32   There began to rise in the crowds that followed Jesus a growing sense of awe and fear; among the twelve disciples, there was amazement.  Jesus took the twelve aside and began sharing with them what would soon be taking place.  33 He said to them, "We will now head toward Jerusalem and there the Son of Man (Jesus' common designation for himself) will be delivered into the hands of the chief priests and scribes.  They will then sentence him to death and turn him over to the Roman authorities.  34  They will mock him, spit on him, whip him and then execute him.  But three days later, he will rise again.

35  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus and asked him, "Rabbi, will you do for us what we ask?"  36 Jesus responded, "What is it you would have me to do for you?"  37 James and John said to him, "Grant that one of us will sit at your right hand  and the other at your left, when you come into your glory (or when you rise to power).  38 Jesus then said, "You do not realize for what you ask.  Are you able to drink from the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism that I will endure?"  39   They answered, "We are able to do so."  Then Jesus said to the two disciples, "You will drink from the cup from which I will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I will go through, 40 but as to who will sit on my right or left hand of power, that is not for me to bestow, but will given to the one for whom it has been prepared."  41 The other disciples were upset when they heard of what James and John had requested.  42  Jesus then gathered the disciples and said, "You surely know that the Roman rulers lord their authority over their people and then those above the rulers, do the same.  43  But it will be this way with you, for whoever seeks to become the greatest among you must be the servant.  44 Whoever wishes to be first among you, must become the servant of all.  45 Because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but rather to serve.  He came to give his life as a ransom for many."

 

 

 

 

46   The school of disciples arrived at Jericho (a town to the northeast of Jerusalem situated on the main highway leading to the holy city). Then as they were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was seated by the side of the road.  47  When the blind man heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene (a resident of the Galilean city of Nazareth) who was coming down the road, he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David (often used to denote someone of royal lineage), have mercy on me." 48 People nearby were urging him to be quiet, but as they did, the blind man cried all the louder, shouting "Son of David, have mercy on me."  49  Jesus then stopped and asked for the disciples to call for the blind man to come to him.  They called to him, "Arise and take courage!"  50  The blind man then threw aside his cloak, rose to his feet, and went to Jesus.  51 Jesus then asked Bartimaeus, "What would you have me to do for you?"  The blind man answered, "Rabbi, I want to regain my sight."  52  Jesus said to the man, "You may go.  Your faith has made you well."  At once, the man regained his sight and joined the crowd that was following Jesus down the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11

1 As the disciples and the crowd of followers neared Jerusalem, they entered the villages of Bethpage and Bethany (twin villages near the eastern gate of Jerusalem)  which are near the Mount of Olives (a three peaked ridge of mountains that skirt the eastern side of Jerusalem,rising about 200 feet above the Temple).   There Jesus sent for two of his disciples.  When they came to him, he said, 2 "Go into the village across from here.  There, as soon as you enter the village, you will find an unridden colt.  Unhitch the colt and bring it here to me.  3 If anyone asks why are you taking he colt, say to them that the Lord has need of it.  When he hears this, he will immediately give you the colt."  4  So the disciples went and found a colt hitched in front of house, just as Jesus had said.  5 As they were untying the colt, some people nearby asked, "What are you doing  untying that colt?"  6 The disciples answered as they has been instructed and the people allowed the disciples to take the colt.  7 The two disciples brought the colt to Jesus, saddling the colt with their cloaks.  8 As they travelled down the road, people began spreading their cloaks and palm branches to carpet the path of the colt.  9  And all the crowd was shouting, "Hosanna! (probably best translated as "Save us now!", possibly a well known battle cry for freedom) 10 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming realm of our father King David.  Hosanna in the highest." 

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem (at the gate immediately south of the Temple) and came into the Temple area, taking in all that was there.  Being late in the day, Jesus and the Twelve returned to the village of Bethany.  12 There they spent the night.  When they left Bethany the next morning, Jesus was hungry.  13  Jesus spotted a fig tree in leaf.  But when he arrived at the tree he found that it was out of season and thus did not have any fruit on it.  14  The disciples then overheard Jesus saying to the tree, "May no one ever eat figs from you ever again." 

15  When they returned to the city of Jerusalem, Jesus immediately entered the Temple. There he began to drive out those who were buying and selling merchandise in the Temple courtyards.  He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the vendors of sacrificial animals.  16 He would not allow the merchants to transport their merchandise through the Temple.  17 He began to teach by saying to them, "Does not the Scripture say, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations but you have turned it into a den of thieves'"  (Memory Verse) (a merging of Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11). 18 The chief priests and scribes (probably the officers of the Temple) heard what he was teaching and began to plan ways to be rid of him.  Because the crowds were stirred by his teaching, the Temple leadership began to fear him.  19  When evening came, Jesus and the disciples once again left the city.

20  The next morning, Jesus and the disciples passed by the fig tree they had seen the previous morning.  They noticed that the fig tree was dying upward from the roots.    21 Peter spoke up, "Teacher, the fig tree that you cursed has withered."  22  To this Jesus answered, "Have faith in God.  23 It is truth when I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and tossed into the sea' and does so without doubt in his soul, but believes that what he says will come to be, it will be granted to him." 24 Therefore, all things which you ask for in prayer, believe that your prayers have been answered, and they will be answered.  25 Whenever you pray for forgiveness, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins."   (Memory Verse)  26 (some ancient versions of Mark here insert the words, "But if you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you of your sins.", a quote from Matthew 6:15)

27  Jesus and his disciples returned once more to the city of Jerusalem.  As Jesus was walking through the Temple courtyard, the chief priests and scribes approached him.  28 They asked him, "By what authority to do these actions in the Temple?  Who gave you such authority?"  29  Jesus answered, "Before I answer your question, you must first answer one question for me.  30 The baptism offered by John, was it something of heaven, or was his baptism merely something of this world.   Answer my question!"  31 The chief priests and scribes discussed among themselves how they ought to answer.  Some said, "If we say that John's baptism is from heaven, then he will ask us why we then did not believe him?"  32 And some of them countered, "But if we say John's baptism came from men, how can we possibly say that - these people considered John a true prophet?  The crowd will turn against us if we said such a thing."  33 Finally they gave Jesus this answer -- "We do not know."  And then Jesus responded, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do the things I do."

Chapter 12

1  Jesus then taught them in a parable.  He said, "A man planted a vineyard and built a wall around that vineyard.  He built a wine press and a tower.  He then rented his vineyard to some vinegrowers and then set off a journey.  2  When it cam harvest time, the owner of the vineyard sent one of servants to reeive his share of the harvest from his vineyard.  3  The vinegrowers seized the servant, beat him and sent him back empty-handed.  4  The owner of the vineyard then sent another servant.  And the viengrowers beat up this servant as well, humiliating him and wounding him in the head.  5  One more servant was sent to collect, this one, the vinegrowers murdered.  This they did with one servant after another.  6 Eventually, the owner of the vineyard no one left ot end, except his own beloved son.  He said, "Surely they will respect my son."  7 But those vinegrowers plotted among themselves saying, "This is the owner's heir.  Let us kill him and then this vineyard will become ours, the landowner then having no heir." 8 And so this is what the vinegrowers did the son.  9 Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? Why he will come and execute justice on these evil vinegrowers, and then he will give the vuneyard to others.  10  For in the Scriptres you have surely read, "The stone which the builders rejected became the cheif cornerstone;" 11 and "This one came from the Lord, and it fills our eyes with wonder."  (from Psalm 118:22,23) 12 When he had finished this parable, the Temple leadership recognized that this parable was an accusation against them.  They wanted to arrest Jesus on the spot, but they were fearful of the crowds.  So instead, they left and returned to their quarters.

13  The Temple leadership then sent representatives of the Pharisees and a number of the Herodians in an attempt to entrap Jesus into saying something that they could use aganist him.    14 They asked Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that you are a man who speaks only the truth and does not yield to pressure from anyone.  We know that you teach only the true way of God.  Here is our question.  Is it lawful or not for the Jews to pay taxes to Caesar?  15 Should we pay the taxes to Rome or should we protest and refuse to pay the taxes?"   Jesus, realizing their hypocrisy, asked, "Why do you put me to the test?  Bring me a denarius (a Roman coin which had the estimated value equal to a laborer's daily pay)." 16 After they handed the coin to Jesus, he asked them, "Whose image and inscription is on the coin?" They answered, "Well, Caesar's, of course." 17 Jesus then said to them, "Then render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar; and render unto God what belongs to God." (Memory Verse)  And the people were amazed at his answer. 

18 Then Jesus was approached by representatives of the Sadducees (A denomination of Jews who emphasized the priestly ritual of the Temple.  They also did not believe in the resurrection or the reality of angels and demons; they tended to favor accomodation with the Roman and Greek cultures in contrast to the Pharisees who believed in keeping themselves distinctive and separate from these cultures.).  They asked Jesus, 19 "Rabbi, Moses wrote that if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no children, his brother should marry the widow so that he can raise up children in his brother's name (see Deuteronomy 25:5).  20 Suppose there were seven brothers; the first brother took a wife, then died, leaving no heirs.  21 The second brother married her, but he also died, leaving still no heirs.  22 The same thing happened with the third brother and eventually all seven.  Finally the woman died.  23 At the resurrection, when all shall rise again, (a belief the Sadducees would not profess) whose wife will the woman be?  For did not all seven brothers marry her?" 

24 Jesus answered them by saying, "You certainly do not understand either the Scriptures or even the power of God.  25 At the resurrection on the last day, there is no marriage, but the resurrected will live as do the angels in heaven.  26 Now as to the resurrection itself, have you not read in the book of Moses that when God spoke to him through the burning bush, God said, "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob"? (see Exodus 3:6) 27 And since God is the God of the living and not the God of the dead, then there must be a resurrection."

28   Then a scribe overheard what Jesus was saying and realized that Jesus had answered their questions in a profound way.  So he asked Jesus, "Rabbi, which commandment is the greatest commandment?"  29 Jesus answered, "The greatest of all commandments is this,"Listen, O Israel!  The Lord our God is one Lord;" 30 and "You shall love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (or might)." (see Deuteronomy 6:4,5; Mark seems to add the phrase "...and with all your mind...") 31 The second greatest commandment follows upon it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (see Leviticus 19:18 "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear a grudge against the children of your people, ... but you shall love your neighbor as yourself for I am the Lord.")  32 The scribe then said to Jesus, "You are right, Rabbi.  You have stated correctly that God is One, and there is no one else other than Him.  33  And we are told that to love God with all our heart, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is much more important than all our burnt offerings and sacrifices." (reminiscent of many sayings of the prophets, i.e. Micah 6:6-8) 34  Jesus, hearing the scribe's thoughtful words, said to him, "You are not far from the realm of God."  With that, no one dared asked Jesus any further questions.

35 Jesus then taught there in the temple, "How is it that the scribes teach that the Messiah is of the lineage of King David?"  36 David when in the Spirit said, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I have given you victory over your enemies." (see Psalm 110:1) 37 David calls God, "Lord".  So then, how is David then the son of the Lord?" The crowd listened intently to his teaching.

38  Jesus had said during his teaching, "Beware of the scribes  who enjoy walking about in long, flowing robes, to be greeted with much respect in the marketplaces, to be given the seats of honor in the synagogues, 39 and be seated in the esteemed places  at the feasts.  40 They consume the property of widows and show how holy they are by giving lengthy prayers.  Because of their pride, they will be held to greater accountability." 

41 Jesus later sat down to teach across from the Temple treasury.  He watched as the people were placing their offering of money into the treasury.  Some were peope of wealth giving large amounts of money.  42  Then an impoverished widow placed in the treasury two small coins worth little more than a penny.  43  Jesus called over his disciples and said to them, "I tell you the truth when I say that this widow has put in more than all who have contributed.  44  They gave money that they did not really need but she has given out of her poverty, giving all that she had to live on. "

Chapter 13

1   As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of the disciples remarked, "Rabbi, how great are the stones that make up this magnficent Temple!" 2 Jesus then said to him, "Yes, behold this massive Temple.  I tell you that one day not one of these stones will be left standing upon another." (this Temple was demolished by the Romans in A.D. 70)

3 Then Jesus went to converse privately with some of his disciples on the Mount of Olives, at a place that overlooked the Temple from outside the city walls.  With Jesus were his inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew.  4  They asked Jesus, "When will this destruction of the Temple take place?  What will be the sign that will signal when this will take place?"

5 Jesus then said to them, "Be careful that no one misleads you.  6  There will be many who will come in my name declaring, 'I am the Lord!' and many will be misled by their words.  7 There will be wars and rumors of war, but do not be afraid.  Wars will come, but they do not signal that the end has come.  8  Indeed nations will rise up against nation, even empires against empires; there will be earthquakes in many places; there will be famines; but all these catastrophes are but the birth pangs.  9 You will need to be on the alert for there will be those who will have you arrested, who will have you flogged in the synagogues (there was a brief persecution by some segments of the Jewish establishment during the period of the early Church).  You will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers.  10 This must all take place because the Gospel that I bring must first be preached to the people of all nations.  11  When you are arrested, do not worry ahead of time about what you will say.  At the time your testimony is demanded of you, the Holy Spirit will speak through you.  12  Brother will betray his brother, leading to his execution.  A father will betray his own children.  Children will turn over their parents to the authorities.  13  You will be hated by others simply because you represent me (literally, because of my name).  But those who endure, who persevere to the end, they will be saved.

14 "But when you see the abomination of desolation (an image drawn from Daniel various verses such as 11:31) standing in the sanctuary of the Lord (literally," standing where it is not to be standing"), then the people of Judea must escape to the mountains.   15 The person who is on the roof must not go down, or return to retrieve anything from his house; 16 and the person out working in the fields must not take the time to put on his cloak.  17 But how tragic it will be in those days for those who are pregnant and for those nursing infants.  18 Pray that all this does not happen during the winter.  19  These days will be filled with tribulation, a tribulation far greater than has ever been known since the dawn of God's Creation or will ever be known.  20  If the Lord had not intervened to bring an end to those days of tribulation, nothing would have been spared.  This the Lord did in order to save the righteous (or the elect). 

21 If anyone says to you, "Look, there is the Christ or here is the Christ; do not believe them, 22  for there will be many false messiahs and false prophets who rise up.  Many of them will even perform signs and miracles, leading people astray, even the believers.  23  Be careful, I have forewarned you so that you will not be misled when these things begin to occur." 

 

24 "In those days, after the time of suffering, the sun will grow dark and the moon will shine forth its light, 25 the stars will fall from heaven, and the universe will be shaken from its foundations." 26 Then the people will see the Messiah (the Son of Man, the Christ) coming in the clouds, arriving in majesty and glory.  27  He will then send forth the angels ( messengers), and gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth (the four winds), from both the far reaches of the earth to the far reaches of heaven.

28 Consider the lesson of the fig tree.  As soon as its branches begin to green in the springtime and its leaves begin to unfold, you can tell by this that the summertime is near.  29  So in like manner, when you see the things I have told you begin to happen, you know that the Son of Man (often a symbol of the day of reckoning) is near, at the very gates of the city. (Here, Jesus completes his circle back to the original question asked by the disciples in 13:4 concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.) 30 I tell you the truth when I say that our generation will live to see all these things will take place.  31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will endure forever. (Memory Verse)

32 But as to the specific hour or day, no one knows, neither the angels, nor the Son, but only God the Father.  33 So you must always be on the alert, for you will never know when the time will come.  34 It is like a man who sets out on a long journey.  When he departs he places his servants in charge, giving to each servant their responsibility.  He then orders the doorkeeper to maintain the vigilant watch.  35  Therefore, you must keep awake - for you do not know when the master will return, it could be in the evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrow (probably referring to the pre-dawn town crier's cry from the watchtowers and not necessarily an actual rooster's crowing) or at the sunrise.  36  If you are not keeping the faithful watch, he may return and you may miss his coming.  37 Therefore I say to you and to eveyone, "Be vigilant in your watch (literally, keep awake).

9:1-13    The transfiguration is a remarkably mystical event.  Tradition often holds Mount Tabor as the site of the event, but Mount Hermon seems more logical in the itinerary of Jesus (though either location is surely possible).  At the time of Christ there were two focal points for the Jewish faith, the prophetic tradition and the priestly tradition.  In the centuries leading up to the time of  Jesus, schools of understanding tended to emphasize one or the other tradition, but never to the complete exclsion of the other.  The prophetic tradition symbolized by the prophet Elijah emphasized the moral and ethical practices of justice and mercy.  The priestly tradition symbolized by Moses emphasized the keeping of the religious rules and practices as found in Mosaic books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  The religious life of the Jewish people flowed back and forth between these two poles, sometimes the distinction was a matter of nuance, at other times, the distinction was antagonistic.  It is possible that the vision of the transfiguration symbolized these two traditions, the priestly and the prophetic, as coming together in the life of Christ.

Peter's impulsive reaction to the experience is not as strange as it might seem.  It was commonplace to create "shrines" at places where holy events had taken place.  Often those shrines took the form of tabernacles, tented areas to designate a certain place as a place of worship.

Jesus' answer to the question about Elijah is somewhat puzzling.  We are not absolutely sure to what Scriptures Jesus is referring.  The disciples appear to be citing Malachi 4:5:"Behold, I will send the prophet Elijah before the coming of the Day of the Lord."

 

9:14-29    When Jesus and the inner four returned from their mountaintop experience, they come upon a disturbance.  A crowd, if not a mob, has surrounded the remaining eight disciples.  (Mark mentions the presence of scribes within the crowd but their role or significance is not clarified.)   The controversy is over a young lad who has all the symptoms of epilepsy, but here is attributed to the presence of an unclean spirit within the boy.  Apparently, in Jesus' absence, the disciples were unable to help the boy.  Jesus appears irritated with this constant demand for a miracle - here we may have a clue as to the notation that the scribes were present.  They may have been challenging the authority of these disciples because of their lack of miracle-making power. 

The tone of the father's plea to Jesus rings with sincerity.  Yet, Jesus uses the man's tentative confidence as an opportunity to emphasizes the power of belief.  But how are we to take this?  "All things are possible for those who believe."  Is Jesus expressing concern over the father's shaky belief?  Or is Jesus expressing concern over the disciples' lack of confident belief?  Or this teaching more connected to the Jesus' earlier comment ... why do you keep demanding a miracle from me and my disciples?  Tie this to Jesus' later counsel to his disciples that this matter can only be accomplished through prayer, and we may have a teaching about where the new realm of God is heading.  It is heading toward miracles wrought more through believer's prayers than through miracle worker's performance of signs and wonders.

In Mark's Gospel, this is the last record of Jesus' casting out of an unclean spirit.

 

9:30-50    Jesus appears to be taking some time to prepare his disciples for his mission to Jerusalem, to the cross, and beyond.  Though Jesus' words seem remarkably clear to us now, surely the disciples thought that there must be some other, hidden meaning to his words. 

Having introduced the notion of his future departure, a quiet conversation about which of them would carry on the mission would not be totally unexpected.  When they arrive at their home base, (possibly if not probably, Peter's home; see Matthew 8:14)  Jesus provides instruction on servant leadership.   The words that accompany the illustration of the child could mean either "whoever welcomes a child like this"or possibly, in light of the emphasis that Jesus took the child in his arms, it ought to read "whoever welcomes a child in this manner."  The first rendering emphasizes "who"; the second rendering emphasizes "how". 

Jesus proceeds to teach that the leadership of the movement will involve people other themselves.  If they do the work of Christ, then they are followers of Christ!  Jealousy and territoriality are no to be a part of their servant leadership.

The dramatic and highly graphic imagery that follows has the rhythmn of a chant or liturgy.  The apparent addition of the refrain, "where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched," would add to the speculation that there is a certain poetry involved in this unusually stylized teaching.  The word translated "hell" is the name of a real place "Gehenna".  We are probably more accurate in understanding the Gehenna more as a place of destruction than a place of punishment.  The teaching is clear ... do away with that in your life that hinders you from arriving in the coming realm of God.  We find evidence of this is the slight variation found in the third restatement.  The first two statements (43 & 45) refer to entering life; the third statement refers to entering the realm of God.  If this follows the sensibility of Hebrew poetry, entering life and entering the realm of God are synonymous. 

Add to the mystery of this teaching is the follow-up teaching that we are to be salted with fire.  It would seem reasonable that Jesus is teaching that the servant leader will at times need to cleanse their lives of that which will hinder their life as a community of peace in the new realm.