the mysteries of God's kingdom. But to those outside, [all my teaching] will be done through illustrations, 12 so that in observing, they may see and not necessarily perceive, and in listening, they may hear and not necessarily understand, though if they would do so, they would repent and be forgiven.”
[Jesus is paraphrasing Isaiah 6:9-10. When for a long time people refuse to believe or take God at his word, they become dull of believing what they see and hear. A good story requires people to seek before they can understand. Once they understand what the kingdom of God is like, they will likely choose to follow God and be forgiven for their former hard-heartedness. The disciples, on the other hand, have already submitted themselves to following God and therefore will be given more direct explanations.]
13 He said to the disciples, “Don't you understand this illustration? [If you don’t,] how will you then understand all the illustrations? [This illustration is the key to the others.] 14The sower is sowing the word [of God]. 15 The ones where the seed falls along the path are those who, as soon as they have heard [God's word], Satan comes and immediately takes away the seed [through his lies]. 16 And the ones where the seed falls on stony ground are those who immediately receive the word with gladness. 17 But [because of the stones, or hurts, in them] the word does not take root in them. After a little while, when trials or persecutions come because of the word, they [easily] become offended.”
18 "The ones where the seed is sown among the thorn bushes are those 19 where the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and lusts for other kinds of things choke the word so that it doesn't produce fruit. 20 And [finally] there are those where the seed is sown into good soil, who receive the word and it grows in them and produces fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold. [They apply the word to many aspects of their life, especially to bringing others into the kingdom, and thus bring a harvest through their belief. And the yield of the harvest is much greater than from a single season of reaping because each seed produces multiple generations of seed from its fruit.]”
Using what you learn
[Using another illustration,] 21 he said to them, “Is a lamp brought out to be put under a basket or a bed? Doesn't it make sense to put it on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that won't be made clear [in the light] or kept secret that won't come into the open. [This illustration applies in a double way. First, Jesus is a light that would not be hidden. In his light, all truth is revealed, even that which had been hidden for a long time. Second, once people gain the truth of the good news, they are to display it so that others can gain understanding.]
23 “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear [and understand].” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. [God does reward effort.] With the measure you use to measure out, it will be measured back to you and even more will be added to you. 25 For the one who already has something, even more will be added, but he that has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. [If you listen closely to a teaching of the good news, and then put into practice what you have understood, then you will gain according to the degree of use, and you will set yourself up to understand even more. Those that have gained understanding can use that to gain even greater understanding, but those who have little understanding and don’t use it, will lose even what they have.]”
More stories about the kingdom
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is like when a man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises [without thinking about the seed], day and night [come], and the seed sprouts and grows up [into a plant] without the man understanding how it happens. The earth brings forth its fruitfulness automatically - first the blade, then the ear, then the seeds within the ear. [The seed, like God’s kingdom, carries its own germinating power that does not depend on man's effort.] But once the fruit is fully grown, immediately the sickle is brought forth, for it is then time for the harvest. [Man's responsibility is to take the good news everywhere. God will cause it to bring forth fruit. And once the kingdom has produced its fruit everywhere, it will be time for the final harvest.]
30 Then he said, “What [else] is like the kingdom of God? What illustration can we present for it? 31 It's like a mustard seed which, when it is planted, is the smallest of all seeds of the earth, 32 but after it’s planted, it grows up, and shoots forth such branches so it is greater than all the other herbs, such that the birds shelter in its shade. [The kingdom of God may look small when a miracle or act of faith first occurs, but faith is infectious, and the next time you look, many will have been touched and find shelter in their faith.]”
33 With many illustrations he taught them the word, as much as they were able to receive. 34 But he didn't speak to them without illustrations. However, privately he explained the meaning of each illustration to his disciples.
Calming the storm
35 And the same day, when evening came, he said to the disciples, “Let's go to the other side [of the lake].” [The Father was showing him they had an assignment there.] 36 So after he had dismissed the crowds, they departed, since he was still in the boat [from when he was preaching earlier]. And several other boats accompanied them. 37 A great windstorm rose up so that the waves were breaking over the boat and it was nearly swamped. 38 And Jesus was in the stern of the boat asleep on a head pillow. But they roused him from his sleep and said to him, “Teacher, don't you care that we are about to be destroyed!” [The recounting of the story does not mention what happened to the other boats that traveled with them. Perhaps they turned back when they encountered the storm.]
39 Jesus rose up and commanded the wind with a sharp voice and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm on the sea. 40 And he said to the disciples, “Why were you so timid? Why did you not have faith? [Why did you think there was nothing you could do? Did you not realize the authority that I have given you?]” 41 And they became even more afraid, saying, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Discussion questions
1. Does it make sense to you that Jesus taught the crowds differently from the way he taught the disciples? Does that seem prejudicial or non-democratic of him? What do you think would have happened if he had explained more straightforwardly to the crowd?
2. Each of Jesus’ illustrations seemed to make a different point. What would you say was the primary point of each one? What would you say was in common?
3. When Jesus calmed the storm, he challenged the disciples, asking why they didn’t have faith. What did he mean? Was he saying they should have had faith that God and he (Jesus) would not allow them to perish? Or was he telling them they could have stopped the storm?
Mark Chapter 5
The demoniac
1 They arrived at the other side of the sea, in the region of the Gerasenes. [This is the modern city Kursi. The other Gospel accounts identify it as the area of Gadara, which was southeast of the lake.] 2 When Jesus emerged from the boat, immediately he encountered a man coming from the tombs who had an unclean spirit [he was oppressed by demons]. 3 He had been living among the tombs, and no one had been able to keep him bound with chains. 4 For often they attempted to bind him with chains and restraints, but he had always been able to pull them apart and break them in pieces, and no one could control him. 5 He was always around the tombs or in the hills crying out or cutting himself with stones.
[There are many ways people become oppressed by demons - the most likely seeking help from a fortune teller - this opens a person to the spirit world. In this case, the man was taken over by a powerful spirit who commanded many lesser demons and through fear controlled the territory. As a territorial ruler, this spirit may even have been responsible for the storm that battered the disciples' boat on the way over. The large number of demons made him physically strong but drove the man crazy. It is amazing that he survived until Jesus came.]
6 But when he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran to him and threw himself down in submission before him. 7 But he cried out with a loud voice, “Jesus, son of the Highest God, what are you going to do with me? Have you come to torture me before the appointed time? [Demons know there is a final judgment coming.] I beg you to promise you will not torture me!” 8 For Jesus had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man.” [The ruling spirit inside the man recognized who Jesus was immediately and sought to make peace with him. He knew that Jesus had authority over him and tried to get the best deal he could by negotiating with Jesus. Jesus could tell the man was oppressed and first sought to free the man by simply commanding the demon to go. The number of demons may have reinforced the ability to resists Jesus' command to leave.]
9 Jesus now said to him, “What is your name?” The man answered, “Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he pleaded much with Jesus that he not send him out of the territory. 11 There was a large herd of pigs feeding among the hills, 12 and he [the ruling demon] asked that he [Jesus] might sent them into the pigs so that they could enter them. 13 So Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits left [the man] and entered the pigs. And the pigs violently reacted, about two thousand of them, and ran down a steep slope into the sea where they drowned.
[Jesus asked the demon's name because demons' names represent their function, which in this case was to command a large group of demons and to control the territory like a legion of soldiers. The ruling demon, Legion, thought that going into the pigs was better than being cast out of the territory – he was hoping to still rule in that territory. Jesus was not concerned about the pigs compared to a single man getting free. The pigs killing themselves demonstrates several things. One is that some demons function by trying to kill their host. The other is that one man, even after having made the mistake that led to his being oppressed, was strong enough to resist being driven to death by two thousand demons who were able to overwhelm a herd of pigs.]
14 And those who tended the pigs ran off and told what they had seen, both in the city and in the countryside. Those they told came to see what had happened. 15 They came to where Jesus was and found the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion [of demons] sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. And the people were afraid, [especially after] 16 those who had seen it all told what had happened with the demon-possessed man and with the pigs. 17 And they began to ask Jesus to leave their area. [The people didn't understand what power had been used to free the man. Also, they felt their way of making a living was threatened. Generally, Jesus does not stay where he is not welcomed.]
18 And when Jesus got into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed asked him if he could stay with Jesus. 19 But Jesus wouldn't let him and instead said to him, “Go home, and tell your friends what great things God has done for you and how he has shown his love to you.” 20 So the man left and went all around the Decapolis and proclaimed to everyone about Jesus and what great things he had done for him. And the people were amazed. [Later, Jesus returned to the region of the Decapolis (Ten Cities), and was better received (Mark 7:31), possibly because of this man's testimony. Today there are the remains of a small first century church and a larger fifth century church. The previously demonized man may have become the first pastor!]
Woman with the flow of blood
21 When Jesus returned by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him again near the sea. 22 One of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came to him and fell at his feet 23 and pleaded with him, “Please come, my little daughter is near to death. Lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.” 24 And Jesus went with him, and as he followed him, there was a large crowd all around him.
25 [Among the crowd,] there was a woman who had a flow of blood for [the past] twelve years, 26 and she had suffered much [at the hands] of many physicians, and had spent all she had, but nothing had improved at all - in fact she continued to get worse. 27 Having heard about Jesus [and all his miracles and healings], she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his garment. 28 For she said [to herself], if I even touch his clothing, I shall be made well.
29 And immediately [on touching his garment], the source of her bleeding dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. [She was careful not to touch him directly since she was considered unclean according to Leviticus 15:25 and would thus make him unclean. Both Matthew 9:20 and Luke 8:43-44 tell us that she touched the fringe of his garment - likely the tassels - that represent the authority of a man.]
30 Jesus immediately recognized that power had come out of him, so he looked all around him in the crowd, asking, “Who touched my clothes?” [He knew that someone had not touched him physically but had touched his clothes with an intention of drawing on his power.] 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd all around you, and you ask who touched you? [It is likely many touched you unintentionally!]” 32 Yet he still looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, full of fear and trembling, knowing what had happened inside her, came and fell before him, and confessed the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace, and be well, [completely set] free from your affliction.” [She was already healed by her faith drawing on his power, but Jesus wanted her to go in the full assurance that she had committed no sin and that this problem would never touch her again.]
Jairus’ daughter
35 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue ruler and said, “Your daughter is dead. There's no reason to bother the teacher any longer.” 36 When Jesus heard this word spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don't be afraid. Only believe!” [Jesus already knew from the Father what the outcome would be, just as he later did with Lazarus.]
37 And he wouldn't allow anyone to follow him, except Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. [These three were marked by Jesus for special training, and this circumstance called for only a small number of onlookers.] 38 When he arrived at the synagogue ruler's house, he saw the uproar, and the people sobbing and wailing. 39 When he came in, he said to them, “Why are you making such a big deal and weeping? She's not dead. She's only asleep.” [Just as we see in the Lazarus story, Jesus hated giving Satan and Death any credit, since he is Life himself.]
40 They laughed at him. After he made them leave, he went with the father and mother of the little girl and those who were with him into the room where she was laying. [Faith requires a positive atmosphere.] 12 And he took the girl by the hand and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which translated [from Aramaic into Greek] means, “Young woman, rise up.” [The writer of the account wants us to know that the word of command works equally well in any language.]
42 And right away, she got up and walked, for she was twelve years old. [She instantly was restored, completely normal - she was not even tired.] And they were completely amazed. 43 He told them not to tell anyone, and then instructed them to give her something to eat. [Jesus wants them to treat their daughter normally. However, it would also be normal to want to celebrate what had happened. Yet, Jesus doesn't want to be hampered by the even larger crowds that would follow the report of such an extraordinary miracle.]
Discussion questions
1. Why would Jesus leave so many who were hanging on his every word to go to help one man who was demonized in a non-Jewish area of Israel? When he left that man and that area, what was different as a result of his visit?
2. If you were on your way to minister to someone who was close to death, how would you feel if someone else came into your path and delayed you. Would you be patient with a woman who came to touch you? How would you describe how Jesus ministered to her?
3. What did Jesus consider necessary for the healing of Jairus’ daughter? Was she really only asleep, or was she dead? Was it any harder for Jesus to raise a dead person than to heal a sick person?
Mark Chapter 6
Rejection at Nazareth
1 Then he left that place and traveled to his home country [around Nazareth], and his disciples went with him. 2 And when the Sabbath Day came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who listened were astonished, saying, “Where could he have gotten all this? How could he have gotten such wisdom? How is he doing these mighty works? 3 Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon, and aren't his sisters here among us?” And they were put off from him [and his success because of his familiarity to them].
[Just like the previous time in his home area, people couldn't help being impressed, but as soon as they thought, “Hey, we know this guy and his family and where he comes from”, they could no longer accept him as valid. They were just like Nathaniel, who said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, except they were saying it about their own town.] 4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet doesn't lack honor, except in his own hometown, among his relatives, and in his own family.”
[Jesus was tremendously honored by all those who came to him, but here he was dishonored by those who limited him because they limited themselves.] 5 And he could do no mighty works, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. [This shows how important faith and expectation are to miracles.] 6 He was amazed because of their unbelief. And he went around to the nearby villages and taught.
Sending the apostles
[Even though he wasn’t accepted at his family home, he was still ready to launch the next phase of his ministry.] 7 He called the twelve [disciples to himself] and sent them out in pairs, and he gave them authority over unclean spirits. [This is where they became apostles - those sent out in his authority.] 8 They were to take nothing but a staff [for walking] - no bread, no bag [for carrying provisions], no money in their pocket. 9 They could wear sandals but not an extra shirt. [Matthew 10:9 adds that they were not to take a rod to protect themselves. They were to be completely dependent on God to provide for them through people's response to the power of their message.]
10 And he told them, “Whatever town you enter a house, remain there as long as you are in that town. [Don't look for better accommodations.] 11 And whoever doesn't accept you or refuses to listen to you, leave that place and shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” [Matthew and Luke add, “It will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Judgment than it will be for those places.” When people reject the work of God, they are rejecting God himself.]
12 They went out and gave the message that men should change their way of thinking. 13 They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many of those who were sick and healed them. [Because they were demonstrating the love and kindness of God, they were also teaching the good news that men should expect this of God and should act with kindness and generosity towards one another.]
14 Herod heard about Jesus, for his name was being spread [because of what he and his disciples were teaching and doing], and Herod thought that the one [who was behind these reports] must be John the Baptist raised from the dead, saying that was why he could do these mighty works. 15 Others said it was Elijah, still others "The Prophet" [another name for the Anointed One], or one of the prophets. 16 But Herod said, “It's John the Baptist, whom I beheaded. He's been raised from the dead.” [In Herod's mind, if a prophet was resurrected, he would be even more powerful. He was also obsessed with John, both before and after John’s execution.]
John the Baptist's execution
17 For Herod had himself sent [men] to grab ahold of John and hold him in prison for the sake of Herodias. She had been the wife of Herod's brother Philip, but Herod had now married her, 18 and John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to marry your brother's wife.” 19 So Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to have him killed. But she couldn't 20 because Herod respected John as a righteous and holy man and kept him from harm. Herod listened to much of what John said, and though Herod found it confusing, he liked to listen to John.
21 But an opportunity came [for Herodias to get back at John] when Herod put on a banquet for his birthday celebration, and he invited all the lords, and military leaders, and other leaders [of Galilee]. 22 And the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, greatly pleasing Herod and those who were with him, and he said to the young woman, “What can I give you?” 23 And he swore to her, “Ask for whatever you want, even up to half my kingdom, and it will be yours.” [When a king is well pleased, he commits himself to giving a great gift, but the receiver is expected to be modest in return, asking for something of value but much less than what is offered. However, the king cannot back off from giving what is asked without losing face.]
24And the girl went forth and asked her mother, “What should I ask him for?”, and Herodias replied, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.” 25 And the girl quickly returned to the king and said, “What I want is for you to bring me the head of John the Baptist on a platter right now.” 26 The king was quite upset, [because he didn't want to kill John]. But because of his oath and those who had witnessed it, he would not refuse her.
27 Immediately the king sent for an executioner, and he sent the man to behead John, and the man went into the prison and carried out his job. 28 And he brought the head on a platter and gave it to the young woman, who in turn gave it to her mother. 29 And when the news reached John's disciples, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.
Feeding the five thousand
[This ended the ministry of John the Baptist on the earth, even as Jesus' ministry was being carried forward by his disciples.] [When they returned,] 30 the disciples gathered with Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away to a place in the countryside and rest”, for many were coming and going [where Jesus was] and they had no time even to eat. 32 So they left by boat to a private, out-of-the-way place.
33 Many could see where they were headed and people from the surrounding towns recognized who they were, so they ran and got there before them. 34 And Jesus, when he got off the boat, saw many people there and he had compassion, for he saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began to teach them many things. [The fact that they were desperate enough to anticipate where he was going and even run to get there was an indication both of their need and their hunger.]
35 It was late in the day when the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, this is an out-of-the-way place and it's late in the day. 36 [Why don't you] send the crowd away so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 And he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “Shall we go and buy them two hundred denarii worth of bread for them?” [This would have been more than they could afford and even then, not enough for them all to eat.] 12 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you [already] have? Go and find out.” They found out and told him, “Five loaves, and two fish as well.”
39 And he instructed them [the disciples] to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in orderly groups - around one hundred groups with fifty men in each group. 41 And he took the five loaves and looked up to heaven, praised God [for who he is, king of the universe], broke the loaves, and distributed them to his disciples to set before the people. And he also distributed the two fish [so that all could have some]. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they collected the leftover pieces of bread and fishes, and there were twelve baskets full. 44 And of those that ate the bread that day there were around five thousand men.
[We don't know how and when the miracle occurred. We do know that the people chose the "better thing", to sit at Jesus' feet and be fed by his teaching, and as a result they were provided food as well. Jesus must have seen what the Father was about to do, and the multiplication seems to have happened right after Jesus thanked the Father and began to break apart the bread and the fish. Each loaf multiplied approximately a thousand times. Any time we think we don't have enough time, talent, or money to do what God has told us to do, we might remember how much God can multiply what we offer him. The disciples likely each had a basket they used for distributing the food, and after everyone had enough, each disciple collected enough leftovers to refill their basket. This should have convinced the disciples that they would never run out of what they needed.]
Walking on water
45 Right after the cleanup, Jesus had the disciples get into the boat to head back towards Bethsaida[, the fishing village that was their headquarters] without him, while he went to dismiss the people [and send them home]. 46 After saying good-bye [to both his disciples and all the crowd], he went up into the hills to be by himself to pray. 47 When evening came, they were in the middle of the sea, and he was by himself on the land.
48 He saw that the disciples were straining at the oars, since the wind was blowing against them. In the fourth watch of the night [between 3 and 6 am], he came walking toward them on the sea. He walked as though he would pass them by, 49 and when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were fearful. But immediately, he spoke to them and said, “Take courage. It's me. Don't be afraid!” 51 And he climbed up and joined them in the boat, and the wind stopped. They were completely amazed. 52 For they hadn't yet understood what happened with the loaves, and their hearts couldn't take in what was happening. [Jesus was showing them a different level of living. The disciples, like most of us, operated at the level of buying food to eat, and rowing hard to get across the sea. But Jesus transcended ordinary effort, and produced food when there was no food, and walked on water as though it were solid, without being hindered by the wind and current. This was not easy to take in for them, nor is it for us.]
53 When they had completed the crossing, they landed at Kinnereth, and moored to the shore. [This trip had started in Bethsaida, and they had gone west to get to the place where the five thousand were fed, and now they were even further west.] 54 When Jesus and the disciples came out of the boat, people immediately recognized who they were 55 and ran all around the area [to announce that Jesus was there]. And people brought their sick on their beds to where they heard that he was. 56 And wherever he went, whether village, or city, or countryside, or in the streets, they laid the sick and sought even to touch the hem of his garment, and whoever touched him was healed. [Once the woman had touched his garment and been healed, and people heard about it, they had great faith that this would work for them too, and it did. There is great power in testimony.]
Discussion questions
1. Have you ever felt like your own family or church didn’t see your growth or gifting and only saw the way you used to be? What can you do when you don’t feel fully accepted?
2. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, why do you think he sent them in pairs? Why do you think they may have anointed with oil? Were they successful?
3. Jesus’ miracles seem to become greater and greater. After he multiplied the loaves and fish and then walked on water, v. 52 says “the disciples hearts couldn’t take it in”. How does it affect you to imagine each of these amazing miracles?
Mark Chapter 7
Impurity from within
1 Now, a group of Pharisees came together to see Jesus, along with some of the teachers of the Law. [They came to examine Jesus in response to the claim made by him and others that he was the Anointed One.] 2 They saw that some of the disciples ate with impure hands - that is, they were unwashed. 3 For the Pharisees - in fact, all the Jews - don't eat until they have washed their hands - following the traditions handed down from the elders. 4 And when they come from the marketplace, they don't eat without washing. In fact, they observe many other rituals, such as washing of cups and pots and serving vessels and tables. 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the Law asked him, “Why do your disciples eat with impure hands, not following the traditions of the elders?”
[God wants a holiness where people dedicate their hearts and souls to following him, loving the people in the world rather than separating themselves from the world. "Religion" wants to make holiness about following rules that separate the elite from the common. The traditions of men had that purpose. If you didn't wash your hands and all of the articles, you would be made "common" or impure from touching unholy men or anything that touched them. For God, and for Jesus, this wasn't a problem at all. For one thing, as Jesus points out, holiness is about the attitudes of the heart, not ritual separation. Furthermore, ones who are holy make the things they touch holy, rather than being infected by the unholy. Thus, Jesus wasn't infected by touching the woman with the issue of blood, rather she was healed by touching him.]
6 Jesus answered them, saying, “Isaiah prophesied accurately about you hypocrites, just as it is written [Isaiah 29:13], ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is useless, since they make doctrine [that must be followed] out of the traditions of men but ignore the commandments of God.’ [For in fact, that's exactly what you so-called teachers of the Law do.] 8 You sidestep the commandments of God but follow to the letter the traditions of men.”
9 He said to them, “You are experts at bypassing God's Law to conform to your own traditions. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ [Exodus 20:12] and ‘Whoever speaks evil of their father and mother, let them be put to death’ [Exodus 21:17]. 11 But you say that what you would have dedicated to your father and mother has already been set aside for God. 12 In fact, you won't even allow a man to help their parents from the money they had dedicated to God. 13 Thus, you nullify the word of God through your tradition. [In fact, you ignore God's intention, while putting the blame on God. Then you actually benefit yourselves from that which was supposedly set aside for God.] And many other similar things you do.”
14 Calling all the people over to him, he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand! 15 Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by coming inside him, but it’s the things that come out of a man which pollute him. 16 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear [and understand].”
17 Then Jesus went inside the house [where they were staying], getting away from the people. The disciples asked Jesus about the illustration. 18 And he said to them, “Are you also lacking understanding? Can't you see that nothing that comes into a man can make him impure, 19 because it doesn't enter his heart. Instead it enters his stomach, excreting into the toilet [whatever was not useful to the body] after processing the food [so that what remains will nourish the body].” [Many translations make the last phrase, “Thus Jesus declared all foods clean”. This doesn't make sense, since he is describing the digestion process. His point is almost opposite – it’s not food but thoughts that make you unclean.]
20 Jesus said, “It's what comes out of a man that that marks him as unclean. 21 For from the heart of a man come forth evil thoughts, sexual sin, stealing, murder, adultery, 22 greed, nastiness, deceit, sexual indulgence, evil eye [envy], evil speaking, haughtiness, and foolishness. 23 All of these evil things originate on the inside of a man - and these are what mark him as unclean.”
Syro-Phoenician woman
[During this period, Jesus alternated between ministering in Galilee, where he encountered opposition from Jewish leaders who were trying to avoid Jesus being declared the Anointed One, and traveling to non-Jewish lands, where ministering was much easier.] 24 From there, he got up and departed to Tyre [in the southern part of modern Lebanon], and went into a house [likely belonging to someone who had invited him]. He desired that no one would know he was there [so that he could have some needed solitude], but he could not remain hidden.
25 For there was a woman there who heard about him, and she had a daughter who had an unclean spirit [a demon], and the woman came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was Greek-speaking, Syro-Phoenician by race. [The Phoenicians were Canaanite and some settled in the Syrian area in what is now Lebanon]. She pleaded with him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first until they are full, for it's not right to take the children's bread and feed it to the dogs.” 28 And she answered him, “Yes, Lord, but the dogs do get to eat the crumbs under the table from the children's meal.” [Jesus several times makes it clear that he was primarily called to the Jews during his ministry years but he does spend extended times in Gentile areas. Here he is testing the woman's faith. She passes with flying colors.]
29 He replied, "Because of what you have said, you can go your own way, for the demon is gone from your daughter." [It's not clear whether Jesus simply observed that his Father has rewarded the woman's faith by forcing the demon to leave, or whether Jesus silently ordered the demon to leave. But he said nothing out loud to cause the deliverance.] 30 And when she came to her house, she found her daughter laying on the bed, and the demon had left her daughter. [Somehow the word got back to the disciples - either someone went home with her, or the woman came back to tell, or she sent word about the healing of her daughter.]
Deaf and mute man
31 Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre and Sidon to the Sea of Galilee by going through the middle of the region of the Decapolis. [Jesus remained in non-Jewish areas.] 32 [Within the Decapolis] they brought to him a man who could neither hear nor speak, asking Jesus to lay his hands on him [to heal him]. 33 Jesus took the man away from the crowd, and put his fingers in his ears, and then spit and touched the man's tongue with it. 34 And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and then said to him, “Effata”, which [translated from Aramaic to Greek] means, “Be opened”. 35 And right away his ears were released and the restraint on his tongue was removed, and the man was able to speak normally. [Jesus' groan may have come out of deep compassion for the bondage of the man's ears and tongue. The bondage may have been the result of a curse brought against the man by himself or someone else. Jesus' command broke the bondage.]
36 And he told them to tell no one. But it made no difference how emphatically he told them not to, for they more emphatically could not help telling what had happened. [Jesus was trying to remain somewhat hidden, but the spreading of news about his miracles made for huge crowds.] 37 For they were completely amazed and said, “He has done all things well, for he makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” [The people were quoting Isaiah 35:5-6, which is a reference to the coming Anointed One.]
Discussion questions
1. What does Jesus think about religion and men’s rules? How does he feel about God’s commands?
2. When you’ve had a great need (like the woman had for her daughter), to what lengths would you go to get that need met by God? What did she risk?
3. When Jesus healed the deaf and mute man, why did he put his own spit on the man’s tongue and stick his fingers in the man’s ears? Would you be willing to do those things if you thought God told you to?
Mark Chapter 8
Feeding the four thousand
1 [After hearing about the healing of the deaf and mute man], the crowd [probably non-Jews since Jesus was still in the Decapolis area] was very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples to him and told them, 2 “I feel bad for the crowds, for they have been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away without eating, they may faint on the way, for some of them have come a long distance.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “Where can we possibly get enough bread to feed them all in this out-of-the-way place?” 5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”, and they said, “Seven”.
6 And Jesus had the people sit down on the ground. Then he thanked God for the loaves, and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people, and the disciples gave them out. 7 And they also had a few small fish, and he blessed these, and told them to give these out as well. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they collected the leftovers, which filled seven large baskets. 9 There were about four thousand present, and Jesus sent them away. 10 Right after this, Jesus and the disciples got into the boat, and went to the region of Dalmanutha [believed to be near Magdala since Matthew 15:39 says "Magadan", which is on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee].
No sign for this generation
11 Then the Pharisees came and began an argument with him, asking him to show a sign from heaven, as a test for him. [He had claimed to be the Anointed One, so they felt they had a right to make him prove it. They felt that the healings he had performed could have been done by allying himself with demonic powers, so they wanted him to do something undeniably from heaven. But their purpose was to disprove rather than prove who he was, so that they could justify not following him and maintaining their position as authorities.]
12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you the truth, there will be no sign given this generation.” [It hurts Jesus to say this because he knows they will reap judgment on their nation for not receiving him. Elsewhere he says that this is a wicked and unbelieving generation. The Father will not reward unbelief that comes from not wanting to believe. Matthew 16:4 says the only sign they would receive to prove he was the Anointed One was the sign of Jonah, that is, rising after three days, as Jonah did from the fish.] 13 So he left them again, getting aboard to go again to the other side [of the lake].
Never in need again
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread and found they had only one loaf among them on the boat. [Jesus had made them leave quite abruptly.] 15 And he instructed them, “Watch out! Be careful of the yeast [influence] of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” [The last two journeys to the most populated area of Galilee had brought them near Herod and to the examination by the Pharisees. Neither Herod nor the Pharisees could stand rivals. Herod used his power to try to intimidate or imprison. The Pharisees intimidated through argument and trickery. Jesus wanted the disciples to avoid being influenced by either type of manipulation.] 16 The disciples discussed among themselves what he had said, saying, “It's because we brought no bread that he's talking about yeast.”
17 Once Jesus understood what they were thinking, he said, “How can you be talking about bread? Don't you see? Do you not get it? Are you that dense? 18 Haven't you seen with your eyes and heard with your ears? Don't you remember [what happened]? 19 When I divided the five loaves among the five thousand [people], how many baskets of leftovers did you gather?” And they said, “Twelve.” [He continued,] 20 “And with the seven [loaves] among the four thousand, how many large baskets did you fill up with the leftovers?” They said, “Seven.” 21 And he said, “Then how do you not understand? [God will provide for us and he has given us power to meet our needs at any time. You've seen it. Why then would you ever worry?]”
Progressive healing of the blind man
22 And he [and the disciples] came to Bethsaida, and there was a blind man there whom they asked Jesus to touch [so that he might heal him]. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town [to gain privacy]. There he spat on the man's eyes and laid his hands on him and then asked him if he could see yet. 24 Regaining his sight, he responded, “I see men, but they look like walking trees.” 25 Again, Jesus laid his hands on the man's eyes, and then he could see clearly and was fully restored. Now he could see all men distinctly. 26 Then he sent the man home, telling him to avoid going into the town.
[This is not the only case where we know that Jesus did not completely heal someone the first time he prayed. When Jesus delivered the demoniac, the demons did not go the first time he commanded. Also, it is possible that some of the other healings were not instantaneous. Those reporting would have been simply amazed at the healing, instantaneous or not. As usual, Jesus doesn't want people to know about this healing and thus make it more difficult for Jesus to travel freely around.]
Jesus the Anointed One
27 Jesus and his disciples went forth from there to the area of Caesarea Philippi [in the farthest northern part of Israel near the town of Dan and the Roman enclave of Banias]. On his way, he asked his disciples, “Who are men saying I am?” 28 They answered, “John the Baptist, or some say Elijah, others say one of the prophets.” [This is the same answer that people gave when Herod was interested in Jesus back in Mark 6:14-16.] 29 And Jesus said back to them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Anointed One. [We have watched you do everything we ever heard that the Anointed One would do, and even more. We have heard from you words of wisdom that could only come from God.]”
[The Jewish people had been waiting for the Anointed One to come ever since Moses had told them that He would send them a prophet who will speak God’s words to them. They and the world were waiting for the Anointed One to appear and make all things right. Now the disciples realized that Jesus was that mighty prophet.] 30 And he commanded them to not tell anyone about him.
Pick up your cross
31 [Now that the disciples knew who Jesus truly was,] Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things - that he would be rejected by the elders and the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law, that he would be put to death, and after three days that he would rise again. 32 And he said all of this without holding himself back. Peter began to contradict Jesus. 33 But Jesus turned around, looking at the disciples, and said to Peter, “Get away from me, accuser. You aren't thinking in the ways of God, but rather the ways of man.”
[Jesus is the Anointed One and proved it over and over. Finally, through revelation, Peter understood who Jesus is. This is the signal to Jesus that now it is time to educate the disciples on his destiny. But Peter was so set in his expectation that the Anointed One would live in victory and glory, and even that the disciples would share in this, that he couldn’t accept the inglorious destiny Jesus describes. God's plan is so different from what men would expect, that Peter temporarily became an obstacle to God's plan.]
34 Then Jesus called to the people to come around him and his disciples and he said to them, “Whoever wants to follow me, must deny himself [totally let go of his right to fulfill his own desires], pick up his cross [willingly walk towards his own death], and follow me [wherever I take him including giving up his life]. 35 For whoever wants to preserve his own life will [actually] lose it, but whoever gives up his life for me and for the Good News [of the Kingdom], will [actually] preserve his life.
36 "For what is the profit to a man if he wins the whole world but loses his soul. 37 For what does a man have that he could give in exchange for his own soul? [You must let go of your life totally to be preserved. If you hold on to anything - possessions, rights, desires - none of them will be of any use to gaining eternity with the Lord.] 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.” [How we respond to Jesus and all he says and does will be the measure of our acceptance by Jesus in the life to come.]
Discussion questions
1. Jesus now multiplies loaves and fish a second time. What is the difference between Jesus creating bread here and his refusing to do so for his own needs when Satan tempted him in the desert?
2. When Jesus prays twice to fully heal a blind man, what does that tell us about praying for healing? Did you notice that Jesus used his spit again? Why does Jesus seem to heal a different way every time?
3. When Peter said that he believed Jesus was the Anointed One, what do you think was going on inside him? Who is Jesus to you? Even if you know that he is God himself, what does that mean to you? Is it worth giving up everything to follow him?
Mark Chapter 9
Jesus transfigured
1 And Jesus said to the crowd, “This is the truth. Some of you standing here will not taste death until you have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” [This would be partially fulfilled by the transfiguration of Jesus and fulfilled in a greater way when the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost.] 2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and James and John to a high mountain alone by themselves, and there he changed his appearance before them. [The mountain was likely Mount Hermon, the highest peak of Israel, which is only a short distance northeast from Caesarea Philippi.]
3 His outer garments became intensely bright, whiter than any bleach found on earth could possibly make them. 4 And Elijah and Moses also appeared, and they were talking with Jesus. [Luke 9:30-31 tells us they were talking about how Jesus was going to depart from the world. It is not unusual for people who are about to die to be visited by those from the other side as a reassurance. For Jesus, it was a reassurance to experience the glory that he was returning to before he had to go through the tremendous pain of taking on the sins of all men.]
5 Peter responded and said, “Teacher, it is good we are here. Let's build three shelters - one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He didn't even know what he was saying, for the three of them were terrified. 7 And there was a cloud that enveloped them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved son, hear him!” 8 And all of a sudden, when they looked all around them, there was no one else with them but Jesus - they were by themselves.
9 As they came down from the mountain, Jesus instructed them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They obeyed this instruction, even as they discussed what he meant by “the Son of Man rising from the dead”. [It made no sense to them that Jesus would have to die and rise from the dead.] 11 And the disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And he replied to them, “In fact, Elijah does come first, just as it is written [Malachi 4:5]. How then is it written [Isaiah 53:5, Daniel 9:26, Zechariah 13:7] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated terribly? 13 I’ll tell you, [it’s just like when] Elijah came and they treated him as they wished, as was written about him [1 Kings 19:2-4]”.
[The disciples had just seen Jesus with Elijah and Moses. As Jesus talked about death, the disciples remembered the scriptures say that Elijah must return before the Judgment. They perhaps thought that when Jesus talked about being killed and rising again, he was referring to that judgment. So, they asked the question about Elijah. But Jesus explained that there was a pattern set by Elijah coming, being mistreated, and then Israel being judged. John the Baptist was the current generation's Elijah. First, he restored divine order through his preaching, then he was mistreated and killed, but that heralded a move of God just as in the time of Elijah. Now, Jesus was about to follow in the footsteps of both Elijah and John the Baptist.]
Healing the deaf and mute boy
14 When Jesus [along with Peter, James, and John] got to where [the rest of] his disciples were [at the foot of the mountain according to Matthew 17:14], they saw a great crowd, and the teachers of the Law were arguing with the disciples. 15 When the people saw him, they were amazed, and came to him and were happy to see him.
[The disciples were wrapped up in an argument that they didn't know how to win, and now the man everyone recognized as having true authority showed up at just the right time, which surprised and delighted the crowd. Likely, part of their amazement was that there was also glory from the transfiguration still remaining on him.] 16 And Jesus asked the teachers of the Law, “What were you arguing about?” 17 A man from the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, and he has a demon of muteness. 18 And wherever he is when that demon takes hold of him, it throws him down, and he foams at his mouth and gnashes his teeth, and then becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able.”
19 And Jesus answered, saying, “Oh faithless generation! How long will I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!” [Jesus is frustrated with the disciples that they have not yet grown sufficiently in faith, even though they have successfully ministered when he sent them out. He also sees that it is the entire generation of Israel that has grown cold in faith. Likely the teachers of the Law had questioned the disciples’ authority to carry out an exorcism. This discussion may have hampered the disciples’ faith.] 20 They brought the boy to him, and when he saw Jesus, the boy fell on the ground, rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
21 And Jesus asked the father of the boy, “How long ago did this begin?” [Sometimes knowing when a disease or demonic oppression began tells a minister what kind of demon it is, and what to do about it. For instance, if an illness began because of sin, a person may be set free by forgiving someone. In this case, though, the oppression had been for as long as the man can remember.] And the man replied, “Since he was a child. 22 And sometimes it throws him into the fire or into the water to destroy him. If you are able, please have pity on us!” 23 Jesus replied, “If you are able? Everything is possible for the one who believes!” 24 Immediately the father of the boy cried, “I do believe. But help my unbelief!”
25 And when Jesus saw the crowd running toward where they were, he commanded the unclean spirit, saying, “You spirit of muteness and deafness, come out of him, and never enter him again!” 26 The spirit cried out, and convulsed him greatly, and left him, but the boy fell down and looked like a corpse. Many of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and pulled him up, and the boy stood up [and he was completely well]. [Later,] 28 when Jesus went into the house, his disciples asked him, “Why couldn't we cast out the spirit?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind can't come out except by prayer and fasting.”
[Jesus is not telling the disciples to pray longer in order to heal more effectively. He's already given them authority, which is why they were surprised they couldn't accomplish the deliverance simply by commanding the spirit to leave. He is telling them there is no substitute for spending time alone with God, which increases our reliance on God and our spiritual authority, both of which are needed to break the hold of more powerful spirits.]
Servanthood
30 They left there and quickly passed through Galilee, for Jesus did not want anyone to even know he was there. 31 For he was teaching the disciples, telling them, “The Son of Man will be turned over to men, and he will be killed, and when he is dead, after three days, he will rise again.” 32 The disciples did not understand what he was saying, but they were afraid to ask him about it. [They were reluctant to believe that this was Jesus' destiny but laying down his life was now his goal.]
33 And when he arrived in Capernaum [their home base] and they entered the house, he asked the disciples, “What were you arguing about when we were on the road?” [Jesus knew the answer but wanted them to be self-revealing.] 34 But they kept quiet, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. 35 So he sat down and called the twelve to him and said, “If anyone wants to be the greatest, he must make himself last and become the servant of all.”
36 And then he took a young child and brought him into the middle of them, and when he held the child in his arms, he said, 37 “Whoever accepts one of these little ones in my name accepts me. Whoever doesn't accept me, doesn't accept the one who sent me! [You must get out of the mindset that leadership and greatness consists primarily in getting others to follow you. The most important thing you can do is to serve others, especially the meekest and most helpless. When you do that in the same way you see me do it, it's just like you served me. If you are not willing to serve the lowliest, you don't accept me or my father, and our way of doing things.]”
38 Then John [thought about what Jesus just said and wondered if everyone who wanted to serve was qualified to serve, so he] said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons. But we told him to stop, because he wasn't following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Don't make him stop, for no one who does something powerful using the authority of my name will continue saying bad things about me. 40 For whoever is not against us, will be on our side. 41 In fact, anyone who brings you a cup of cold water in my name because you belong to the Anointed One will [be credited for that in heaven and] not lose his reward.
The cost of sin
“[On the other hand,] 42 if anyone causes one of the least of these little ones [young in the faith] to stumble [in sin or to fall away from faith], it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea [than to suffer the judgment they will receive]. [How we treat those around us, especially those more vulnerable than ourselves, will be measured in our judgment after this life.]
43 "And if your hand leads you to sin, cut it off, for it's better to enter into [eternal] life maimed than to be thrown into hell [named after Gehenna, the valley next to Jerusalem where trash is constantly being burned] 44 where the worm never dies [the eternal soul in hell is continually tortured] and the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot leads you to sin, cut it off, for it's better to enter into [eternal] life lame than to be thrown into hell, 46 where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it's better to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to be thrown into hell with both eyes, 48 where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out. [Deny yourselves seriously and forcefully when your desires could lead to sin and potentially lead others to sin as well.]"
49 “Everyone will be salted before fire [is applied]. [Sacrifices are salted to purify them before they are burned.] 50 Salt is good. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it get its purifying quality back? Have salt in yourself. [Ask God to purify you as you offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).] And be at peace with everyone. [Live in such a pure way that you help people into the kingdom, not keep them from it.]”
Discussion questions
1. Can you remember a time when you experienced something amazing, like Peter did on the Mount of Transfiguration, and you wished you could stay there forever? What was it like when you had to return to normal life? What was it like for the three disciples returning to normal?
2. Jesus told the father of the child that belief was the key to fulfilling his need. The man admitted he had a mixture of belief and unbelief. The disciples had been given authority but still had unbelief. What did Jesus tell the disciples was a key to belief?
3. What can you do to avoid sin? What things could you do that are the equivalent of cutting off your hand or foot, or plucking out your eye, that keep you from being in a place where you easily fall into sin.
Mark Chapter 10
Marriage and divorce
1 From there [Capernaum], he departed again and went to the boundary of Judea at the far side of the Jordan river [the modern country of Jordan]. [As usual,] the people gathered around him there, and he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came to test him, and asked him, “Is it allowed for a man to divorce his wife [according to your interpretation of the scriptures].” 3 Jesus answered them, saying, “What did Moses command you [about this]?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written so a man could put his wife away.”
5 Jesus replied, “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this instruction. [This scripture is found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. God knew that men would decide to end their marriages for all kinds of reasons - at least a certificate of divorce was required so that a woman would be free to be married again. But in Malachi 2:16, God says through the prophet, “I hate divorce.”] 6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 7 ‘For this reason [that a woman is made from the essence of man], a man shall leave his father and mother and become united to his wife. 8 And the two shall become one flesh’ [Genesis 2:24]. So, they are no longer two [separate beings], but one. 9 What God has joined together, no man should tear apart.”
10 Once they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus again about the same subject. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever leaves his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her [even if he has given her a certificate of divorce]. 12 And if a woman leaves her husband to marry another man, she commits adultery.” [Jesus is firm about marriage being permanent except because of unfaithfulness. See Matthew 5:32.]
Jesus and children
13 [In the household where Jesus was staying,] they were bringing young children that he might touch them [to bless them], but the disciples prevented them[, wanting to protect his resting time]. 14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was quite upset, and said to them, “Don't hold them back! Let the little children come to me, for they are the very ones who make up the kingdom of God. 15 I tell you the truth - whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a little child, shall not enter it. [Children are very important in the kingdom. They should be included in all the kingdom activities. Study them and become more like them, because children easily accept God's goodness and power since they have no resistance to faith. This is exactly the way we must become, or else we won't walk in the faith we need, to do kingdom activities ourselves.]” 16 And he took the children in his arms and blessed them.
The problem with riches
17 As Jesus was leaving to continue on his journey, a man came running to him, falling on his knees before him, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to gain eternal life?” 18 And Jesus replied to him, “Why do you call me good? There is one only who is good, and that is God. [If you think that following God is about following the letter of the Law, you are mistaken. It's about trusting God completely.] 19 You know the commandments - do not murder, do not steal, do not lie, do not steal, do not desire what is not yours, honor your father and mother.”
20 He answered and said, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youngest days.” 21 Then Jesus fixed his eyes on him and loved him. [He saw deeply into him, knew what hampered him from completely following God, and loved him in spite of his difficulty in trusting.] He said to the young man, “There's only one thing you lack. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor - your treasure will be in heaven [rather than the earth]. Then come and follow me.” 22 And the man was pained at what Jesus said, and went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked all around him [at each of them, to make sure they were paying attention,] and said to his followers, “How difficult it is for those with wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. So, he spoke again, saying, “Children, how hard for those who trust in wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” 26 And the disciples were even more astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
[In the eyes of religious scholars, material riches were a sign of God's blessing. Yet, when a person depends on their riches they don't depend on God. Entering the kingdom means listening to God and following his will. Riches are a tremendous distraction unless they are totally given over to the use of the kingdom. The disciples believed the prevailing wisdom that everything is easier for the rich man, so if it is hard for a rich man to be saved, in their minds it is even harder for everyone else.] 27 Jesus replied, “For man it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” [Men can't bring about their own salvation. It is the grace of God that allows us to submit our will to God, and thus be delivered from our separation from God.]
28 Peter [was thinking of what the disciples had willingly sacrificed and] began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything to come and follow you.” 29 And Jesus replied, “Let me tell you the truth. There is no one who has left their house and brother and sister and father and mother and children and lands for me and for the sake of [spreading] the good news [of the kingdom], 30 who shall not receive a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and children and lands - as well as trials - in this current life, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many [who are now considered] first will be last [in the future kingdom] and [those who are considered] last [will be] first”.
[When we give up our lives and follow God, his plan will always supply many of his people as our new family wherever we go, and we won't lack for places to live either. This will include times of affliction or persecution as well, since wherever we go, we will bring God's kingdom, but there will be an existing order that resists what we bring. We shall have very full lives, plus we will live with God in eternity. But in eternity, we will find the order reversed - those who had much in this life and held on to their possessions during their earthly life will be the least, but those who had nothing will be treated as most important in heaven.]
The cost of glory
[Though the disciples were giving up much to follow Jesus, he was about to make clear how much more he himself was called to give up for the sake of the good news.] 32 As they got underway again, they were on the road to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of the disciples. They were amazed and, as they followed, they were also afraid. [Jesus had been telling them he would be facing death, and they knew the authorities wanted to get rid of Jesus, so they had a good reason to be afraid, but Jesus acted as one who had no fear at all, and this really impressed them.]
And he brought the disciples near him again and began to tell them again [the third time] what was about to happen [that the Father had shown him already]. 33 He said, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the interpreters of the Law, and they will condemn him to death and turn him over to the non-Jews [to carry out the sentence], 34 and they will mock him, and spit on him, and whip him, and kill him. And on the third day, he will rise again.”
[Jesus couldn't have described any better what was going to happen, but for the disciples, it would have been impossible to fully comprehend how this could be the plan of God and why the chosen one of God would cooperate with this. Least of all would they understand about his rising again. But now they were beginning to believe that this tragedy was actually going to happen.]
[Beginning to believe that Jesus' time on the earth was ending,] 35 James and John came to Jesus, saying, “Master, we have a desire that we would like you to fulfill.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 They replied, “Grant to us that one of us would sit on your right hand and one on your left [in the places of honor when you come] in your glory.”
38 Jesus replied to them, “You really don't understand what you are asking. Are you ready to drink the cup that I will drink and receive the baptism that I must undergo?” 39 They responded, “Yes, we are!” He said, “You will indeed drink the cup of pain that I will drink and go through the baptism of suffering that I will suffer. But it is not mine to give what you ask. 40 To sit at my right hand and left will be given to those for whom it is intended.” [Jesus is saying their picture of his future glory is not erroneous, and that they will be honored for their faithfulness which would extend all the way through suffering and death, but many will go through that, and the Father will determine who is glorified in what ways. Jesus has already said that the last will be first and the first last.]
41 When the other ten of the disciples heard about what James and John had asked, they were angry. 42 But Jesus called them all to him and told them, “You know how, among the non-Jews, those who are seen as rulers treat all others as their subjects and their great lords impose their authority over those under them. 43 But that's not the way it will be among you. He who wants to lead will do so by serving. 44 The greatest among you will be the one who is a slave to everyone else. 45 For [even] the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and [to do so with the greatest effect possible] by giving his life as a ransom so [as] many [as will receive it] will go free.”
Healing blind Bartimaeus
46 Then they arrived at Jericho [the last large town on the way to Jerusalem], and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, there was a large number of people. There was a blind beggar known as Bartimaeus [the son of Timaeus] sitting along the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth [going by], he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 And Jesus stopped, commanding that the man be called over. And they said to him, “Cheer up. The teacher is calling for you to come.” 50 And the man, casting away his [begging] cloak, proceeded over to Jesus. [To cast away his cloak, which was a uniform for one approved by officials to beg, the man was indicating his faith that he would not need it any longer.] 51 And Jesus said to the man, “What do you want me to do for you?”, and the man replied, “Lord, that I would receive my sight.” 52 And Jesus answered, “Go where you want to go! Your faith has made you well!” Immediately the man's sight was restored, and he followed Jesus down the road.
Discussion questions
1. How different was Jesus’ wisdom from the standard wisdom of the day concerning divorce and marriage, or concerning possession of riches?
2. How hard would it have been to walk toward Jerusalem, knowing you were walking toward death and torture? Have you ever had to walk toward pain for the sake of the Gospel? Are you willing?
3. If Jesus were about to walk past you, what would you speak up and ask him for? Well, then, Jesus is right there with you – do you have the faith to ask?
Mark Chapter 11
Triumphal entrance into Jerusalem
1 As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethany and Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of the disciples, 2 saying, “Go into the next village in front of you. As soon as you enter, you will see a young donkey tied up, that no man has ever ridden. Untie him and bring him to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are doing that, say, ‘The Lord has need of him and will return him as soon as he is done.’” [This is the beginning of the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. Jesus refers to himself as “Lord” for the first time, though his disciples may have been referring to him this way. Likely, this rendezvous was not pre-arranged, but the Father is revealing it to Jesus, telling him exactly what to say.]
4 The two disciples went out and found the young donkey tied to the gate at a meeting place of two roads, and so they untied it. 5 And some that were standing there said, “What are you doing?” 6 The disciples responded just as Jesus told them, and they were allowed to take the donkey. 7 So they brought the young donkey to Jesus, and covered the donkey's back with their garments, and Jesus sat on him.
8 And many spread their garments in the road before him, and others cut down branches from the trees [to wave]. 9 And both those who went ahead of him and those who followed behind, cried out, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 10 Blessed is he who brings the kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And so he made his entrance into Jerusalem. He went into the Temple, and he looked all around. [He may have been noting the things that needed to be reformed, such as the sellers’ tables. His dramatic entrance into the Temple may have been a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1-3.] Then it was getting late in the afternoon, so he went with his disciples out to Bethany[ where they would stay at Lazarus’ house.].
Cursing the fig tree
12 The next day, on the way back from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing a fig tree from a distance that was full of leaves, he went to it hoping to find something he could eat, but there was nothing on it but leaves, and it was not yet the season for figs. 14 And Jesus responded and said, “From now on, may no man ever eat fruit from you again!” And the disciples heard what he said.
[Fig trees bear fruit much of the year, and generally grow edible buds before the leaves come out. Therefore, seeing leaves, Jesus had a reasonable expectation there would be something he could eat. This fig tree, showing no buds, would also have no figs in a later season. Jesus was using the tree as a lesson to the disciples. The Jewish leaders were like the fig tree, appearing to be followers of God, but not showing a responsiveness to God, as a budding forth that would grow into true fruitfulness. By analogy, since they were unfruitful, no one should ever go to them to be fed.]
Throwing out the moneylenders
[The next day] 15 when they [again] came into Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple. He threw out those who were buying and selling in the Temple, and he overturned the tables of the moneylenders and the chairs of those who sold doves [as sacrifices]. 16 He would not [even] allow anyone to carry a container [of goods] through the Temple. 17 And he taught [them], saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples,’ [Isaiah 56:7] but you have made it into a den of thieves [Jeremiah 7:11].” 18 The chief priests and the interpreters of the Law heard about it, and looked for a way they might kill him, for they were afraid of him [and his influence], since all the people were amazed at his teaching.
[Jesus had looked the previous day at all the abuses in the Temple. The outer court of the non-Jews had become a place for people from all over who came to the Temple to exchange their money to purchase the items - oil, salt, doves, and animals - that would be required for sacrifices. The selling was sometimes done with outrageous profits to the seller. The profit makers and the religious authorities had changed the atmosphere of the Temple into a marketplace. Jesus could not stand to see this, as it violated both God's word and the holiness of his house. Jesus also knew that now was the time for his life to be sacrificed, so he did not need to avoid angering the Jewish leaders.]
Faith that moves mountains
19 When evening came, [after an entire day of restoring holiness to the Temple], Jesus and his disciples left the city. 20 The next day, they walked past the fig tree and noticed that it was withered from its roots up. 21 Peter remembered [what Jesus had done the previous day] and said, “Teacher, look, the fig tree that you cursed is completely withered.” [Peter recognized that Jesus didn't normally go around cursing trees - that this was a lesson about the unfruitfulness of the Jewish leaders.]
22 And Jesus answered, “Have the faith of God [the kind of faith it takes to curse a fig tree and see it wither in response]. 23 For this is the truth, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and thrown into the sea’, and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it shall be done. 24 Therefore, I am telling you, whatever you ask for when you pray, believe that you have [already] received it, and it shall be done. 25 And when you are taking a stand in prayer, [don't let there be any obstacle,] forgive anything that's been done against you, so that your heavenly father will also forgive what you have done wrong. 26 If you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive what you have done wrong.”
Jesus’ authority questioned
27 They came again into Jerusalem and, as Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the interpreters of the Law, and the elders came up to him. 28 And they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things [such as clearing out the commerce from the Temple]. And who gave you the authority to do these things? [We are the authorities in the Temple, and you completely bypassed us. Who do you think you are - the Anointed One?]” 29 And Jesus responded to them, saying, “Let me first ask you one question, and if you answer it, I will answer your questions. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from man?”
31 They reasoned among themselves, “If we say [his authority came] from heaven, then he will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘from men’, we are afraid of the people, because they believe that John was indeed a prophet.” [Jesus' authority, like John's, did come from heaven, and the Jewish leaders were desperate to remain in power, so they couldn't acknowledge Jesus' authority.] 33 They answered Jesus, saying, “We cannot tell.” Jesus answered, “Then neither will I answer you, [because if you don't recognize John, you won't understand me either].”
Discussion questions
1.What was in common in the things Jesus did in his final time in Jerusalem before his death? What was his purpose?
2.What does Jesus say is the key to faith that can be so focused and powerful as to kill a tree or move a mountain?
3. The Jewish leaders did not want to acknowledge the authority that had been given either to John the Baptist or Jesus, because it was a threat to their authority. What other reasons do people have they might not want to acknowledge the authority of Jesus?
Mark Chapter 12
Story of the vineyard
[Jesus wanted to explain more clearly who he was and why the religious leaders were rejecting him, so] 1 he began to give them illustrations: “There was this man who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, installed a wine vat, built a watch tower, and then leased the vineyard to vine growers, before he departed for far off places. 2 Then, at the time you would expect a first harvest, he sent a servant to the vine growers so that he could taste the fruit of his vineyard. 3 But they took hold of the servant, and beat him, and sent him away with nothing. 4 He sent another servant, and this one they beat about the head, and thoroughly mistreated him. 5 And the owner sent another servant, and they killed this one. And he sent many others, and some they killed and some they beat. [There are many places in the scriptures that Israel is compared to a vineyard. The Jewish leaders can be compared to the vine growers, and the prophets are the servants in the story.]
6 “The owner still had one he could send, his beloved son, and the owner sent him last of all, thinking, ‘Surely they will show respect to my son.’ 7 But the vine growers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. If we kill him, then we will have the property.’ 8 So they took hold of the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine growers and turn his vineyard over to others."
[The religious leaders acted as though God, the owner of the vineyard, would never come back and kick them out. By getting rid of his representatives, they would maintain ownership of the vineyard. Jesus is the true heir, and they would mistreat and kill him just as they did the prophets. But Jesus is telling us that, at some point, God was going to destroy the religious leadership and turn over the maintenance of his kingdom to others. In actuality the religious leadership was destroyed in 70 AD, and never again was there Temple worship for the Jews for there was no more Temple. The others he is referring to are those who will honor him - in other words, true believers, the church.]
Testing Jesus once again
[The Jewish leaders represented different parties - Pharisees who resisted the Romans and were strict in their observance of Law, Sadducees who were more secular and political, Herodians who were closest to the Romans, teachers of the law who used their interpretations for personal gain. They all agreed, however, that Jesus was a threat to their leadership and so they conspired together to find a reason to arrest him.]
13 And they sent to him certain ones of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to try to trap him in his words. [They were acting out parts, since the two parties had different opinions about this matter, and they reasoned that Jesus would be in trouble whichever point of view he agreed with.] 14 They came to him and said, “We know that you are honest and are not swayed by anyone. You don't care about men's position but teach the complete truth about God's ways. Tell us, then, should men pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we give [what is required], or not give?”
15 But, knowing they were acting, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin so I can see it. Whose picture is on it, and whose inscription?” 16 They responded, “Caesar's”. And Jesus answered, “Pay to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and pay God the things that belong to God.” And they marveled at him. [Jesus said a lot by this answer - namely, that we should follow the rules of society and the government when possible, but also honor God. The leaders were after their own personal gain, and certainly were not interested in honoring God except with insincere lips.]
18 Then came some Sadducees, who say there is no Resurrection, and they asked him, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [Deuteronomy 25:5] that if a man dies leaving a wife but no children, the man's brother must take up his brother's wife and produce children for the sake of his brother. [This gave security to the widow and kept the dead brother's family line intact.] [What if] 20 there were seven brothers, and one of them died leaving a wife but no children. 21 And then the second brother took the woman as his wife but he too died leaving no children, and then the third likewise. 22 And each of the seven brothers married her in turn but produced no children. Then last of all the woman died. 23 In the Resurrection, when they all rise, whose wife will the woman be, since each of them had her as wife?” [This was one of the Sadducees’ arguments against there being a Resurrection. They had no faith or understanding of the supernatural and a life beyond this life.]
24 Jesus replied to them, “You are deceived. For you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God. 25 For when the dead rise, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but instead they are like the angels in heaven. 26 And concerning whether the dead rise, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage [Exodus 3:6] [about] the burning bush, how God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.”
[Jesus tells us quite a lot in this. He knows the plan of God for all eternity - this is not simply reasoning from the scriptures, though the scriptures back it up. He is telling us all are alive to God even after they die, though the Sadducees and many others did not believe in an afterlife. When God resurrects all, at the time of Jesus' second coming, we will live a different kind of life than our current one on the earth - more like God's angels, serving him. Marriage will no longer be about the relationship between two people, but rather between Jesus and his bride, the Church.]
28 And one of the interpreters of the Law heard the discussion and that Jesus had given a good answer, so he asked Jesus, “What commandment [in the scriptures] is the most important?” Jesus answered him, “The most important commandment is, ‘Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. [He is the only God, the only one worth our worship.] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’ [Deuteronomy 6:4-5]. And the second is just like it [in importance and necessity to keep], ‘You shall love your neighbor just as you love yourself’ [Leviticus 19:18]. There is no commandment more important than these.”
32 The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Teacher, you have expressed the truth well. For you have said that the Lord is the one God and indeed there is no God besides him. 33 And ‘to love the Lord with all our heart and understanding and strength’ and ‘to love our neighbor as our self’ are far greater than all of our burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that the man answered wisely, he told him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one dared ask him any questions. [When they tried to trap him, they ended up appearing to be fools. The one man who agreed with Jesus was only "close" to the kingdom, because he had not yet decided to follow Jesus.]
The “Anointed One” as Lord
[Now, having answered all the leaders' challenges, Jesus was ready to challenge them in return.] 35 Jesus said, as he was teaching in the Temple, “How can the interpreters of the Law say that the Anointed One is the ‘son of David’? 36 For it was David himself [Psalms 110:1], in the [inspiration of the] Holy Spirit, who said, ‘The Lord [God] said to my Lord [the Anointed One], come sit at my right hand [of authority], until I [conquer your enemies,] making them a footstool under your feet.’ 37 So if David himself called the Anointed One 'my Lord', how can the Anointed One be [only] his son?” The people responded favorably to this teaching.
[Jesus is again saying many things by this simple teaching: 1. That scripture comes from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 2. That David saw into the future through the Spirit the relationship between two of the persons of God - Father God and the Anointed One. 3. That the Anointed One, while it is important that he was a king by being descended from David, it is even more important that he be given the respect and authority due to God himself. 4. That there is a point in time where the Anointed One, having been established in authority, rests in that authority, while Father God defeats his enemies. 5. That Jesus is that Anointed One, also God, who was about to establish his authority through the cross, and therefore was about to fulfill David's vision as he takes his established position of authority at the right hand of Father God. 6. That it would not be smart to be an enemy of Jesus as the Father himself will smash them into the dust.]
Exploiters versus true givers
38 As Jesus was teaching, [he continued exposing the teachers of the Law]. He said, “Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who love to wear long flowing robes [which make them look holy] and be recognized by others in the marketplace 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and recline in the places of honor at feast. 40 For they also devour widows' houses [by manipulating them into giving up what little they have through the interpretation of the Law], and they pretend to be holy by speaking lengthy prayers. [By these prideful and manipulative actions] they earn for themselves greater condemnation [at the Judgment, for they were in position to help people but used their position for selfish gain].”
41 And Jesus sat across from the Temple treasury and watched as people threw their money into the [collection boxes of] the treasury. And many wealthy people threw in much money. 42 But then a certain poor widow came and put in two tiny coins which only are worth a penny when added together. 43 But he called his disciples around him and told them, “I'm telling you the truth. What this poor widow has given was more than all the others who contributed to the treasury. 43 For they all gave out of their abundance [with no effect on their standard of living], but she gave out of her poverty, and gave up all she had to live on.”
Discussion questions
1. In the story of the vineyard keepers, they don’t believe that the owner will come back and exact vengeance. But in real life, God caused Jerusalem to be completely torn apart and the inhabitants killed in 70 AD. Do we doubt other things that Jesus has said about judgment? If we trust what Jesus says completely, then what are the facts about what happens after our life on earth?
2. Which of Jesus’ answers to religious leaders is your favorite? Why?
3. How would you compare the faith and righteousness of the religious leaders and the poor widow that Jesus observed? Where do you fit on the scale between the religious leaders and the widow?
Mark Chapter 13
Destruction of the Temple
1 As Jesus left the Temple, one of his disciples exclaimed to him, “Teacher, what amazing stones and buildings!” 2 And Jesus replied to him, “You think these buildings are great? Not one stone will be left on another that won't be thrown down.” [Later,] 3 when Jesus was sitting [at a location] on the Mount of Olives, across from the city of Jerusalem, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “When will these things happen, and what will be the sign they are about to be fulfilled?”
[Jesus appears to be talking in this discourse about a combination of what would befall Jerusalem in 70 AD (which would directly answer the disciples' questions) and what would happen at his Second Coming. To the disciples, the prophecy of the destruction of the Temple would make them think about the “end of the age”. Probably the writers of Matthew and Luke heard Mark's account and added material from eye witnesses to clarify important concepts for their target audiences. It is conceivable that Jesus did not distinguish between these two periods - he saw things about them both - but it’s also possible the Father had not revealed to him a detailed picture of the next two thousand years.
Many of the things that Jesus says in this passage may have been fulfilled in 70 AD. However, some of the things Jesus says that are recorded by Mark sound more appropriate for the future end times than for the judgment of Jerusalem in 70 AD. For instance, it is not likely the twelve disciples would be deceived into following false Anointed Ones since they knew him. So as Jesus is responding to the disciples, he is also addressing the future believers that will follow him but never met him on the earth.]
5 Then Jesus responded to them, “Listen carefully so that you will not be pulled off your path. 6 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the one,’ and shall fool many [into thinking I have returned and the end of the age has come]. 7 And you will hear about wars and reports of wars, but don't let that stir you up, for that doesn't mean the end has come. 8 For people group will rise against people group, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. But these are only the beginning of the pains of childbirth. [There is evidence that all these things were fulfilled at least to a degree before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.]
9 “But watch out for yourselves [and let your faith be strengthened], for they will deliver you up before ruling councils and you will be beaten in synagogues. And you will be dragged before rulers and kings for the sake of following my name, so that you can be a witness before them. 10 And the Good News must be proclaimed to all people groups [before I return]. 11 But when they force you to go and deliver you up, don't even think about what you will say, but speak exactly what you are given in that hour, for it is not you but the Holy Spirit who will be speaking.
12 “And brother will turn in brother to his death, and fathers will turn in their sons, and children will rise against their parents to see them killed. 13 And you shall be hated by everyone for the sake of following my name. He who perseveres to the end will be saved.
“[You are concerned about when the end will be for the world, but be more concerned how you will stand personally, for your faith will arouse violent opposition, even among the closest families. I am charging you with staying faithful to your very last breath, for I will be there to welcome you into my kingdom on the other side of death, and you will then be delivered from every trial.] [These things also were fulfilled to a degree to Jesus’ followers leading up to 70 AD, but they also have occurred in the nearly 2000 years since.]
14 “When you see ‘that which is hateful and defiling’ standing where nothing should be allowed” - let the reader understand – it's time for those who are in Judea to run to the mountains. [Jesus is quoting Daniel 9:27, which had been already partially fulfilled in 168 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes set up an idolatrous altar in the Temple prior to the Jewish Maccabean revolt. But Jesus is likely referring to a event after his death when the Romans would enter the Temple precinct prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus is telling his followers this is the time to flee - that the destruction will be widespread and thorough. Jesus is directly answering the disciples' question about what would be the sign that the destruction of the Temple is about to happen, and he is giving his followers an opportunity to save themselves.]
15 “If you are out on your rooftop [when you hear this news], don’t go inside and pack, 16 and if you are in the field, don’t return to get your coat. 17 How difficult it will be if you are pregnant or nursing a child in that day! 18 Pray that it will not be winter! [The danger will be so immediate that leaving speedily is the only way to be saved from the destruction.]
19 “For the suffering of those days shall be greater than any since God created the world, nor will there ever be greater. 20 And if the time [of suffering of Israel as a nation for its sin] were not shortened, then no one would survive, but because of the chosen ones, the time of suffering will be shortened. [God had promised the Jews would always have a remnant and those who followed Jesus were also among those whom God promised to offer rescue.]
21 "And [during that very precarious time], if someone says to you, ‘The Anointed One is over here, or over there,’ don't believe them. 22 For false Anointed Ones and prophets shall rise and perform signs and wonders and deceive if possible the chosen. [Satan has a strategy for leading people astray, and during desperate times even those chosen by God because they have believed are more susceptible.] 23 But receive my warning, for I've told you [and those who will read your account of what I am saying] everything in advance.
[These events appear to be describing 70 AD. However, even after 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed, the people were susceptible to following false Anointed Ones. Simon bar Kokhba was named Anointed One by those following him in rebellion against Rome until they were crushed in 135 AD. Even to the present day they are many false prophets and self-appointed Anointed Ones who have led many astray.]
Jesus’ Second Coming
24 “But in the days after that time of suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, 25 the stars in the sky shall fall, and the heavenly powers will be shaken. [Even the physical laws will seem not to operate normally.] 26 And then they [who are alive on the earth] shall see the Son of Man come on clouds with great power and glory, 27 and he shall send out his angels to the four winds [all directions] to gather the chosen ones [chosen because they have chosen him] from the farthest point of earth to the farthest point of heaven [those who are alive as well as those already in heaven].
28 “Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When the branch is still green and begins to put forth leaves, then the summer is near. 29 So when you see these things happen, then it [the Second Coming] is near, even at the door. [Fig trees are late budding, so it is a sure sign of the summer season. In the same way, when these signs in the heaven come, the return of the Lord is about to happen.] 30 I am telling you the truth, this generation shall not pass away [all die] before all these things have come to pass.
[It sounds like Jesus is saying that the disciples will still be alive at his return. For this to be true, Jesus would be referring to his return as coming in judgment in 70 AD to the Jewish nation. Many others think he was saying that there will be no more than a single generation between the heavenly signs occurring and his return. His reference to the fig tree may refer to the founding of modern Israel as a sign of the beginning of the end time generation.] 31"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." [They will certainly be fulfilled.]
“[Though I have told you what to look for concerning when the Temple will be destroyed and when I will return,] 32 no one knows the specific time, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Stay on the lookout and keep alert, since you don’t know what time it will take place. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, who leaves his servants in charge [of his property], each with their own work, so he tells the doorkeeper to remain on alert. 35 Therefore, stay on watch, for you don't know when the master of the house is returning, whether in the evening, at midnight, or at cock's crow [before dawn], or when the morning comes. 36 Or, unexpectedly he will show up, and find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone - remain watchful.”
[To remain watchful is to be prepared. Our own work - our assignments from God - should be up-to-date, and we should be expectant and hopeful about the master's return. And we should care that others are ready as well.]
Discussion questions
1. Jesus is speaking to his disciples in this message, but does it seem to you some of what he says is aimed at later followers who did not know him personally? Which things he said do you think might be more aimed at later followers?
2. Which things that Jesus said seem like they could not have been fulfilled in 70 AD, and must refer to a Second Coming still in the future?
3. What’s your job if you are waiting for Jesus’ return?
Mark Chapter 14
Jesus anointed at Bethany
1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. [The Passover is a single-day feast immediately followed by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread.] The chief priests and the interpreters of the Law were trying to figure out how to catch Jesus through trickery and then put him to death, 2 but “not during the feast”, they said, or it might cause an uproar among the people.
3 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, and he was reclining at the table. A woman came with an alabaster box containing pure spikenard ointment, and she broke the box and poured the ointment over Jesus' head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was this ointment wasted? 5 For it could have been sold for over three hundred denarii [a considerable sum] and the money given to the poor.” And they spoke against her.
[Each of the gospel writers tells a story of Jesus being anointed by a woman – in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:1-9, Luke 7:37-50, John 12:1-8. Only Matthew and Mark’s stories are almost exactly the same. All of the stories have elements in common as well as differences. Matthew, Mark, and John all take place in Bethany, and in all there is anger at the waste of the valuable ointment. Luke’s story is implied to be in Galilee and focuses on the “woman of sin”. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus’ head is anointed. In Luke and John, Jesus’ feet are anointed. John is clear that it is Mary the sister of Lazarus who does the anointing. It seems most likely that Luke is recounting one story concerning the love and forgiveness of a formerly sinful woman, and the others Gospel writers are telling a second story about anointing Jesus for his soon coming burial. Simon the Leper hosted the party in Bethany for Lazarus and Jesus. However, Simon was the name of the host in Luke's story as well. Perhaps Mary anointed both Jesus’ head and feet, and each writer recorded a different memory of the occasion.]
6 But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7 You will always have the poor around you, and you can do good for them any time you wish. But you won't always have me. 8 She has done what was within her means to do. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 Wherever the Good News is declared, people will tell the story of what she has done [on my behalf] to honor her.” [Mary honored him with the very best she had. In fact, Song of Solomon 1:12 says that this is how you honor your king. But Jesus knew how close his death was and assigned this anointing the prophetic significance of preparing for burial.]
Judas agreement to betray Jesus
10 One of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, to deliver Jesus over to them. 11 When they heard what he said, they were glad, and promised him money. He then looked for an opportunity to turn Jesus over to them. [Judas set in motion his betrayal of Jesus right after the anointing incident, where Jesus made clear that there are things more important than money. Could it be that this was a last straw for Judas, who decided at this point to turn Jesus in, and to make a profit at it as well? Matthew says that Judas asked the chief priests for money, and John says that Judas used to steal from the disciples' funds.]
The Lord's Supper
12 It was the first day of the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread, when the Passover [lamb] is killed. [The lamb is killed during the daytime and the feast begins at sundown. The writer is bringing attention to the importance of Jesus as the Passover lamb.] The disciples said to him, “Where should we go to prepare the Passover meal for you?” 13 He chose two of the disciples to go out, and said to them, “Go into the town, and you will see a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. 14 Where the man goes inside, say to the householder, ‘Where is the guest room where the Teacher may celebrate the Passover with his disciples?’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room already furnished and set up. Prepare the meal there.” 16 And the [two] disciples went forth to the town and found it just as Jesus had described it, and here they prepared the Passover meal.
[This was probably a word of knowledge. When Jesus was asked about the Passover, the Father showed him this scene in the village which he then described to the disciples. How do we know this? - Jesus told us (John 5:19-20, John 12:49-50), he only says and does what he hears and sees the Father doing.]
17 In the evening, Jesus came with the twelve [for the Passover meal]. 18 And as they reclined and ate, Jesus said to them, “One of you who is eating with me will betray me” [Psalms 41:9]. 19 And the disciples became sad and said, one by one, “Is it me [who will betray you]?” 20 And he said to them, “One of you twelve, one who dips into the plate with me. [The writer of John remembers this more specifically as a response to John and Peter asking and that Jesus indicated specifically Judas (John 13:21-26). However, the other disciples apparently did not notice this.] 21 Truly, the Son of Man will depart as it is written [through betrayal], but how terrible for the man who betrays him. It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!” [Judas became so tormented for his betrayal that he took his own life and condemned himself to eternal separation from God because he had not turned to Jesus as his Lord.]
22 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, saying, “Take [and eat], this is my body.” 23 And he took the cup, and after he blessed it, he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it." 24 He said to them, “This is my blood [which seals] the covenant agreement [between God and man] that is shed for many.
[Jesus instituted “Holy Communion” within the context of the Passover, which is an enactment of God delivering his people from death due to sin for all who were willing to consume the lamb and abide within the protection of the blood. Jesus not only reassigned the meaning of the Passover to apply to his sacrifice, but his death put in place a more powerful covenant with God. To eat the bread is to receive the sinless one. To drink the wine is to receive deliverance from death. When Jesus said that his blood was shed for many, he meant it would be for as many as would receive him.]
25 “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until I drink it with you in the kingdom of heaven.” [Luke 13:29 makes clear that this will be the wedding feast following Jesus' return to the earth. Jesus longed to share this feast with his friends, and he longs to share the future feast with his much larger group of friends. The Lord's Supper is a memorial for Jesus as well as for us.] 26 And when they had sung a hymn [as they would at any of the appointed feasts], they went out to the Mount of Olives.
27 Jesus said to them, “You will all [temporarily] fall away [from faith] because of [what happens to] me, for it is written [Zechariah 13:7], ‘I will strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered.’ [What happens to Jesus will cause severe doubt and fear in the disciples.] 28 But after I am risen [from death], I will go before you to Galilee.” [Galilee is where the disciples developed their faith in Jesus. He is assuring them that individually and collectively they will be restored. Jesus will appear to them first in Jerusalem, but -Peter will be fully restored in faith and position at the lake in Galilee. It is also where Jesus will later appear to over five hundred.]
29 But Peter said to him, “Even if everyone falls away from you, I will not!” 30 Jesus replied to him, “I am telling you the truth. This very night before the cock crows twice, you will disown me three times”[, which was fulfilled in Mark 14:72]. 31 But Peter said even more emphatically, “Even if I die, I will not disown you!” And all the disciples said the same.
Jesus suffers while disciples sleep
32 And they went to a place [on the Mount of Olives] called Gethsemane and Jesus told the disciples, “Sit here while I pray”. [The name Gethsemane means "olive press". Olives are placed under tremendous pressure to produce oil. So was Jesus under tremendous pressure - the weight of carrying the sins of the world - for the oil of obedience to be produced.] 33 And he took with him Peter, and James, and John, 34 and he began to feel terrified and distressed, saying to them, “I am suffering so deeply I feel like I am dying. Stay [with me] and watch [and pray with me].” 35 He moved just a little forward and fell to the ground, praying that if possible this time [of suffering] might leave him. 36 And he said, “Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup [of your wrath] from me. Yet not my desire, but yours, be done. [The pain of experiencing the sorrows of all men, the suffering of separation from God, and my Father's wrath against sin, are too much for me. It is too much to expect that I can bear this in this human body. Is there not another way? But Father, you know best, so I submit to whatever I must for your sake.]”
[Desiring the strengthening of companionship amid his suffering,] 37 he came over but found the disciples sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch even one hour? 38 Keep watch and pray, so that you don't allow a test [from Satan] to overtake you. [I can see that, for all of us, our] spirit is willing but [our] flesh is weak.”
39 Again, he went away and prayed, speaking the same words [, asking his Father to remove this suffering]. 40 Again, when he returned [to them], he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy, and they did not know even what to answer him. [He went away] 41 and he returned a third time, saying, “Now [you might as well] sleep and get your rest [a few more minutes]. It is enough! [We can no longer appeal to my Father to prevent what is happening] for the time has arrived when the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up! Let's go, for my betrayer is about to arrive.”
Judas’ betrayal
43 At that very minute, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve [disciples], arrived, and with him a crowd of men carrying swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and teachers of the Law and the elders. 44 The betrayer [Judas] had given them [the crowd] a pre-arranged signal [to look for], telling them, “The one I [greet with a] kiss is the one[, Jesus, you want to arrest]. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And [just as he said], as soon as he arrived, he went up to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher”, and kissed him [on the cheek].
46 And they grabbed Jesus and took him into custody. 47 One of those present took a sword and struck a man who was servant to the high priest and cut off his ear. [We know from John 18:10 that the man's name was Malchus and that it was Peter who cut off his ear, and Luke 22:51 tells us that Jesus healed the man.] 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out to arrest a common thief, that you need swords and clubs to take me into custody? 49 I was with you in the Temple daily, teaching you, and you never arrested me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled.”
[Isaiah 53:12 says that the Anointed One would be “numbered with the transgressors”. Luke 22:37 explains why Jesus had told the disciples to bring swords, though Jesus did not intend for the swords to be used by his disciples.]
50 They [Jesus' disciples] all left him and ran away. 51 And there was a certain young man who had followed along with them [the disciples], and he was wearing only a flimsy linen garment over his naked body, and when they grabbed hold of him, 52 he left the linen cloth in their hands and ran away naked. [The understanding of the early church is that this young man was John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark.]
Jesus’ trial before Jewish council
53 They led Jesus away to the high priest. Already gathered with him were the chief priests, the elders, and the interpreters of the Law. [This was an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin, held with the express purpose of condemning Jesus. It was in fact an illegal trial for several reasons. The council could legally conduct a trial only during the daytime, and trials were not to be conducted on holy days such as Passover. Contrary to the Jewish rules for conducting a trial, Jesus' friends among the council had not been invited, nor were defense witnesses allowed to give testimony. Jesus' own testimony should not have been counted against him. The council wanted only a semblance of legality and a guilty verdict.] 54 And Peter followed Jesus [and his captors] from a distance and entered the courtyard of the high priest's palace, where he sat among the servants and warmed himself by the fire.
55 The chief priests and the ruling council looked for witnesses against Jesus [who would testify to violations of the Law that would justify their plan] to put him to death, but they could find none. 56 They found many who were willing to testify against him falsely, but no two testimonies agreed. 57 For example, some testified against him falsely, 58 “This man said that that this Temple made by human hands he would destroy, but that within three days he would build another temple not made by human hands.” [John 2:19 makes clear Jesus was talking about his own body, though the people who heard him did not know that. However, he didn't say he would destroy it but that 'they' would destroy it.] 59 Yet even on this charge, no testimony agreed.
60 The high priest stood up in their midst and said to Jesus, “Have you no words to answer what these witnesses have testified against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent, answering nothing. Again, the high priest addressed him, saying, “Are you the Anointed One, the son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus answered, “I am! And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven!”
[Jesus was not interested in defending himself. However, when the high priest asked a direct question, Jesus was ready to answer the truth, that he is the Anointed One, knowing that that this would ensure his crucifixion. He made it very clear that he is the Anointed One. When Jesus says, "I am" he is equating himself with the Father, as first described in Exodus 3:14. He also quotes Psalms 110:1 when he portrays himself as the future king seated at the right hand of power. Finally, he is referring to Daniel 7:13 when he completes the portrayal of his return to earth "with the clouds of heaven". These were all well-known images of the Anointed One.]
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes [as a response to what he believed was an insult to God] and said, “Why do we need any further witnesses? 64 You have heard this insult to God. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him to the sentence of death. 65 And some began to spit on him. They covered his face (so he couldn't see) and said, “Prophesy”, as the guards shoved him around and beat him.
Peter’s denial of Jesus
66 Meanwhile, while Peter was below in the courtyard [outside where the trial was being conducted], one of the servant girls of the high priest came over 67 and, seeing Peter warming himself by the fire, she looked at him more closely and said, “You were with Jesus of Nazareth.” 68 But Peter denied it, saying, “I don't know [him]. I don't understand [what you're talking about]!” And he went to the front yard [near the gate to get away from the servant who recognized him].
69 Again, the servant girl [in the front yard near the gate saw him] and said, “This is one of them [who followed Jesus]”. [This may be the same servant girl or a different one stationed near the front door (as Matthew reports).] 70 And again he denied it. After just a little while, those who were standing around said, “You must be one of them, for you are a Galilean [by your speech]” 71 And he began to curse and swear, saying, “I don't even know this man you're talking about!” 72 Just then the cock crowed a second time, reminding Peter what Jesus had said to him earlier, that before the cock crowed twice, he would deny Jesus three times. And when he realized what he had done, he wept.
Discussion questions
1. The events of the crucifixion appear to begin with the anointing of Jesus by Mary. In what way did it reveal the hearts of Judas and others? When someone shows extravagant love, especially to God, does your heart cringe, or expand?
2. In what ways does the celebration of Communion match the meaning of the Passover? How do they both match what Jesus was doing? When you participate in Communion, what do you believe you are accomplishing?
3. Why does Jesus want to be with his disciples while he is suffering? Did it help him for them to be there? What is the value in sharing our suffering, or our being with someone else in their suffering?
4. If you were John Mark, would you have allowed yourself to be remembered in your own writing as the one who was so fearful he ran away and abandoned Jesus, even to the point you were willing to go naked?
5. Jesus had proved he could outwit anyone who tried to trap him. Yet now he cooperates with those who want to convict him, though everything was fake about the trial? Could you go through with allowing that to be done to you even if you knew that many others would be set free because of it?
Mark Chapter 15
Jesus before Pilate
1 Immediately after day break, the high priests, elders, and teachers of the Law met with the whole council [, except it still did not include Jesus' friends on the council, Nikodemos and Joseph of Arimathea. The council wanted to make sure that they knew what they were going to say to Pilate.] Then they bound Jesus, took him away, and delivered him to Pilate [the Roman governor].
[After the representatives of the council told Pilate what the charges were,] 2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “True enough[, though I would put it differently].” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things [such as claiming he would destroy the Temple and starting riots.] 4 Pilate addressed Jesus, “They are testifying many things against you. Don't you have anything to say [in your own defense]?” 5 But Jesus answered nothing, to Pilate's great surprise.
6 Now, at the Feast [of Passover], he [the governor, according to tradition,] released one of the prisoners, whomever they chose. 7 There was a man named Barabbas, a revolutionary, who was in chains because he had murdered someone during the revolt. 8 And rising, the crowd cried out to Pilate to do what he usually did [by releasing to them the prisoner they would choose]. 9 But Pilate responded [to their request to have a prisoner released by saying], “Do you want me to release to you ‘the King of the Jews’?” [He was making fun of them.] 10 For he [Pilate] realized that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Jesus to him [Pilate]. 11 But the chief priests motivated the crowd to insist that Pilate release Barabbas instead [of Jesus] to them.
Sentence of crucifixion
12 Pilate answered them again and said, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call 'the King of the Jews'?” 13 And they cried out, “Crucify him!” 14 And Pilate said, “Why? What evil has he done?” And the cried out all the harder, “Crucify him!” 15 Then Pilate, wanting to pacify the people, released to them Barabbas and, after having Jesus whipped, sent him to be crucified. [Whipping was part of the crucifixion sentence - it softened up the convict to quicken his death on the cross.]
16 The [Roman] soldiers led him away to the enclosure called the Praetorium and called together the whole band [of soldiers]. 17 And they clothed him with purple and placed on his head a crown of thorns they had twisted together. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they beat him on the head with a reed stick, and spit on him, and bowed on their knees before him [in mock worship]. 20 And after they had mocked him, they took off the purple and put his own clothes back on him and took him away to crucify him.
21 And they [the soldiers] drafted into service a man who had come from out-of-town and was passing by, named Simon, from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus [who were among those known by the author to later serve the Lord as believers], to carry his cross. 22 They brought him to Golgotha, which translated [from Aramaic into Greek], means the place of the skull [perhaps because of its appearance]. 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, [which served as a narcotic to dull pain] but he did not take it. [He had already renounced drinking wine until he could drink it with his friends in his Kingdom on his return to earth, and his purpose was to take the pain of the world upon himself, so he decided not to dull the pain in any way.]
Jesus’ crucifixion and death
24 And they nailed him to the cross [after stripping off his clothes]. They separated his clothing, casting lots [gambling] to see which of the soldiers would get each article of clothing. 25 It was about the third hour [nine o'clock in the morning] when they crucified him. 26 And the [placard of] accusation was inscribed over him, “The King of the Jews”. 27 And along with him, they crucified two highway robbers, one to the right of him and one to the left. 28 In this way the scripture was fulfilled which says, "He was counted with the sinners" [Isaiah 53:12].
29 There were some who walked up, shaking their heads, and ridiculed him, saying, “You were going to destroy the Temple and then rebuild it in three days. [Let's see you] 30 save yourself and come down from that cross!” 31 Likewise, the chief priests, mocking him with each other and the teachers of the Law, said, “He saved others, but he can't even save himself. 32 Let the [self-appointed] ‘Anointed One,’ the ‘King of Israel,’ come down from the cross. Then we will see and believe!” And those who were crucified alongside of him also taunted him [though Luke 23:40-41 tells us that one of the two, before he died, saw Jesus for who he really was].
33 And from the sixth hour [noon] until the ninth hour [three o'clock], there was darkness over the whole land. 34 At the ninth hour [3 in the afternoon], Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!”, which translated [from Aramaic to Greek] means, “My God, My God, why have you deserted me!” 35 Some who stood there said, "He is calling on Elijah!" [However, many would have recognized these as the words of Psalms 22:1, which Jesus knew were being fulfilled.]
[The darkness over the earth was also the darkness of God's wrath that Jesus was experiencing in his own soul. He experienced the separation from God that all men to that time experienced. What great pain was in his cry! While he experienced our separation from God, his sacrifice in our place satisfied all of God's judgment, so that no man would ever need to experience that separation again, if only they would cross the bridge of accepting Jesus' dying for them.]
36 And one of them ran and got a sponge filled with sour wine and put it on a reed and offered it to him, saying, “Let's [wait and] see if Elijah comes and helps him.” [In other words, this one was enjoying that Jesus would cry for help, and mocked him by helping him extend his suffering, as the bystander did not expect Elijah to come.]
37 But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and let go of his spirit. 38 And the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. [Someone must have been in the Temple at that time who reported on what happened. The curtain was 60 feet tall and around four inches thick. That it was torn from top to bottom indicates that God himself did the tearing. Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that as Jesus' flesh was torn and he died, mankind's sins were forgiven, and the curtain of separation between God and man was removed. In the Tabernacle and the Temple, under the Old Covenant, no man could enter past the curtain into the Holy of Holies, except the High Priest, once a year. Because of Jesus' death in our place, no longer does sin separate us from God. We now enter boldly before God's throne, but we do so only by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus.] 39 The centurion [overseeing the crucifixion], who was standing facing Jesus, saw how he died [so strongly] and said, “Surely this was the son of God.”
Women at the cross
40 There were also some women who watched [the crucifixion] from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 These women included those who were with him in the Galilee and who served him there, and many others who traveled with him to Jerusalem. [Mary the mother of James and Joseph may also be the wife of Clopas mentioned in John 19:25. Salome may have been the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John, since Matthew 27:56 mentions the mother of the sons of Zebedee but not Salome. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also there according to John 19:25. At some point, Jesus' mother Mary and some of the others moved close to the cross, according to John.]
Jesus’ body placed in the tomb
42 Evening was approaching on the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. [All work had to be done before sundown, when the Sabbath started.] 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Jewish council, who was also anticipating the arrival of the kingdom of God, boldly came before Pilate and asked him for Jesus' body. 44 And Pilate was amazed [to hear] that Jesus was already dead, and so asked the centurion if indeed Jesus was dead.
45 When Pilate had verified Jesus' death, he gave permission for Joseph to take his body. 46 Joseph bought fine linen, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped his body in the cloth, placed him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and placed a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary [mother] of Joseph saw where he had been laid. [They now went and rested for the Sabbath until the morning of the day after the Sabbath - that is two nights and the day in between.]
Discussion questions
1. Why does Jesus say nothing in response to the charges against him before Pilate? What would you say if you were charged with being a Christian in an intolerant country?
2. How could Father God watch his son go through the despair of complete separation from him in addition to the tremendous physical pain of whipping, torture, and hanging on the cross?
3. If you were one of Jesus’ disciples at the time of his crucifixion, how would you feel to hear that at the time he died, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two? If you were against Jesus, what would you think?
Mark Chapter 16
The empty tomb
1 When the Sabbath was over, [that night,] Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought aromatic spices, so they could go and anoint the body [of Jesus]. 2 Very early the next morning, the first day of the week [Sunday], at the time of the sunrise, they came up to the tomb. 3 They said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had [already] been rolled back, [even though] it was very large.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side and he was wearing a long white garment. They were very afraid. 6 And he said to them, “Don't be afraid! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But leave, and tell his disciples and Peter, that he will go before you to Galilee. There he will see you, just as he told you.”
8 And they went out quickly, for trembling and amazement had come over them, and they were too afraid to tell anyone.
[This is where the account of Mark originally ended. No one knows why the account ended here - possibly there was an ending that was lost. The primary reason for speculation that an ending was lost is that it seems unlikely that the account would end with the women being too afraid to tell anyone. If no one were told, then how did anyone hear this account? In fact, Jesus would appear multiple times to his closest followers in Jerusalem before fulfilling his promise to appear to many in Galilee. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:6, Jesus appeared to over 500 there at one time.
[Later manuscripts show four different endings that were added, each apparently written by a different author. The following ending, the one that is historically included, seems inspired, even if not written by the author of the original gospel account.]
Jesus' post-resurrection appearances
9 After he had resurrected, early on the first day of the week [Sunday], he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from who he had cast out seven demons [Luke 8:2]. [Someone who had been demonized might have once had a poor reputation because of their former behavior, but this woman, who was so devoted to him, was given the honor of seeing him first in his victory over death.] 10 She went and told those who were his closest friends as they were grieving and mourning. 11 And when they heard [from her] that he was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them [disciples but not among the twelve] as they were walking in the countryside. 13 And they went and told the remaining [eleven] disciples, but they would not believe this either. 14 Afterward, he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table, and he scolded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who told them they had seen him since he rose from the dead. [This is a summary account, which largely matches the other gospel accounts, with the exception that, according to Luke 24:33, when the two who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus came back to the eleven, they were already believing, because John and Peter had seen the tomb and Peter himself had a separate encounter with the Lord.]
Commission for followers
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and declare the Good News to all of creation. [The Good News is that Jesus the son of God died in our place and delivered us from the bondage and consequence of sin and has given us the power to represent his love and authority on the earth.] 16 Those who believe and are baptized [to indicate their willingness to join those following me] will be saved [from judgment after this life]. [It is when we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that we are saved - Romans 10:9]. 16 Those who do not believe will be condemned [in the judgment after this life].
17 “And these signs will accompany those who believe [in me]. They will cast out demons in my name. [They will carry my authority.] They will speak in new languages. [They would receive spirit-inspired language when the Holy Spirit came fully upon them.] 18 They will pick up serpents and drink deadly poison, and these things will not harm them. [Protection from both natural and man-made weapons is indeed a sign. These are all things that would cause unbelievers to believe. However, he is not saying that no believer will ever die from poison or snake bite, just as believers do not always speak in other languages.] They will place their hands on the sick, and they [the sick] will recover.” [This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all the gifts believers may have. It simply makes the point that believers in Jesus are given the power and authority to demonstrate the good news they are proclaiming. Belief in Jesus always is accompanied by power.]
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken these things to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they [the disciples] went forth and preached everywhere, as the Lord worked with them to confirm [the truth of] their message with signs that accompanied their message. Amen. [As Matthew, Luke, and John indicate, there were other appearances of Jesus before he ascended into heaven. From there, Jesus sits in glory along with the Father, but he is still active from that place. The Father and Jesus rule together over all creation - nothing escapes their attention. They are both at work along with the Holy Spirit whenever we ask or act in their name.]
Discussion questions
1. The women faithfully went to care for Jesus’ body but had no idea if they would be able to get into the tomb. What does this tell us about moving forward to do something for God even when we don’t see how it will work?
2. The last chapter feels incomplete with the original ending, because it calls for a conclusion – did anyone see Jesus and was there any other evidence besides the empty tomb. However, how would you have been affected if you heard the whole story, even with the incomplete ending? Would you have gone to Galilee?
3. In your church, are the disciples carrying the message everywhere, with the message being confirmed by signs and wonders? Why not?