John The Baptist’s Baptism Was for the Forgiveness of Sins
You have undoubtedly heard that John the Baptist’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and that the difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism was that Jesus’ baptism took it a step further by adding the effect of the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Well, was anyone even reading Mark 1:4? “And so John the […]
Gospel of John 1:19-28 Who is John the Baptist?
I just love this picture of John the Baptist. His posture looks intense but his expression looks pretty bored. It reminds me of a passion play we saw last Easter. John the Baptist went down in the Jordan to baptize Jesus, not realizing his wireless was on he said, “@#*% this water is hot!” The […]
Gospel of Mark – Common Mission & Message (6:6b-30)
Mark is certainly a delicious book with all of the sandwiches he leaves throughout the narrative. We have another sandwich in Mark 6. Crust – Jesus Sends out the Twelve (6:6b-13) Meat – John the Baptist Beheaded (6:14-29) Crust – The Twelve Return (6:30-30) The inner part always illuminates the outer part. What does that […]
A Twist on the Divine Name
“Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’, and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ This is what you are to say to the […]
Gospel of Mark – Authoritative Witness to Who Jesus Is (1:1-15)
Mark begins his Gospel by laying out a series of witnesses who testify to Jesus’ true identity: The first witness is Mark himself who tells the reader who Jesus really is, “the Son of God.” That title bookends the Gospel of Mark as it will not be said by another human in the Gospel until […]