Delivering the Demoniac, Mark 5:1-20  

Last week we looked at Jesus and the disciples, after a particularly exhausting day, crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat in the evening, when they were overtaken by an extremely powerful storm. The boat they were on almost was sunk and their lives potentially lost, but Jesus, who had to be awakened from a deep sleep, stilled the storm and caused it to be completely calm. There was in ancient times a popular superstition that such powerful storms were caused by the devil. Sometimes I am tempted to believe that the devil does have some control over the

Read More…

Testing in a tempest, Mark 4:35-41   

We come today to the end of chapter four, but the story of Jesus’s ministry does not stop there.  He is simply traveling from one place to another.  And He does so in this story by means of a ship on the sea.  It’s a simple story, but one which provided a teachable lesson for the disciples, and which should be a lesson for us as well. It’s been a very long day of preaching and teaching and working miracles.  At one point the crowds were so large that Jesus and His disciples were not able to eat.  So  at

Read More…

The Parables of the Kingdom, Mark 4:21-34

Last week we looked at the parable of the sower. And Jesus indicated in explaining that parable it provides the key to understanding all the parables. I think that is because Jesus uses some common symbols or figures in that parable which he interprets privately to his disciples, and so we can use that interpretation in other parables which use the same symbols or figures. That hermeneutic principle is called “expositional constancy.” It means that the meaning of symbols or figures used in one scripture tend to mean the same as similar symbols or figures in another scripture. I think

Read More…

The Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:1-20

Mark doesn’t give us the chronology in which this next event happens. But Matthew indicates that this event is a continuation of a long day of teaching that Jesus had starting with the disciples picking the heads of grain as they walked through the fields on the Sabbath. On that same day, according to vs 1 of chapter 4, Jesus sat by the seashore. Jesus teaching at the beach seems to be a common occurrence in the gospels, as most of the time His teaching was outdoors. And on this occasion such large crowds gathered to Him that he moved

Read More…

Jesus chooses His disciples, Mark 3: 7-19

Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and [also] from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

Read More…

Lord of the Sabbath, Mark 2:18-3:6

I’m going to try to cover three events today in the ministry of Jesus which spans two chapters in Mark. That’s maybe an optimistic goal for me to accomplish in the time I have. But I think all three of these events have a common theme as I hope to show you. And what they have in common is Jesus’ dismissal of ritualistic, ceremonial laws which purport to have their basis in scripture, that purport to be the proper exercise of religion, but in fact are man’s additions to the law of God. The first event is found starting in

Read More…

God’s favor towards sinners, Mark 2:14-17

Last week we looked at the story of Jesus healing the paralytic man who was let down through the roof. I refer to it that way, because that is the way most people would remember it. But as I said last week, the most important thing about that event was not that the man was healed from his paralysis. But that Jesus forgave him of his sins. The main purpose for which Jesus came was to preach the gospel of salvation. To bring forgiveness to sinners and give them new life. If you remember, I spoke of Jesus in that

Read More…

The Diagnosis of the Great Physician, Mark 2:1-12  

The Diagnosis of the Great Physician, Mark 2:1-12 Psalm 130 As most of you know, I’ve been sick for the last couple of weeks. It became pretty obvious to everyone who heard me and saw me, that I had some sort of a virus or something. Just to be careful, I took a Covid test which came back negative. But after about 8 days or so though I decided maybe I should see the doctor and see if there was something they could do for me to help me get better. I think we tend to give too much credit

Read More…

THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST Mark 1:21-45      

Mark writes in a rather concise style and he moves quickly through events without spending as much time detailing them as do the other gospel writers.  It’s almost disconcerting to notice how often he uses the word “immediately.”  But I guess it’s emblematic of his style to keep moving and give highlights, rather than a lot of biographical details. I think the thread that ties this next passage together is found in another word used twice in this passage, but implied more often than that,  which is the word “authority.”  In  verse 22, “And they were astonished at His .

Read More…

Jesus calls His disciples, Mark 1:14-20

We are continuing in our study of Mark and we left off last time in vs 13 with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.  That temptation happened directly after he was baptized by John the Baptist.  Today we pick up in Mark’s account with vs 14, which begins with the phrase “Now after John had been taken into custody…”  What that indicates is that there is an interval of about one year in between vs 13 and vs 14. So Jesus’s ministry began with His baptism, and He has been preaching and teaching for about a year in both

Read More…