Stay Awake! The nineteenth century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon said concerning this teaching of Jesus that “it is confessedly very difficult to comprehend.” This seems to be a bit of an understatement!  As we noted last week the difficulty in understanding …

The World is a Mess! Throughout his gospel account, Mark has emphasized Jesus’ role as a teacher. In addition to instructing his own disciples, Jesus is frequently found teaching the crowds of people who flock to him. The people see …

The Challenge of Jesus Last week we heard from a scribe who wanted to know which commandment Jesus considered to be the most important. This was the third in a string of questions posed to Jesus in an effort to …

NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM   Jesus is in Jerusalem and the pressure against him continues to rise. The religious authorities bring a series of controversial questions to Jesus in an effort to discredit him in the eyes of the …

Trapping Jesus Since Jesus entered Jerusalem the conflict with the religious authorities has continued to escalate. These religious authorities, likely part of the Sanhedrin, have been unsuccessful in their confrontations with Jesus and now they send a series of delegations …

Living Under the Authority of Jesus   Jesus is back in Jerusalem and goes once more directly to the temple where he is met by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders (v.27). These are the 3 groups …

How Jesus Exposes Our Hearts After a humble entry into Jerusalem seated on the back of a lowly donkey, Jesus now appears much more fierce in this next passage. He comes across a fig tree and curses it.  He goes …

What Kind of King? Earlier in Mark’s gospel a group of frightened fishermen sat in a little boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee overwhelmed at what they had just witnessed.   Moments earlier they were caught in a …

Take Heart, Get Up, He is Calling You! In our passage this week, Mark records Jesus’ last stop before entering Jerusalem.  Mark will use the rest of his Gospel (chapters 11 to 16) to share the details of Jesus’ last …