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Jesus Shows the Sadducees Why They Should Believe in the Power of God
Mark 12:18-27
The Sadducees were another religious group from that era, but they were opposed to the Pharisees in almost every way. Jesus had some views in common with the Pharisees, but none with the Sadducees. So who were they?
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Jesus Challenged about Government Oppression, Pt. 2
Mark 12:13-17
In part 1 of this article, we saw Herodians and Pharisees come together to challenge Jesus about Rome, about government oppression. They posed a question -- “Should we pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” -- hoping to catch Jesus in an answer that either maddened the masses or went against Roman law.
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Jesus Challenged about Government Oppression, Pt. 1
Mark 12:13-17
We find ourselves in a place in Mark's gospel where the hostility toward Jesus is reaching its peak. Soon, the religious leaders will conspire with the Roman authorities to put Christ to death. But these leaders and authorities feel a need to build their case against Jesus, and in the final week before his death, that's precisely what they set out to do. In this passage we find two enemy groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians, join together in an attempt to stop Jesus. They presented a challenge to Jesus about government oppression in Rome.
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The Parable of the Vineyard, Pt. 2
Mark 12:6-12
Jesus continued the conversation with the religious leaders who had come to question him by speaking to them in parables. Mark includes one of them, and it was centered around a man who planted a vineyard. This man must have expected great grapes and wine because he put a fence around the property, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a tower in the midst of it. This vineyard was meant to succeed.
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The Parable of the Vineyard, Pt. 1
Mark 12:1-5
Jesus continued the conversation with the religious leaders who had come to question him by speaking to them in parables. Mark includes one of them, and it was centered around a man who planted a vineyard. This man must have expected great grapes and wine because he put a fence around the property, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a tower in the midst of it. This vineyard was meant to succeed.
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Jesus Came with Heaven's Authority
Mark 11:27-33
When Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem and passed the same fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before, Peter saw that it had withered from the roots. Shocked, he pointed it out to Jesus.
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The Lesson of the Fig Tree
Mark 11:19-26
When Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem and passed the same fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before, Peter saw that it had withered from the roots. Shocked, he pointed it out to Jesus.
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Adopt a Temple Theology
Mark 11:12-18
Through Jesus’ expression of righteous anger by overthrowing the tables in the temple, he demonstrated how important it was for the temple to be kept holy. How does this apply to us today? We must adopt a temple theology. Let me explain.
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Jesus' Righteous Anger
Mark 11:12-21
In the passage before us, Jesus cursed a fig tree and overturned tables. He did not normally behave this way. Jesus did not customarily use miraculous power in destructive ways, but in ways that led to healing, feeding, deliverance, and resurrection. Jesus was about giving life. And when we imagine—really imagine—tables and chairs clanging to the ground while travel and trading are stopped, we are also concerned. Jesus often rebuked the way of the religionists of his day, but not like this.
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Blind Beggar Turned Disciple
(Mark 10:46-52)
As they journeyed to Jerusalem where Jesus would face the events of the cross, he and the disciples passed through Jericho (46). On their way out of town, a crowd gathered around them. It was almost time for the Passover, and many priests lived in Jericho, so the road would have been packed with travelers and well-wishers. And there was a buzz surrounding this Galilean rabbi.
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