Mark 12:28-44 This passage comes after 2 passages about Pharisees and Sadducees asking their pet questions to Jesus (Render unto Caesar and Resurrection). Following his answers, this scribe comes with his question. Like the two prior questions, it is a sort of test. What the scribe has in mind exactly, we don’t know. Regardless of the scribe’s motivation, Jesus has…
Mark 12:1-12 [13-17] Parable of the wicked tenants; paying taxes to Caesar There is a power in this parable. That’s the whole point of parables. There’s a message that we can hear, or many messages that we can hear without being told straight out that we’re being idiots. We hold onto the idea that we understand who is the cornerstone…
Mark 10:17-31 Rich man is called to sell all he has and follow Jesus. We had technical difficulties this Sunday. The sermon text is below. As they journey towards Jerusalem, the disciples and Jesus have this encounter. It is an encounter that we have probably heard preached on a number of times over the years. And it is a passage that…
Mark 10:32-52 Passion prediction, Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, heals blind Bartimaeus. I don’t know if James and John understand what they’re asking here. I do know that we are the ones who reap what they have sown. We are the ones who both benefit from and have to live into their brashness. Can you…
Hear Bill Rucker share the journey of his faith with us.
Mark 8:27-9:8 Peter’s confession, passion prediction, bearing the cross, Transfiguration. This is a great sneak peek into what is going to happen in Lent. The journey to Jerusalem is really an expanded and extended version of what happens here. It opens with the crowd of disciples asserting who Jesus is, with names varying, until it comes to naming Jesus as the…
Mark 7:1-23 What defiles one comes from within There’s a lot going on here, and we need to be careful not to make this about all the ways that the Jews are unfaithful. As so often happens, people in the crowd are looking to defame the followers of Christ, and therefore Christ. They want to know why the disciples don’t wash…
Mark 6:1-29 Jesus rejected at Nazareth; sending of the Twelve; death of John the Baptist. Jesus is the only one who knows what’s going on in this passage. It’s a long chunk of text, and not quite chronological, but Jesus is the only one who seems to have a grip on what’s going on. In the synagogue on the Sabbath, in…
Mark 5:21-43 Jesus heals Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the flow of blood. Again Jesus crosses over to the other side. Getting out, a crowd is gathered waiting to see Jesus. A leader of the synagogue comes to see Jesus, with a daughter who is close to death. Jesus goes with Jairus. And on the way something happens. The…
Mark 5:1-20 Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac By the time we get to this part of the story, we know that things happen when we cross the river, or the sea, and get to the other side. So, we shouldn’t be surprised to see something big happen here. They go across the sea, and land in the land of the Gerasenes. More…