“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” — Mark 13:31 Mark 13 is Jesus’ longest single sustained teaching in the gospel, and it is about the future. Sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, with Peter, James, John, and Andrew asking him when these things will…
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” — Mark 12:10–11 Mark 12 is the chapter of the confrontations. Having overturned the tables in the temple and refused to answer the challenge to his authority, Jesus now sits as the teacher…
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” — Mark 11:9 Mark 11 is the chapter where Jesus finally arrives at Jerusalem. Everything since Caesarea Philippi has been the walk toward this city. Now he enters it — not in a conqueror’s chariot, but on a borrowed donkey colt. He curses…
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” — Mark 7:6 Mark 7 is the chapter where Jesus takes on the whole religious system of his day and dismantles it in three moves. First he exposes what tradition does when it replaces the word of God. Then he redefines…
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” — Mark 6:50 Mark 6 is a chapter of contrasts. It opens with Jesus being rejected by the people who watched him grow up and closes with him walking on water in the dark. In between, he sends the twelve out on their first solo mission,…
“Do not fear, only believe.” — Mark 5:36 Mark 5 is three healings woven into one chapter, and each one pushes against a wall the religious world of first-century Judea had built. A demon-possessed Gentile in a graveyard across the sea. A woman twelve years unclean from bleeding. A little girl already dead. Demons, uncleanness,…
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” — Mark 1:1 Mark opens without ceremony. No genealogy, no angel visitations, no shepherds, no wise men. Just a single declarative sentence that names exactly who this is and exactly what is beginning. The gospel. Of Jesus Christ. The Son of God. Everything…
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to…
“Truly this was the Son of God.” — Matthew 27:54 Judas and the Thirty Pieces of Silver (Verses 1–10) When morning comes, the chief priests and elders bind Jesus and hand him over to Pilate the governor. Judas, seeing that Jesus has been condemned, is seized with remorse. He brings the thirty pieces of silver…
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” — Matthew 26:39 The Plot Against Jesus (Verses 1–5) Jesus finishes the Olivet Discourse and tells his disciples plainly: after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up…