March 15 Immediately after calming the storm in Mark 4, Jesus arrived at the region of the Gerasenes (also called the Gadarenes or the Gergesenes). Sadly, about a thousand years ago, someone decided to put a chapter break in the text between these events, because if you’re reading one chapter at a time, you might…
March 14 Mark records several statements that seem a little unrelated in chapter four. We’ll look at each of them and see how they relate to each other. In verses 21–22, Jesus talks about things being revealed by the light. The purpose of a lamp is to reveal things that are hidden in the dark….
March 13 Jesus was in a synagogue on the Sabbath and encountered a man with a shriveled hand. The Jewish authorities wondered what Jesus would do. “Will He heal this man on the Sabbath?” they thought. Given that the man’s hand was withered, he had probably been this way his entire life. The Mosaic Law prohibited…
March 12 Jesus approached Levi as he sat in the tax office and invited him to follow Him. Immediately, Levi got up and followed Jesus, perhaps leaving money on the table. So, who was Levi? The name is Hebrew. We don’t know when he changed his name, but Levi was Matthew—the disciple who wrote the…
March 9 Welcome to the Gospel of Mark. Over the last ten weeks, we’ve looked at the Gospels of John and the Matthew. Each had its own “feel,” concentrating on different things. While John was more theological in nature, looking at the person and work of Jesus, Matthew focused more on Jesus’ parables and the…
March 8 At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus commissions His disciples for ministry: “As you go, make disciples.” For three years, the disciples have learned doctrine and practice from Jesus. They have been His disciples. This now raises the important question: What is a disciple? Back in the day, a disciple was someone who…
