As we approach the most important day of the Christian calendar, it’s helpful to take a refreshing scholarly look at Mark 14-16. In addition to spiritual application, these lessons focus on the historical and sociological context of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It’s amazing to see how, even on the cross, Jesus […]
This week we finished our study in the Gospel according to Mark. We affirmed that the last twelve verses of Mark were written by someone other than the author of the Gospel, but that these verses date back to the second century. While we cannot know for certain who wrote them, we do know that […]
This week we reviewed the Resurrection of Jesus as recorded in the first eight verses of chapter 16 of Mark’s Gospel. We focused our discussion on the historicity of the Resurrection and the authenticity of Mark’s account. I also taught on this passage on Easter Sunday 2016. That lesson focused more on the textual criticism […]
This photo means a lot to me. It marks a moment of completion: I’ve officially finished my research on the Gospel according to Mark (at least for now). Although I’m not done teaching it, the research phase is complete. The teaching will continue until the last question is asked and the Scripture is examined thoroughly […]
Jesus: Dead and Buried. This week we studied what happened at the moment of Jesus’ death when He “cried out with a loud voice and gave up the ghost.” We briefly discussed His descent into Sheol and the various ways of understanding this part of our Christian theology. In addition to this, we observed how […]
This week we examined a couple so-called “discrepancies” between the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion (e.g., time of day and wording of the inscription), as well as what happened on the Cross. Some people mocked Jesus as they passed by, the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves (typical), and even those crucified with him mocked […]
