Skip to main content

Posts

The Messiah Is David’s Son and Lord (Mark 12:35-37)

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, inspired by the holy Spirit, said: ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” [The] great crowd heard this with delight. After the earlier challenges in the temple, Jesus now takes the initiative. Others had questioned Him about His authority, taxes, the resurrection, and the greatest commandment. Now He asks a question that leads the people deeper into the identity of the Messiah. The scribes, who were teachers and interpreters of the Law, taught that the Messiah would be the son of David (v. 35). God had promised David that his royal line would endure, and that one of his descendants would have a kingdom established by God (2 Sam. 7:12-14). Matthew begins his Gospel by identifying Jesus as “ the son of David, the son of Abraham ” (Mt. 1:1), and P...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

The Greatest Commandment: Love of God and Neighbor (Mark 12:28-34)

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 29 Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ 33 And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. Jesus is still in the temple area,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus Teaches About the Resurrection (Mark 12:18-27)

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, 19 saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’ 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. 21 So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23 At the resurrection [when they arise] whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 25 When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. 26 As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, [the] God...
Post a Comment
Read more

Give to God What Belongs to God (Mark 12:13-17)

They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him to ensnare him in his speech. 14 They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” 15 Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” 16 They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him. After Jesus tells the parable of the tenants, the conflict between Him and the Jerusalem leaders continues. They have already understood that the parable was directed against them. Now they send others to question Him, hoping to trap Him with His own words. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Son and the Stone Rejected by the Builders (Mark 12:1-12)

He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. 2 At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. 5 He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. 6 He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not ...
Post a Comment
Read more

God Sent His Son to Save the World, Not to Condemn It (John 3:16–18)

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. This short passage contains one of the clearest statements in Scripture about God’s love and the mission of His Son. Jesus is speaking within His conversation with Nicodemus, after speaking of the Son of Man being “ lifted up ” as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert (Jn. 3:14; Num. 21:8-9). In John’s Gospel, this points toward the Cross. The Son is lifted up so that those who believe in Him may have eternal life. “ For God so loved the world ” (v. 16) means that the Father’s love reaches the world that needs salvation. The word “ world ” in John often refers to hu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned in the Temple (Mark 11:27–33)

They returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him 28 and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘[Then] why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. 33 So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Jesus returns to Jerusalem and walks in the temple area (v. 27). This scene follows His prophetic action in the temple, where He drove out those buying and selling and taught...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lord Seeks a Clean Spiritual House and Fruitful Faith (Mark 11:11–26)

He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve. 12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. 14 And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And his disciples heard it. 15 They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 16 He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. 17 Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples’? But you have made it a den of thieves.” 18 The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus Asks, “What Do You Want Me to Do for You?” (Mark 10:46-52)

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 47 On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” 50 He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” 52 Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. As Jesus leaves Jericho, He is near the final stage of His journey to Jerusalem. Mark places this healing just before Jesus enters the city where He will suffer, die,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus Teaches That Greatness in the Kingdom Comes Through Service (Mark 10:32-45)

They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles 34 who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 He replied, “What do you wish [me] to do for you?” 37 They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to him, “We can.” Jesus sai...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Cost and Reward of Following Jesus (Mark 10:28-31)

Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30 who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. 31 But many that are first will be last, and [the] last will be first.” After Pentecost, the Easter season has come to its close, and the Church’s daily Gospel readings return from John to Mark. John helped us stay close to the mystery of Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Holy Spirit. Mark now brings us back into the public ministry of Jesus, where He teaches His disciples what it means to follow Him. Today’s passage comes during Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem, as He forms His disciples for a life of trust, sacrifice, a...
Post a Comment
Read more