Tag: Mark

When Jesus told his disciples that “they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake,” I would previously have assumed that He meant his apostles. I realized this time that this applies to all who truly take…

Mark’s account of the two great commandments is more detailed and enlightening than the version we usually quote.

I’ve often heard it noted how disingenuous it was for the Sadducees to try tricking Jesus with a doctrinal puzzle about the resurrection when they didn’t even believe in the resurrection. On my own life I am beginning to recognize how commonly this tactic is used by those who seek to undermine faith. They take…

The scribes and Pharisees knew that the parable of the husbandmen was a rebuke against them. Jesus didn’t need to explain it to them. That suggests that they likely understood some of His other parables as well. They are judged according to their level of understanding.

The thing that made the leaders of the Jews so angry was that Jesus publicly proclaimed their hypocrisy and the moral rot behind their teachings.

If Judas didn’t expect the leaders of the Jews to hand Jesus over to be killed (as the account in Matthew seems to indicate) then he clearly didn’t believe Jesus who very clearly told his disciples what was going to happen before He went into Jerusalem.

Mark records Jesus taking a child to him as an example to his apostles prior to the event where they rebuke the people for bringing children to be blessed by him. It sounds like they didn’t learn the lesson.

I wonder if, at the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus asked the three apostles He had brought with Him the same question He asked of His Nephite disciples later. Could that be where John received the promise that he wouldn’t trade of death before Christ came again?

Jesus’ rebuke of Peter when Peter contradicted His prophecy regarding being taken and killed by the leading Jews was harsh but accurate. Peter was valuing things from a mortal rather than eternal perspective.

The example that Jesus gives of how the Pharisees allow the traditions of their father’s to take precedence over the laws of God. It is important for us to recognize how subtly such traditions can grow so that they gain their staying power before we might recognize how they contradict an eternal law or principle.…