Not so with you
R T France is very helpful on what Jesus expects of his disciples. He comments on Mark 10:
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James's Weblog
Hairy goats
Peter Leithart makes a wonderful observation about Jacob, Esau and Joseph.
He says this:
Esau is a “hairy man” (sa’iyr), something we learn only when Jacob dresses himself in goat hair to approach his father (Genesis 27:11, 23). Jacob becomes a hairy one, subbing in for his brother. The only other use of the word in Genesis is in 37:31, where it describes the “kid” killed to fool into thinking that Joseph has died. Both passages involve substitution, and both involve deception of a father.
1 Samuel 25 seems to be very important
I think this has struck me before. Re-reading 1 Samuel, we find that:
- Saul is rebuked by Samuel (1 Samuel 15)
- David has to flee to the Philistines (1 Samuel 21)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 23-24)
- Samuel dies (1 Samuel 25:1)
- David accepts Abigail's gift, and marries her after God kills her fool of a husband (1 Samuel 25:2ff)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 26)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 23-24)
- David lives among the Philistine (1 Samuel 27)
- David has to flee to the Philistines (1 Samuel 21)
- Saul is rebuked by Samuel (1 Samuel 28)
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Why is Mark 6:14-29 in Mark's gospel?
Why is Mark 6:14-29 in Mark's gospel?
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Mark 6:14-29 and the book of Esther
I thought the reference in Mark 6:23 to "up to half my kingdom" sounded familiar. Sure enough, the phrase also occurs in Esther 5:3 and Esther 7:2.
That got me thinking.
In the book of Esther we have a king with an extravagant party who makes an oath to depose his queen, which would be (for her) a kind of death. He promises a girl up to half of his kingdom, and then executes somebody because it is effectively what that girl asked for. We have someone (Haman), who has the king's ear, asking for the people of God to be put to death. Sound familiar?
Children see things so clearly
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21)
I have always read this, but subconsciously read Jesus to say “and revealed them to those who are not terribly wise or understanding — in fact, some thoroughly unexpected people”.
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12 years and Mark chapter 5
R T France thinks that, in looking for links between the story of the raising of Jairus's daughter and the healing of a bleeding woman, recourse to the detail of “12 years” is “a counsel of despair” (page 235, fn 20).
Interesting, Larry Hurtado does not agree. From page 88 of his commentary:
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Hymnary.org
I've discovered a relatively new, and absolutely brilliant website for anyone involved in picking hymns for congregational use.
Visit http://www.hymnary.org
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Their cry goes up, 'How long?'
The Church's one foundation
Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the word;
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride,
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation—
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses
With every grace endued.
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The Gerasene Demoniac: The good news of Jesus Christ
This is the third of a series of three posts considering the story of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1-20. The first two were:
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