I like it when either story comes up in class. Whether it is Jonah or the Prodigal Son, we end in the same place talking about how both stories make the same points. God delights to forgive repentant sinners, so we should be the type of people who share that delight and not those who…
Last night I received the Magic Keyboard for iPad, which I am using with a 2018, 12.9″ iPad Pro. This iPad is the first one that I have truly used as my primary computer. Over the past year and a half, I have love having an iPad as my primary device, but my hope for…
Two thoughts from Luke 11: (1) It is striking to me how, in this Gospel, Jesus’ teaching on prayer immediately follows a scene where he himself is praying. (2) If you visualize when you read, verse 14 is quite the jolt. Is there a discernable flow to these passages, or is verse 14 supposed to…
We have pretty clear images for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. On Maundy Thursday, you have the last supper or, more prominent to me, images of the garden drama. On Good Friday, we are at the cross. On Sunday, the empty tomb. What about Holy Saturday? The first images that come to mind are iconography. I…
I was thinking about what it is I’m trying to do with these recent Jesus posts, and I was reminded of one of my favorite songs. The posts try to do something similar to what Jason Isbell does in “Relatively Easy” (Apple Music). Even though it’s dark at first, listen: I lost a good friend…
It was the first time they met. Jesus just steps into Peter’s boat and says, “Take the boat out so I can teach these people.” And he did it (Luke 5:3). Why did Peter comply? Remember that Peter is the same one who, at the end of the Gospels, tried to take someone’s head off…
Here is a collection of recent, more devotional posts on Mark. I put them in order according to the passages they discuss. When Jesus Gets Mad (Mark 3:1–6) Jesus and Disappointment (Mark 3:12; 6:48; 7:18, 24) Imagining the Dead Passages (Mark 10:32; 11:11–12) Fire in His Eyes (Mark 12:1–12) Jesus and Sadness (Mark 14:17–25) Morning…
This post on Twitter, the content of which I wrote up and expanded in a blog post on the Ending of Mark in THGNT, led to an interesting discussion. In a conversation with Charles Sullivan, Dirk Jongkind provides links to manuscript images in the New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room. Inepti Graeculi asks a question regarding…
Fernando Ortega’s The Crucifixion of Jesus is a beautiful mix of melodies and scripture reading, all reflecting on the passion narratives. As I listened this morning, the part where Peter confesses his loyalty stood out to me. Mark 14:29–31 ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἔφη αὐτῷ· εἰ καὶ πάντες σκανδαλισθήσονται ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐγώ.Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς·…
One more comment on Mark: The Tyndale House Greek New Testament has a really interesting textual note at the end. These words appear between the end of 16:8 and the alternate longer ending, verses 9–20: ΕΝ ΤΙΣΙ ΜΕΝ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΩΝ, ΕΩΣ ΩΔΕ ΠΛΗΡΟΥΤΑΙ Ο ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΗΣ· ΕΩΣ ΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΣΕΒΙΟΣ Ο ΠΑΜΦΙΛΟΥ ΕΚΑΝΟΝΙΣΕΝ· ΕΝ ΠΟΛΛΟΙΣ ΔΕ…
